Dear Taxpayer,

Thank you for the opportunity to work with you in preparing your income tax returns. To foster a complete understanding of our relationship, take a moment to review the following information.

We will prepare your income tax returns based solely on the information you furnish to us. Upon completion of your tax returns, we will return any original tax documents to you. From time to time, our office may retain scanned copies of your documents for our records; however, you should retain all documents, canceled checks, and other data that form the basis of income, 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.

Our work in connection with the preparation of your income tax returns cannot be relied upon to disclose errors, irregularities, or illegal acts, including, without limitation, fraud that may exist within the documents or figures you provide. We will use our professional judgment in resolving questions where the tax law is unclear or where there may be conflicts between the tax authority’s interpretations of the tax law and other supportable positions. Unless instructed by you, we will take a tax position in your favor whenever reasonable. We cannot provide any assurance that tax positions taken will not be challenged or ensure the ultimate outcome of such a challenge. 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.

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, or 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.

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. Our fee for the preparation of your tax returns will be due and payable upon presentation of your completed income tax filing. It is company policy not to release tax returns or any tax-related reports, schedules, information, advice, or notes without payment in full.

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. Because we understand that cost is an important issue for many clients, we will do our best to provide you with an estimate of our fees prior to completing your returns, but please understand that circumstances arise which may raise or lower the estimated fee. We will contact you if such a situation arises after you receive an estimate.

Upon completion of your returns and after you have paid your tax preparation fees, 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. If your returns cannot 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 CBC & Co for services you have requested. In the event you terminate the engagement prior to the completion of your tax accounting work, CBC & Co reserves the right to invoice you for any out-of-pocket expenses, time at our hourly rate, or other expenses 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 CBC & Co for these services, even if you terminated the engagement prior to our firm completing the work requested or required.

If you agree with the terms of our engagement as described in this letter, please sign below. By signing this letter and providing your income tax information, you expressly agree to these terms.

We want to thank you for putting your trust in CBC & Co and look forward to a long and mutually satisfying relationship.