03/14/2020
Good Afternoon Valued Clients and Friends,
I'm sure you are all aware of the current situation regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19) and it's increasing severity. With over 500 tax clients dropping into our office over the next 2 months, we have come to the conclusion that we must take precautionary measures for the safety of us and you.
Some of you may already know but our husband/dad Trevor is battling ALS, leaving him with a weakened immune system. We also have a large number of elderly clients, and as the Coronoavirus is especially difficult for this subset of people, we want to take precautionary steps to prevent any potential spread or contagion of the virus.
Our plan for everyone to stay safe is going to require a lack of physical contact with those who have recently left the country, been in contact with people who have left the country, are from a town/region with cases of the virus, etc. Those of you who might think you are "safe" and unaffected, are still a risk since you may have been in contact with someone infected and not known it (grocery store, work, etc.). You can be contagious up to 5 days prior to experiencing any symptoms, therefore it is not possible for anyone to be certain.
What Steps We're Taking & Requesting of You:
-If you are able to scan or take pictures of your documents, we ask that you do so and email them to us, rather than coming to the office. We can then print everything off, and when finished with your return, we can send you the PDF or mail it to you if you'd prefer.
-For clients that cannot or do not have access to scanning or printing documents, on Monday we are installing a locked mailbox outside of our office side door that will be for you to drop your tax papers into. We ask that you put all your papers into an envelope prior to dropping them in the mailbox.
-Alternatively, you could simply mail all your papers to us by Canada Post.
Over the past few years, the number of clients that we deal with solely over email/mail has increased drastically and it is something that works very well for us.
We debated not doing tax season this year at all, with Trevor's recent diagnosis. Ultimately, as you know, we made the difficult decision to take it on, but risking bringing the COVID-19 virus into the picture is not something we are willing to do.
Additionally, as you know our office is in Marion Waldron's home and it is not safe or appropriate for us to have so many clients entering her house during this time and potentially putting her and her friends and family at risk.
We hope that you are all understanding of the situation, and realize it is in all of our best interests. Please call or email if you have any questions or need clarification, we'd be more than happy to further explain!
Sincerely,
Tammy and Rebecca
