Terry G Smith, CPA

01/01/2026

Hello everyone,

Well, here we are again. Happy New Year!!!!

You know that if you are getting this message from me, it’s almost tax time again.

My basic fee for preparing a federal 1040 tax return and an Illinois tax return will remain at $80 for 2025 which is the same rate as 2024.

Each additional state tax return can cost either $35 or $61 each.
Here’s the reason for the difference.

I have four states in the tax package that I purchase each year.
If your additional state is in my tax package, I charge you $35.

If I don’t have your additional state in my tax package, I can still file it, but I have to pay Intuit $61 in order to file it.
I am just passing along what Intuit charges me to you.
In essence, I am not charging you anything for my time.
I figure Intuit is charging you more than enough.

Just a reminder that if you have health insurance through the Marketplace, you will receive a Form 1095-A. I must have this Form 1095-A to complete your return. Sometimes, the Form 1095-A is a little late in coming.
If you need it before it comes in the mail, you can call your marketplace contact and get instructions on how to go online and print it out for yourself.

I hope 2026 is a great year for everyone.

Please call if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Terry

Send a message to learn more

01/01/2025

Hello everyone,

Well, here we are again. Happy New Year!!!!

You know that if you are getting this message from me, it’s almost tax time again.

I have put this off as long as I can.
I have decided to raise my basic fee to $80 for the 2024 tax returns.
I mentioned this to everyone last year, so I hope it is not too much of a surprise to anyone.

Just a reminder that if you have health insurance through the Marketplace, you will receive a Form 1095-A. I must have this Form 1095-A to complete your return. Sometimes, the Form 1095-A is a little late in coming.
If you need it before it comes in the mail, you can call your marketplace contact and get instructions on how to go online and print it out for yourself.

I hope 2025 is a great year for everyone.

Please call if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Terry

Send a message to learn more

01/08/2024

Hello everyone,
Well, you probably know that if you are getting a message from me, it’s tax time again.
I have decided to leave my fee at $75 again for the 2023 tax returns.
My software keeps going up every year, so next year I may have to raise my rate to $80.
Just a reminder that if you have health insurance through the Marketplace, you will receive a 1095-A. I must have this 1095-A to complete your return. Sometimes, the 1095-A is a little late in coming. If you need it before it comes, you can call your marketplace contact and get instructions on how to go online and print it out yourself.

Happy New Year in 2024.

01/04/2023

Hello everyone,
Well, you probably know that if you are getting a message from me, it’s tax time again.
I have decided to leave my fee at $75 again for the 2022 tax returns.
I should probably increase it to $80 because everything else is going up these days, but I just don’t like the idea of raising my fee.
The Child Tax Credit for 2022 will revert back to $2000/child. $1500 of the credit is refundable.
This will probably affect most of you, so I thought I would mention it in this message.
Happy New Year in 2023.

01/31/2022

The IRS has a website for taxpayers to check the Advanced Child Tax credit, but you have to establish an “online account” to access it.
To establish an online account, follow these directions.
You will need a camera to take a selfie of yourself

1 Go to www.irs.gov
2 Click “Sign in to Your Account”
3 Click “Sign in to Your Online Account”
4 Click “ID.me Create an account”
5 Enter your information and follow the directions

It may come to the point where all taxpayers will need an IRS online account to access their information and that might be a good thing for all taxpayers.
Good luck.

Pay your taxes. Get your refund status. Find IRS forms and answers to tax questions. We help you understand and meet your federal tax responsibilities.

01/11/2022

As I mentioned in my last post, everyone should watch for IRS Forms 6419 and 6475 in the mail.
These will be very important in filing your tax return for this reason.

If you received the $1400 stimulus in early 2021, you will receive Form 6475 stating how much you received.
If you received the advance child tax credit from July through December 2021, you will receive Form 6419 telling how much you received.

If the amount of stimulus and advance child tax payments you tell me you received in 2021 does not match the amounts on these two forms, your tax return will be delayed and with the backlog the IRS is experiencing, it could be a substantial delay.

Please watch for these forms.
Thank you.

01/03/2022

Hello everyone.
Well, 2022 is finally here. I hope everyone has a “Happy New Year” all year long.
It is also the beginning of tax season.
I am happy to say that I am keeping my charge for a basic return at $75 again this year. The $75 includes the federal return and the Illinois state return. It also includes e-filing the returns.
The only things that cause the $75 fee to go up are returns that require more time to prepare or returns that need additional state returns filed with them. Approximately 90% of my returns are basic returns.
Everyone should watch for IRS Forms 6419 and 6475 in the mail. Please bring these to me to file your 2021 tax return.
If you received the $1400 stimulus in early 2021, you will receive Form 6475 stating how much you received.
If you received the advance child tax credit from July through December 2021, you will receive Form 6419 telling how much you received.
There is a deduction for tax year 2021 that most people will be able to claim, so I want to mention it here. Everyone will be able to take a $300 (MFJ-$600) above-the-line deduction for charitable contributions "even if you don't itemize deductions". Above-the-line deductions reduce Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). These contributions have to be monetary and the normal qualifications for charitable contributions apply.
Every little bit helps, right?
I will email tax organizers to all of my clients which will hopefully help in gathering all your tax information together. If someone who is not a client would like one, please send me your email and I will be glad to email you one.
Bye for now.

07/15/2021

The Advance Child Tax Credit payments are starting.
If you are receiving these payments for a child you claimed in 2020, but are NOT claiming this child in 2021, you will have to pay these payments back to the IRS at the end of the year when you file your tax return.
You can go to the IRS website at www.irs.gov and "opt out" of receiving the payments.
Remember, these payments are advance payments on children you will be claiming and receiving the credit for in 2021.

Pay your taxes. Get your refund status. Find IRS forms and answers to tax questions. We help you understand and meet your federal tax responsibilities.

05/19/2021

The first monthly payment of the expanded and newly advanceable Child Tax Credit from the American Rescue Plan will be made on July 15. Payments will continue through December 2021.
Families with a child under 6 will receive $300 a month for that child.
Families with a child 6 and over will receive $250 a month for that child.

05/15/2021

The Internal Revenue Service is starting to provide tax refunds to taxpayers who paid taxes on their 2020 unemployment benefits that recent legislation later excluded from taxable income.

In March, after passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, the IRS said it would recalculate the taxes and refund the money starting in May for any taxpayers who filed early and paid taxes on their 2020 unemployment compensation before the law had passed. The IRS asked tax professionals not to file amended tax returns for those clients, but to wait until the IRS refunded the funds this spring and summer.

04/01/2021

Well, the IRS said it will issue refunds due to the Unemployment Compensation Exclusion (UCE) starting in May.
I have called all of my clients affected by this.
Please watch for your refund and check to be sure you receive the amount you are entitled to get.
Illinois has not said when they will begin sending refunds due to the UCE.

01/02/2021

Hello everyone.
Well, 2021 is finally here. Here’s hoping it will be tons better than 2020.
It is also the beginning of tax season.
I am happy to say that I am keeping my charge for a basic return at $75 again this year. The $75 includes the federal return and the residence state return. It also includes e-filing the returns.
The only things that cause the $75 fee to go up are returns that require more time to prepare or returns that need additional state returns filed with them. Approximately 90% of my returns are basic returns.

There is a new deduction for tax year 2020 that most people will be able to claim, so I want to mention it here. Everyone will be able to take a $300 above-the-line deduction for charitable contributions "even if you don't itemize deductions". Above-the-line deductions reduce Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). These contributions have to be monetary and the normal qualifications for charitable contributions apply.
Every little bit helps, right?

I thought I would post this again because it still applies today (1/2/2021).
If anyone out there is a self-employed person (independent contractor) and is out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic, you can use the following link to apply for unemployment benefits in Illinois.
https://www2.illinois.gov/ides/pages/file-for-pua.aspx

I’m sure everyone knows about the $600 stimulus per person and $600 per dependent being sent out by the federal government. A married couple with two children would receive $2400.

The PPP program is back in 2021 and even though you applied for it in 2020 and received it, you can apply for it again if your gross income has dropped by 25% or more between 2019 and 2020. There are more details to consider, but this is basically how it works.

I have mailed all of my regular tax clients with email addresses on file a tax organizer to help them gather all their 2020 tax information needed to prepare their tax return.
If anyone reading this would like a tax organizer emailed to them, just private message me and give me your email address.

Thanks, and Happy New Year……………………………….

If you have applied for Regular Unemployment Benefits and have been denied within twelve months of today’s date, you can now file for PUA.