Questions & Answers

Go to File Your Taxes and choose I’m a returning client. Enter your name and the email we have on file. You’ll get a confirmation right away, and we’ll send your secure portal invitation. Upload your documents, click I’m finished, and we’ll take it from there.

Choose I’m new on the File Your Taxes page, or use the Become a Client form for our other services. Tell us what you need and we’ll email you next steps and a secure portal invitation. A call is optional.

That tells us your file is ready. We review it, typically within 24–48 hours, and ask in the portal if we need anything else. When your return is ready, you’ll get an email to review it, sign electronically and approve filing.

No. Everything can be done online. If you’d like to talk first, book a free 15-minute call (opens in a new tab).

Yes. Upload anytime. The IRS usually opens e-filing in late January and announces the exact date in January, so your return can be ready to file as soon as it does.

Log in to your client portal to download the returns and documents we’ve filed for you. If you can’t find an older return, send us a message and we’ll help.

Yes. Mac Neal LLC serves clients virtually. Each engagement confirms the state, business, tax or registration-specific scope before work begins.

Once you click I’m finished in your portal, we review your file, typically within 24–48 hours, and ask in the portal if anything is missing. When your return is ready, you’ll get an email to review it, sign electronically and approve filing.

Yes. Upload what you have now and add the rest when it arrives. Click I’m finished only when everything is in, or tell us in the portal what’s still coming.

Yes. We prepare federal and state returns, including returns for people who moved, work remotely or earn income in more than one state.

We can file one for you. An individual extension moves the filing deadline to October 15, 2027, but any tax you owe is still due April 15, 2027. An extension gives you more time to file, not more time to pay.

If something needs to change before filing, we update the return. If a change is needed after filing, we can prepare an amended return.

Yes. We prepare and review prior-year returns. Choose An earlier year on the File Your Taxes page, or tell us in your message.

Use the IRS Where’s My Refund? (opens in a new tab) tool. It’s usually available about 24 hours after your e-filed return is accepted and updates once a day. Most refunds arrive within 21 days, though some take longer.

Each state has its own refund tool. Find your state’s official tax agency on our IRS & State Tax Agencies page. You’ll usually need your Social Security number or ITIN and the exact refund amount.

If you’re self-employed or have income with no tax withheld, you may need quarterly payments. The last payment for 2026 income is due January 15, 2027. Our free 2026 Withholding Checkup and the Quarterly Estimated Taxes guide (opens in a new tab) can help, or ask us to review your situation.

For tax year 2026, the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $24,150 for heads of household and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly. Itemizing only helps when your deductions add up to more. We calculate both and use whichever saves you more.

Your marginal rate is the rate on your last dollar of income. Your effective rate is your total tax divided by your income, so it’s almost always lower than your marginal rate.

Usually, yes. A credit reduces your tax dollar for dollar, while a deduction reduces the income that’s taxed. A $1,000 credit saves $1,000; a $1,000 deduction saves $100 to $370, depending on your tax bracket.

Only if you itemize, and only the unreimbursed amount above 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. Eligible costs include medical and dental care, prescriptions, mental health services, and mileage and parking for medical visits.

Three tools do most of the work: adjustments such as 401(k), IRA and HSA contributions; deductions; and credits such as the Child Tax Credit and the child and dependent care credit. Planning during the year gives you more options than waiting until filing season.

It helps most when you have more than one income source, self-employment or a business, investments or crypto, rental property or retirement distributions, or when the rules change, as they have for 2025 through 2028.

The 2025 tax law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, shapes the returns you’ll file in 2027. Highlights:

• Standard deduction: $16,100 single, $24,150 head of household, $32,200 married filing jointly.
• Child Tax Credit: $2,200 per child, with up to $1,700 refundable.
• New deductions through 2028 for qualified tips (up to $25,000), qualified overtime pay (up to $12,500, or $25,000 for joint filers), interest on a loan for a qualifying new car (up to $10,000) and an extra $6,000 for people 65 and older. Income limits apply.
• State and local tax (SALT) deduction cap: $40,400, reduced at higher incomes.
• New in 2026: a deduction of up to $1,000 ($2,000 for joint filers) for cash gifts to charity, even if you don’t itemize.
• Dependent care FSA limit: $7,500.

We check which of these apply to you during preparation and explain the effect before you file.

It depends on your income, filing status, deductions and credits. The new deductions for tips, overtime, car-loan interest and seniors can lower your tax if you qualify, so upload pay stubs, W-2s and loan statements. We’ll explain any changes when you review your return.

Yes. Clean vehicle credits ended for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025, and the energy-efficient home improvement and residential clean energy credits ended for work completed after 2025. If you bought or installed before those dates, the credit may still apply to that year.

Payment apps and online marketplaces send Form 1099-K when you receive more than $20,000 across more than 200 payments for goods or services in a year. Some states set lower limits. Business income is taxable whether or not you get a form, and money from friends and family for shared costs isn’t income.

For payments made in 2026 and later, the threshold for Forms 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC rises from $600 to $2,000. Keep collecting a Form W-9 from every contractor before the first payment.

New tax-advantaged savings accounts for children. Contributions can be made starting July 4, 2026, and U.S.-citizen children born from 2025 through 2028 may qualify for a one-time $1,000 federal deposit. Ask us whether to make the election on your return.

Starting prices: personal returns $250, senior returns $200, student returns $150, business returns $450, S-corp or C-corp returns $800 (including a bookkeeping tie-out and one state return) and partnership returns (Form 1065) $1,300 (up to 2 K-1s). Multi-state returns add $200 per state. Your written quote confirms the fee for your forms, states and complexity.

Yes. Additional schedules, investments, multi-state filings or bookkeeping cleanup can change the fee. We explain it up front, before you approve filing.

Payment is due before e-filing, after you’ve reviewed and approved your completed return.

Not automatically. Planning, tax returns, bookkeeping cleanup and payroll work are scoped separately unless your agreement combines them. A tax planning session is $150 per hour.

Plans include transaction categorization, reconciliations and monthly financial statements. Account limits, transaction limits, payroll journal entries and payables and receivables support vary by plan.

Compare your monthly transaction volume, number of accounts and reporting needs with the published bookkeeping plans. Historical cleanup is scoped separately.

Yes. We first review the number of periods, account balances, missing documents and the condition of the accounting file. You get a separate cleanup scope and quote before work begins.

Yes. We work with small businesses, including LLCs and S-corps, and confirm the accounting, owner-transaction, payroll journal and reporting requirements during onboarding.

Don’t assume a tax return is included. Monthly bookkeeping and tax preparation are scoped separately unless your written engagement specifically combines them.

Yes. Reconciled records make tax preparation faster and more accurate, but a return isn’t automatically included in a monthly bookkeeping engagement.

Use the secure onboarding instructions we send you. Don’t send bank passwords, Social Security numbers or sensitive tax documents through a general inquiry form or ordinary email.

Not automatically. Historical cleanup and catch-up work are quoted separately unless the engagement explicitly includes them.

The scope depends on the records available, number of accounts, transaction activity and prior reporting. We review the condition of the file before committing to a schedule.

No. If corrected books may affect a return you already filed, we flag it for a separate tax review and engagement.

Not unless it’s specifically included in your written scope. Software subscriptions and third-party charges are confirmed separately.

Yes. Training can focus on your team’s current file, tasks, responsibilities and specific questions.

Historical corrections may need a separate cleanup engagement. We identify that need during the assessment.

Bookkeeping maintains the underlying records. Controller support focuses on close quality and reporting controls; CFO advisory uses those records for planning and business decisions.

Yes. Responsibilities, access, review procedures and the handoff between your team and Mac Neal LLC are agreed at the beginning.

No. Forecasts are decision tools based on stated assumptions, not guarantees of revenue, profitability, financing or investment performance.

It can be scoped for that purpose, but the lender sets its own requirements. We don’t guarantee funding or acceptance.

No. Projections and budgeting are management planning support, not an audit opinion or a regulated assurance engagement.

It depends on your business and the decisions involved. Significant changes in results or assumptions should prompt a review.

Yes. Accurate books give the planning conversation a better starting point. Bookkeeping, planning and tax preparation are scoped separately unless your agreement combines them.

No. Recommendations depend on your records, eligibility, the law and how they’re put into practice. We explain assumptions and trade-offs rather than promise a refund or a fixed reduction.

No. Earlier conversations leave more time to review information and coordinate actions. The best starting point is an accurate picture of your current finances.

After an initial scope discussion, we confirm the planning work, review cadence, fee and exclusions before the engagement begins.

No. We provide audit preparation and financial reporting support. Independent audit, review, compilation or other assurance work that requires specific licensing is engaged separately with a qualified provider.

Yes, where authorized. The engagement defines the records, preparation responsibilities, access and communication process.

No. CFTC and NFA examination readiness is tailored to the registration category and regulatory control environment and has its own service.

Yes. We build website assistants that answer common questions and capture leads, and internal assistants that answer staff questions from your own procedures. They can be guided (scripted answers) or AI-powered, in English and Spanish. The assistant on this website is one we built.

QuickBooks Online, Zapier, Make, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, ClickUp, ActiveCampaign and leading AI platforms such as OpenAI and Claude. When no tool fits, we can build a custom web app.

We don’t put client or financial data into public AI tools, we use business plans with data controls, and access is limited to the people who need it. Sensitive files move through a secure portal, never ordinary email.

You do. Accounts are opened in your business’s name, and you get the documentation to run, change or hand off each automation.

Most work starts with the fixed-fee Systems & Automation Diagnostic. Builds and reviews are quoted as a fixed fee after the diagnostic or a free call, and advisory is a monthly retainer. You’ll know the price before any work starts.

We help you get ready for one. Mac Neal LLC provides audit-readiness and internal controls reviews and examination readiness. We don’t issue audit opinions on financial statements, which only a licensed CPA firm can provide.

No. Consulting can be a focused project with a defined deliverable. Ongoing controller or CFO support adds a recurring financial management and review cadence.

Yes. Automation Sprints and AI Assistant Builds include the build, testing and handoff. What can be connected depends on your systems’ access and integration options, which we confirm before quoting.

No. Follow the notice instructions and watch its deadline. An inquiry to Mac Neal LLC isn’t an extension, an accepted engagement or a filed response.

Representation depends on the issue, the practitioner’s eligibility and the required authorization. We confirm the scope and coordinate with qualified counsel or an authorized tax professional when needed.

No. Any relief or payment option depends on the facts and the tax authority’s rules and decision.

Yes. State-notice support is scoped to the agency, issue, records, deadlines and any authorization requirements.

It depends on your income, owners, payroll and plans. Every formation package starts with an entity selection consultation, and our free guide LLC vs. S-Corp vs. C-Corp (opens in a new tab) walks through the trade-offs.

The single-state LLC package starts at $650, the S-corp formation and election package at $850 and the C-corp package at $950, plus state filing fees, which usually run $50 to $500 depending on the state.

No. Ongoing compliance such as annual reports and franchise tax filings is separate unless your written engagement includes it. Our free Business Tax & Compliance Checklist (opens in a new tab) lists what to keep up with.

No. Entity selection and tax election eligibility depend on your facts, and complex legal documents should be reviewed by your attorney.

No. Payment type, income source, recipient status and applicable exceptions matter. Service income is generally sourced where the services are performed; the location of the payer or bank account alone doesn’t decide the answer.

Start with a foreign-payment review if your records or obligations are unclear. Choose a focused service when you already know the form or transaction involved.

Yes. The engagement can focus on reconstruction, documentation and reporting support while your team keeps other responsibilities. We agree on the handoffs before work begins.

The focus is U.S. foreign-payment and information-reporting compliance. Complex foreign corporations, trusts, transfer pricing or foreign-country tax questions may need separately engaged specialists.

Certain 25%-foreign-owned U.S. corporations, including foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entities for these rules, and certain foreign corporations with a U.S. trade or business may need it when reportable transactions occur, subject to exceptions.

Yes. A lack of taxable profit doesn’t by itself remove information-reporting obligations. Owner funding and other reportable transactions can matter.

A foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entity that must file Form 5472 generally attaches it to a pro forma Form 1120 under the applicable instructions.

No. Other federal, state or owner-level filings need their own review. We identify coordination needs and agree on what the engagement includes.

Form 1042 summarizes the withholding agent’s annual withholding tax information; Form 1042-S reports applicable payments and withholding for each foreign recipient. Reconcile the two where both apply.

Yes. Some payments remain reportable even when an exemption or treaty provision reduces withholding to zero.

We can scope a reconstruction using bank activity, invoices and available records, identify missing evidence and document unresolved items before preparation.

No. Preparation, review, authorization and submission are separate steps. Filing responsibilities and confirmation of acceptance are set in the engagement.

No. W-8BEN generally documents an individual foreign beneficial owner; W-8BEN-E generally documents an entity. Other forms may apply depending on the recipient and income.

Generally, no. The recipient gives the W-8 form to the requesting payer, which keeps it on file.

Generally from signature through the last day of the third following calendar year, unless a change in circumstances makes it incorrect.

No. Documentation is one part of the analysis. Payment type, source, recipient status and any valid exemption or treaty claim still matter.

Yes. Section 1446(a) withholding generally turns on effectively connected taxable income allocable to foreign partners, not on whether cash was distributed.

Form 8804 reports the partnership’s annual withholding tax; Form 8805 gives each foreign partner income and credit information; Form 8813 is the payment voucher.

No. The partnership return and foreign-partner withholding support are coordinated and must be expressly included in the scope.

Transfers may raise separate section 1446(f) issues. Tell us about the transaction so its review and any specialist support can be scoped.

Generally 15% of the amount realized on a foreign person’s sale of a U.S. real property interest, subject to exceptions and special rules. It’s not simply a percentage of profit.

Not necessarily. Withholding and the seller’s final tax are different and are reconciled on the return. A refund isn’t guaranteed.

An exception or an IRS withholding certificate may apply in some cases. Eligibility, documentation and timing need review, and a reduction can’t be promised.

No. We support accounting and tax-reporting coordination. The parties agree on who handles withholding, payment, submission and legal closing responsibilities.

No. Relief depends on the facts, the rules and the IRS decision. Penalties may still be assessed, and more correspondence may follow.

No. Filing and correction procedures vary by form, tax year and circumstances, and existing IRS contact matters too.

No. The service is preparation and documentation support. Filing acceptance, penalty relief, refunds and tax savings aren’t promised.

Representation is scoped separately and handled by an appropriately authorized, credentialed representative where required.

Start with a regulatory discovery call or the readiness diagnostic. Bring a business model summary, registration status, systems list and target dates, and use a secure channel for confidential records.

No. The diagnostic defines the gaps and build sequence; implementation is scoped separately. The diagnostic fee is credited in full against a build started within 60 days, subject to the engagement terms.

No. Mac Neal LLC is an independent service provider, not a regulator or law firm. Counsel and regulators keep their roles.

No. Requirements depend on registration category, activities and business model. We confirm what applies before building the workstream.

No. It depends on the category, customer-fund model and activities. We don’t apply an FCM checklist to every IB, CPO or CTA.

The authorized parties and submission process are defined in the engagement. Preparation doesn’t mean Mac Neal LLC is connected to a regulator’s production filing system.

No. Management keeps its responsibilities. The engagement documents the work performed, decision rights and escalation process.

No. Regulators set the examination scope and outcome. Our work supports preparation and remediation within the agreed engagement.

It depends on deadlines, access and the issue. Counsel or another qualified specialist may need to take part.

No. Examination readiness and mock-request support don’t provide an independent audit or assurance opinion.

A template can provide structure, but each procedure must match the firm’s activities, responsibilities, systems and applicable requirements.

No. The firm also needs evidence that the process ran and that required reviews, approvals and exception handling happened.

No. Roles and decisions are expressly scoped; legal advice and management’s responsibilities stay with the appropriate parties.

No. The prototype supports assembly, calculation and draft preparation. Live data connections and any regulator submission need separate validation and authorization.

Review and approval controls are defined for each workflow. We don’t promise unattended regulatory filings.

No. A walkthrough explains the concept. Build scope, data access, testing, support and ongoing responsibilities need a separate agreement.

Yes. Documents move through an encrypted client portal, never ordinary email, and access is limited to the people working on your file.

No. For your protection, tax documents go through your secure client portal only. Ordinary email isn’t a safe place for Social Security numbers, bank details or tax forms.

Your completed returns and uploaded documents stay available in your secure portal after filing, so you can download them anytime.

Don’t click links or give information. The IRS first contacts you by mail and won’t demand gift cards or threaten arrest. Check your IRS Online Account (opens in a new tab), or upload the letter to your portal and we’ll take a look.