Tax Intake Form

Dependent Information

Account Holder Full Name

Thank you for choosing Lotus Financial Services to assist you with filing your 2024 Taxes. This letter confirms the terms of the engagement and outlines the nature and extent of the services we will provide.

We will prepare your federal and state* income tax returns (*if applies) . We will depend on you to provide the information we need to prepare complete and accurate returns. We may ask you to clarify some items but will not audit or otherwise verify the data you submit. The Questionnaire/Organizer this is enclosed is to help you collect the data required for your return. The Questionnaire/Organizer will help you avoid overlooking important information. By using it, you will contribute to the efficient preparation of your returns and help minimize the cost of our services.

We will perform accounting services only as needed to prepare your tax returns. Our work will not include procedures to find defalcations or other irregularities. Accordingly, our engagement should not be relied upon to disclose errors, fraud, or other illegal acts, though it may be necessary for you to clarify some of the information you submit. We will inform you of any material errors, fraud, or other illegal acts we discover.

The law imposes penalties when taxpayers underestimate their tax liability. Call us if you have concerns about such penalties.

Should we encounter instances of unclear tax law, or of potential conflicts in the interpretation of the law, we will outline the reasonable courses of action and the risks and consequences of each. We will ultimately adopt, on your behalf, the alternative you select. Moreover, we cannot be responsible for issues arising from any income, expenses or other information not provided to us at the time of tax preparation or prior to the filing of your returns.

The charges for our services are on a “per-form” basis with references to time spent by our professional staff to perform the work, and costs incurred for related supplies and expenses, including copy charges, long distance phone charges and computer processing charges. You will be given a full break down with the total of Tax Preparation charges and Refund Advance Fees (If applied and approved) before the return is submitted. PLEASE NOTE. If you change your mind and choose not to allow us to file your return and we have fully completed it, there will be a charge of $75.00 that will be due immediately! Should a situation arise where services have been rendered but payment is not received and our firm is forced to or elects to seek legal assistance to collect fees due to us, please note that you may be asked to reimburse our firm for the legal costs to collect any outstanding balance due.

Also please note that an additional fee of one hundred and fifty dollars may be applied to certain accounts who begin the preparation process after September 25th each year. This fee is to cover the additional labor and administrative costs that arise when beginning a tax return so close to a terminal filing deadline. Should arrangements in writing have been made prior to September 25th or should arrangements have been made in writing with Lotus Financial Services at any time this fee may be waived upon request.

We also have fees based on the time required to help in other tax situations, which is billed at standard billing rates plus out-of-pocket expenses. Invoices are due and payable upon presentation unless you have opted to have your preparation fee taken from your Tax Refund. All accounts that had their tax preparation fees requested to be taken from their refund and end up not getting funded (Due to audit, offset, etc.), getting a mailed check from the IRS, or any other situation what causes your fees to not get paid, thirty (30) days after said issue all fees are subject to interest charges to the extent permitted by state law.

Please note that this engagement, and this firm’s services, include but are not limited to general and annual income tax related services. Unless specifically requested by you and agreed upon in writing we do not provide any services related to payroll tax, sales tax, excise tax, and personal or real property tax. Nor can we be relied upon to determine or report your compliance, or lack thereof, with any Federal, State, or Local business-related laws, health care or human resources regulations, retirement plan compliance or any business, property, or professional permitting/licensing.

We will return your original records to you at the end of this engagement if you have provided original records to us and not copied, scanned or pictures. Lotus Financial Services will store these records, along with all supporting documents, in a secure location. We retain copies of your records and our work papers from your engagement for up to seven years, after which these documents will be destroyed.

You should retain all documents, cancelled checks and other data that form the basis of income and deductions and other tax return forms, schedules, elections and disclosures. Such documents include but are not limited to, proper records to support deductions claimed for meals, entertainment, travel, business gifts, charitable contributions, and vehicle use (if applicable), as well as bank and credit card statements. These records will be necessary to prove the accuracy and completeness of the returns to taxing authorities, should your returns be selected for examination. We recommend keeping all documents and copies of your returns for a minimum of five years after you file your tax returns or after their due date, whichever is later.

Upon completion of your returns and after you have paid your tax preparation fees (Or agreed to have them taken from your refund) we will provide you with a copy of your returns as well as the e-file signature authorizations and any applicable payment vouchers to complete your tax filing. You should review the completed returns carefully. If you see anything that requires changing, please bring it to our attention immediately and we will either explain the matter to you or correct it without delay and provide you with new, corrected copies. If you are satisfied with the returns and see no issues, please sign, and date the e-file signature authorizations and return them to this office immediately. Please note that all taxing authorities prohibit us from transmitting your tax returns without signed authorization from you. Please also note that if your returns can not be e-filed we will provide you with paper copies to sign and mail to the taxing authorities.

By signing this engagement, you are agreeing to compensate Lotus Financial Services for services you have requested. In the event you terminate the engagement prior to the completion of your tax accounting work, Lotus Financial Services reserves the right to invoice you for any out-of-pocket expenses, time at our hourly rate, or other expenses that were incurred during this engagement. If you sought in person consultation services, received advisory services by phone or email, sought representation work or received any tax accounting services, by signing this engagement letter you are agreeing to compensate Lotus Financial Services for these services, even if you terminated the engagement prior to our firm completing the work requested or required.

Please be advised that if you receive any correspondence from a taxing authority that pertains to a tax return prepared by this firm, we will be happy to address this matter on your behalf. Included in the cost of your tax preparation is 30 minutes of correspondence work per tax year at no additional charge. During that 30-minutes we will assess your situation and apprise you of the course of action we believe is best to take. If we can also compose and send off a reply to the appropriate taxing authority, then we will certainly do so. If the matter or issue will involve more than 30 minutes of work, each additional hour (or fraction thereof) will be billed at a standard hourly rate of one hundred and fifty dollars ($150) per 60-minute hour. When possible, we will do our best to inform you if we believe your issue will require more than 30 minutes to handle, however there may be a situation when we are unable to inform you in advance. Even if we are unable to inform you, the standard hourly rate listed above will apply and is payable upon completion of this work. At any time in the process, you may choose to have us cease our work in connection with your correspondence, but we will require said request in writing with your name and signature included. If, during the course of this work, it becomes apparent the correspondence received was due to an error or omission by this office there will be no charge for handling the correspondence regardless of the time involved. Please note that except in cases where our office is deemed at fault, a flat $50 dollar handling charge will be assessed for all matters where our assistance is requested in handling any such correspondence from any taxing authority. This charge is not included in your annual tax preparation fees and is payable upon completion of our work in connection with said correspondence.

Please also note that audit/examination representation work is not included in the tax preparation fee and is considered a different engagement with a separate fee structure. If you have any questions regarding the specifics of audit/examination representation please feel free to ask any time before, during or after your appointment. Again, if your returns are audited or examined by any taxing authority, for any reason, the fee you paid for their preparation does not include the costs to represent you with regard to any audit or examination. You can opt in to receive Audit Protection for an additional fee of $49.95.

Lotus Financial Services takes your privacy and personal information very seriously. We will take whatever steps are necessary to safeguard that information and will never sell or disclose said information to anyone outside the firm for any reason. Please note that while we will protect your confidential information, our firm, from time to time, will need to utilize some of your information for internal purposes not related directly to your current year tax preparation. An example of this usage would be mailing you a newsletter or holiday card to your confidential home address or perhaps a personal phone call to wish you or a member of your family greetings or a happy birthday. By signing this letter, you agree to allow our staff limited access to your information for such informal, non-tax preparation related situations.

Please also note that in an effort to help combat the increasing threat of identity theft and to ensure the returns filed by our firm are accurate, true, and pertain to the proper client or taxpayer, Lotus Financial Services reserves the right to request, as condition of our providing services, certain documents to verify your identity and the identity of others you may be listing on your tax returns. This is for your protection and for the protection of your spouse and/or dependents and these documents will be safeguarded to the best of our ability and in accordance with our document protection procedures. Such documents requested by our firm may include but are not limited to; government issued photo identification, Social Security Cards, birth certificates, or visa and immigration related documents.

If you agree with the terms of our engagement as described in this letter, please sign below. Please be aware that by signing below and giving us your income tax information, you expressly agree to the terms of this engagement letter. We want to thank you for putting your trust in Lotus Financial Services and look forward to a long and mutually satisfying relationship.

Federal law requires this consent form be provided to you. Unless authorized by law, we cannot use, without your consent, your tax return information for purposes other than the preparation and filing of your tax return. However, federal law also prohibits us from revealing any personal or financial information to any third party. Therefore as a matter of fact, we will never reveal your financial or personal information in any way, to anyone, unless you specifically request we do so, and provide in writing to us the specific person or persons to whom you wish that disclose to be made, which is done on a wholly separate consent form from this. For the purposes of this consent form please note we are seeking consent only to satisfy requirements set forth by federal law so we may speak with you on the phone, send you email correspondences of any kind, send you mailings, newsletters, email reminders, holiday and occasional cards and greetings, and reminders of upcoming deadlines, etc.

You are not required to complete this form. If we obtain your signature on this form by conditioning our service on your consent, your consent will not be valid. Your consent is valid for the amount of time that you specify. If you do not specify the duration of your consent, your consent is valid for a period of three years from the date you have signed the consent.

The undersigned hereby consents to the use; by Lotus Financial Services, its owner, employees, and staff; of any and all tax return information pertaining to:

• Direct questions, inquiries or requests you make regarding your tax returns, situation, or issues.

• Requests you make for copies of your documents, figures, numbers, or information.

• Upon your direct request in order to connect you with another professional in another field or profession so you may gain further information on a certain topic not available or in the realm of expertise of this firm.

• Notification of important tax law changes.

• Notification of changes or information that will impact our engagement, such as a change of firm website address, email address, physical location, or other such contact, biographical or geographical information.

• Other reasonable business purposes including but not limited to: appointment reminders, holiday mailings, birthday greetings and other informational mailings.

The tax information may not be disclosed or used by Lotus Financial Services, its owner, employees, or staff, for any purpose other than that which is permitted by this consent document.

If you believe your tax return information has been disclosed or used improperly in a manner unauthorized by law or without your permission, you may contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) by telephone at 1-800-366-4484 by email at [email protected].