12/10/2020
To my dear clients,
It is with a heavy heart that I write to tell you that I have chosen to “retire” from the tax and law practice.
As many of you know, I began my career in the tax world and have had great enjoyment being your tax professional. I have been offering tax planning, preparation, and dispute resolution services since I was 25 years old or, said another way, since 1990!!!!! That’s a 30 year career as a tax professional, and 30 years that I have been lucky enough to work with some of you.
The tax practice has been my baby and pride and joy. So, it is difficult to walk away from it. At the same time, times have changed and it is increasingly difficult to navigate the administrative requirements that the tax authorities place on us tax professionals. Those administrative requirements, although important, are quite burdensome, especially on small offices. I find myself required to be an encryption level IT security professional and money transfer agent in addition to office manager and professional. It’s those administrative burdens that have been weighing me down and I don’t feel that I am able to focus on providing the high level planning and advice that you deserve.
While I was considering “retiring” from private practice, one of my law clients, a h**p farmer, has seen his business explode over the last year and approached me to become corporate counsel within his company. I’ve been working with him part-time over the summer and fall months and am really enjoying the change of pace and change of scenery, so to speak. And, have decided to work with this one client full-time going forward.
In anticipation of this likely change in my professional life, we (Charity, Rachel and I) joined the Sohler Whitman firm earlier this year. Some of you may remember RJ Sohler. He is an accountant/attorney like me and was my mentee for some time. He now has his own growing firm offering similar services to those which I was providing to you. RJ and his team have offered to accept you as tax clients and also to take on your legal work if you so desire. To schedule a meet-and-greet or appointment, simply call my phone number, (503) 640-1084, and our receptionist, Allie, will get you taken care of. Once you retain the firm as your tax and/or legal professionals, Charity will release and transfer your files as a no-charge service to make sure you have an easy transition.
I am still working with a few of you to resolve letters you have received from the various tax authorities this year. Do know that you are not alone in having received an erroneous tax letter. The IRS commissioner estimated in October that the IRS computer has spit out “millions upon millions” of erroneous penalty letters. Rather than simply cancel them all, the Commissioner has declared that each letter must be responded to and resolved on its own merits. This is causing a huge deluge of work for tax professionals and for the IRS staff and seems to have been caused by not shutting down the IRS computers when the IRS closed its offices during the March 15 through June 30, 2020 timeframe due to the pandemic. If you receive a new letter, please contact the Sohler Whitman firm, or another firm of your choice, to resolve the matter for you.
I have truly enjoyed working with each and every one of you and I am honored to have had the opportunity to serve you. God Bless you and keep you safe.
Yours truly,
Erin
