2015 Individual Income Tax Return Annual Engagement Template (Page 3 of 4) in pdf

10. We will use our professional judgment in preparing your returns. Whenever we are aware that a possibly applicable tax

law is unclear or that there are conflicting interpretations of the law by authorities (e.g., tax agencies and courts), we will

explain the possible positions that may be taken on your return. We will adopt whatever position you request on your return

so long as it is consistent with the codes, regulations, and interpretations that have been promulgated. If the Internal

Revenue Service should later contest the position taken, there may be an assessment of additional tax plus interest and

penalties. We assume no liability for any such additional penalties or assessments. When a self-employed taxpayer

reduces taxable income there is also a reduction in earned income reported to the Social Security Administration,

which could reduce current and future benefits for the taxpayer and his or her dependents. You acknowledge and

agree to the current tax reduction and the potential negative effects on future social security benefits for you, your

spouse and any dependents.

11. New privacy laws were established by the IRS effective January 1, 2009 and we are now prohibited from providing

confidential information or copies to anyone other than you without your specific, written authorization. To comply with these

new regulations we provide all copies of all returns to you in a secure web portal. Your use of this portal is limited to lawful

income tax related documents in compliance with our written portal usage policy and will be maintained and accessible

solely in accordance with our policy for no more than 30 days after any notification of termination of services by either party,

after which point it will be electronically deleted. Our portal policy is available on request. In the interest of maintaining

service quality and timeliness, we may use a 3

party service provider to assist us in the use of technology to facilitate

compliance with disclosure and storage of your tax information. The provider has established procedures and controls

designed to protect client confidentiality and maintain data security.

12. If we are asked to disclose any privileged communication, unless we are required to disclose the communication by law,

we will not provide such disclosure until you have had an opportunity to argue that the communication is privileged. You

agree to pay any and all reasonable expenses that we incur, including legal fees, that are a result of attempts to protect any

communication as privileged. In addition, your confidentiality privilege can be inadvertently waived if you discuss the

contents of any privileged communication with a third party, such as a lending institution, a friend, or a business associate.

We recommend that you contact us before releasing information to a third party.

13. It is our policy to keep records related to this engagement for three years after which they are destroyed. However, we

do not keep any original client records, so we will return those to you at the completion of the services rendered under this

engagement. When records are returned to you, it is your responsibility to retain and protect your records for three years

for possible future use, including potential examination by any government or regulatory agencies. Prior to each tax filing

season we send client organizers to most of our clients as a convenience to assist them with gathering their tax information.

If you move or do not wish to receive an organizer, please notify us or we will send the organizer to the address we used

on your prior year’s tax return.

14. In the interest of facilitating our services to you, we utilize a secure web portal. Your use of this portal must comply with

our standards of use, and as owners of the portal we retain the right to limit and deny use of the portal for inappropriate

purposes. Your access to files maintained on the portal will be terminated no later than 30 days after the earlier of your or

our termination of services under this agreement or April 15, unless we are notified in writing of your desire to extend your

tax return. All confidential information sent to you or third parties (at your direction), as well as the portal will be password

protected. While we will use our best efforts to keep such communications secure in accordance with our obligations under

applicable laws and professional standards, you recognize and accept that we have no control over the unauthorized

interception of these communications once they have been sent and consent to our use of these devices during this

engagement.

15. From time to time during our relationship, you may seek our advice with regard to potential investments. We are not

investment advisors unless specifically and in writing by separate agreement hired for that purpose. Accordingly, we

suggest that you seek the advice of qualified investment advisors appropriate to each investment being considered. Unless

otherwise specifically agreed to in a separate engagement letter signed by both parties, we will not advise you regarding

the economic viability or consequences of an investment or whether you should or should not make a particular investment.

16. Billings become delinquent if not paid within 30 days of the invoice date. If billings are not paid within 60 days of the

invoice date, at our election, we may stop all work at our discretion until your account is brought current, or we may withdraw

from this engagement. You acknowledge and agree that we are not required to continue work in the event of your failure to

pay on a timely basis for services rendered as required by this engagement letter. You further acknowledge and agree that

in the event we stop work or withdraw from this engagement as a result of your failure to pay on a timely basis for services

rendered as required by this engagement letter, we shall not be liable to you for any damages that occur as a result of our

ceasing to render services. Our services will conclude upon delivery of the completed income tax returns discussed above

or upon our suspension of services or resignation from the engagement.

2015 Individual Income Tax Return Annual Engagement Template Page 3

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