How We Work Together Tax Preparation
1. Gather your documents!
We will provide a list of income items and deductions that applied to you the previous year via Karbon checklist. Once you have a majority of your documents please start step 2! Don’t wait for a final document because our calendar fills up quick!
2. Submit your documents to us!
You can get us your documents online via your Karbon checklist [Our preferred method], you can drop off your documents to our new office [Please schedule a time with us at abellatax.com], or you can mail them to us! Address: 6100 219th St SW Ste 480, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043 Do not email tax documents. Based on IRS recommendations, we follow a no-click email policy, prohibiting staff from opening attachments, to protect your information and ours..
3. Schedule your Wrap Appointment!
This must be for 2-3 weeks from the day we receive your documents. Appointments can be made by phone or abellatax.com.
This step is what triggers the start of work on your tax return! Your return is not in process until you schedule your wrap appointment even if you’ve uploaded all of your documents. It’s important that you give us that 2-3 week window and schedule as soon as you can!
NOTE: If your only source of income is a business that we handle financials for, we still need you to schedule your wrap meeting to trigger the start of work on your tax return
We will contact you to request any missing information we are aware of. We will provide a draft of your return for review, if we feel it’s fairly complete.
Please try to provide missing information more than 1 business day prior to your appointment.
4. Meet with your tax advisor!
This meeting is scheduled for 25 minutes. We will ask additional questions to ensure your tax return is correct and complete. We will go over your return with you to make sure you understand your tax situation. We will also run a preliminary projection of the new year for you.
5. Finalize and sign your return!
Once any final questions have been answered and any missing pieces completed; you’ll have two options for signing your return:
E-Signature – you’ll receive a link, answer questions to verify your identity (required by the IRS) and electronically sign.
Paper signature – you’ll receive either a hard copy or electronic version of Form 8879 to sign and return. We can accept these signed documents by Karbon checklist, mail, or drop off.
6. E Filing
We will e-file your return with the IRS when we have received your signature. The IRS typically acknowledges the filing within 24 hours.
Refunds are generally issued within 21 days. You can track your refund at IRS.gov/refunds If you owe, you may pay electronically at irs.gov/payments. We do not schedule IRS payments on your behalf.
YOU WILL BE RECEIVING A 8821 TO SIGN WITH YOUR TAX RETURN. THIS WILL ALLOW US TO PULL IRS TRANSCRIPTS TO MAKE SURE ANY PAYMENTS ARE APPLIED CORRECTLY
DEADLINES:
January 10
Last day for business owners to get information to us for 1099 filings [IRS Due Date January 31]
February 15
Last day to get business information to us for 1120/1120S or 1065 (S corporations and partnership) filings [IRS Due Date March 15]
March 15
Last day to get individual tax information [IRS Due Date April 15]. Information received after these cut off dates will be incorporated as soon as possible but may require an extension.
IF YOU HAVE A BUSINESS AND NEED TO ISSUE 1099S TO LANDLORDS, SUBCONTRACTORS, OR OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS, THEY NEED TO BE ISSUED BY THE IRS DEADLINE!
EXTENSIONS
If we are working on your file close to the deadline, we will file the extension for you automatically. Please note: An extension is an extension of time to file, NOT an extension of time to PAY. All tax liability is due by April 15th. Penalties and interest accrue starting April 15.
Be aware that corporate (and partnership) returns carry a $245 per month, per shareholder/partner penalty for late filings, even though no tax is due.
Personal returns carry a late filing penalty of 5% of the tax due per month late up to 25% in addition to late payment penalties and interest. There are no penalties for filing late if you are due a refund.
DEADLINE FOR ALL INFORMATION ON EXTENDED TAX RETURNS: AUGUST 1
We require all 2025 returns to be wrapped by August 31. If this is a problem, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can make arrangements, possibly to help you transition firm.
If your return is only incomplete due to late K-1s, that’s fine, but we need to have all of the rest of your documents and need to have completed your wrap meeting prior to August 31.
Our firm is forward-focused on proactive planning and can’t effectively complete Fall 2026 planning if we’re still preparing 2025 tax returns and chasing clients for information. Thank you for understanding.