Personal Tax Preparation

Filing a Form 1040 is rarely hard because of the arithmetic. It is hard because the rules move, the paperwork arrives from six different places, and one missing document costs you a refund or earns you a letter. Our tax preparation in Coral Springs, FL is done by IRS Enrolled Agents (EA) and CPAs, in English or Spanish, from one office on N University Dr.

You bring what you have. We tell you what is missing while there is still time to fix it.

Do you actually have to file?

More people have to file than assume they do — and some who assume they do not are the ones leaving money behind. The IRS states the test plainly: you generally need to file if "your income is over the filing requirement" or you have "over $400 in net earnings from self-employment" (IRS, Check if you need to file a tax return). For tax year 2025, the gross income line for taxpayers under 65 was $15,750 single, $23,625 head of household and $31,500 married filing jointly — and just $5 if you are married filing separately.

File anyway, even under the line, if federal tax was withheld from your paycheck, if you made estimated payments, or if you qualify for a refundable credit. That is your money sitting with the IRS, and it does not come back on its own.

Florida has no state income tax. You still file federally.

If you have just moved here from New York, New Jersey or Illinois, this part is genuinely new: "Florida does not impose personal income tax, inheritance tax, gift taxes, or tax on intangible personal property" (Florida Department of Revenue, Tax Information for New Residents, GT-800025, R. 08/25). There is no Florida return to file.

What it does not mean is that the year you moved takes care of itself. A part-year return in the state you left, income still sourced there, a home sold on the way out — those follow you across the line. Tell us the date you moved at the first appointment. It changes the answer.

What to bring

The IRS asks you to wait to file until your documents are actually in hand. In practice, that means:

• "Forms W-2 from your employer(s)" — every job, including the one you left in March.
• "Forms 1099 from banks, issuing agencies and other payers": 1099-NEC and 1099-K for contract or gig work, 1099-INT and 1099-DIV, 1099-R for retirement distributions, 1099-G for unemployment.
• Form 1098 for mortgage interest, 1098-T for tuition, 1098-E for student loan interest.
• The records behind your deductions: charitable receipts, medical bills, property tax, business mileage and expenses.
• Form 1095-A if your health coverage came through the Marketplace.
• A Social Security number or ITIN for everyone on the return, last year's return, and any letter the IRS has sent you.

The missing number for a spouse or dependent is what stops a return cold. If that person is not eligible for an SSN, the answer is an ITIN application, which is filed attached to the return itself — so it belongs in this conversation, not a later one.

The deadline, and what an extension really buys

The individual return is due in April: for a 2025 calendar year return, "this is April 15, 2026, for most people" (Form 4868, 2025). Miss it and the meter starts. The failure to file penalty is "5% of the tax due (less any tax paid on time and available credits) for each month or partial month the return is late", accruing "up to a maximum of 25%" (IRS, Failure to File Penalty).

You can buy time with Form 4868 — "6 more months", to "October 15, 2026, for most calendar year taxpayers" — and you do not have to justify it: "You don't have to explain why you're asking for the extension." But here is the line that catches people every single year, in the IRS's own words: "Form 4868 doesn't extend the time to pay taxes."

If you owe, you still pay in April. Interest is the part with no way out: "you'll owe interest on any tax not paid by the due date of your return", and it runs even if you had a good reason for not paying on time (Form 4868, 2025). The late payment penalty — "0.5% of the unpaid taxes for each month or part of a month the tax remains unpaid", capped at 25% (IRS, Failure to Pay Penalty) — is the part that is not automatic during the extension: you are "considered to have reasonable cause for the period covered by this automatic extension" if at least "90% of the total tax" is paid by the April due date and "the remaining balance is paid with your return" (Form 4868, 2025). Come in under that 90% and the penalty runs from April. So pay your best estimate in April, not a token amount. An extension is for paperwork you do not have yet. It is not a payment plan.

If you skipped a year, or three

Unfiled years do not quietly expire — but your refund does: "You must file your return to claim it within 3 years of the return due date." And staying silent invites the IRS to do the math without you: "If you fail to file, we may file a substitute return for you. This return might not give you credit for deductions and exemptions you may be entitled to receive" (IRS, Filing past due tax returns). That version is built only from what payers reported, so it is almost always worse than the one you would have filed.

Bring the notice if one has already arrived. Filing the back years is usually step one; if the IRS has moved beyond letters, that becomes representation before the IRS, which is separate work with a separate conversation.

Why an EA or CPA rather than software

An Enrolled Agent is licensed by the IRS and has, in the IRS's own words, "unlimited practice rights". Software will file your return. It will not speak to the IRS for you afterwards. We keep Enrolled Agents and CPAs in the same office, working in both languages, so the person who prepared your return is the person who can stand behind it. The firm was founded in 2009, and the team brings over 17 years of combined professional experience.

On price: we quote before we start, and the fee follows the forms your situation actually needs — a single W-2 return and a return with a Schedule C, rental income and three states are not the same job. If you are self-employed, that return also raises a question software never asks, which is whether you should still be a sole proprietor at all; that is where incorporation in Florida starts.

Book your tax preparation in Coral Springs, FL

Call +1 (754) 244-3993 or write to info@accountingmaxservices.com and bring whatever you have so far. We are at 1700 N University Dr STE 210, Coral Springs, Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 17:00, and we also serve Tamarac, Coconut Creek, Parkland, Margate, Sunrise, Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale. The first consultation is free.