Welcome back from National Guard duty, Jonathan!

It always does my heart good when young men and women return home, safe and sound, from serving their country. It’s especially heartwarming when one of those young men is someone who works for you.

I was so happy to see, Jonathan Havens, one of our Tax Preparers recently returned from a one-year National Guard tour of duty in Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, he helped teach advanced S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons And Tactics) to the local police. And from what I understand, his team alone trained approximately 3,000 members of the police force.

Now, Jonathan wasn’t in the situation of shoot or be shot, but it still wasn’t a walk in the park. Afterall, he was in a country that is in the midst of a conflict with much hostility towards foes and, sometimes, even friends.

After getting over the culture shock when he first arrived in Afghanistan, Jonathan and the rest of his team began the difficult task of getting to know the local people and eventually earning their trust.

He did say the thing he enjoyed the most of this experience was seeing the country’s children and getting to interact with them and even help them in different ways, such as providing them money to buy what we consider basic essentials, such as food or clothing.

And what was his first thought when he arrived back home? “The first thing I was thankful for was seeing grass,” he said. Jonathan also said the Afghan experience made him, “appreciate a lot of things you normally take for granted.”

I also want to mention that Jonathan’s father, Ralph, is our Director of Professional Services. Ralph, who spent nine years in the U.S. Marine Corp, and his wife, Laurie, kept in constant contact with Jonathan the entire year he was gone, and I admire their strength in getting through this most trying time.

Jonathan still has two years of National Guard duty ahead of him. We all just hope that wherever he goes next, he will return safe and sound like he did this time. Welcome back, Jonathan!

Audit team helps Florida widow solve her tax problems

Recently, I read a letter from a client of ours that contracted with JK Harris for audit representation. Our audit team had the opportunity to help this widow who was caught unaware by a terrible tax situation. In the years before her husband died, he had always reassured her that he was taking care of their taxes each year and everything was ‘fine.’ When he passed away, Mrs. Stone found out that this was not the case. Apparently, Mr. Stone had bought and sold a lot of stock without reporting all of the trades when it came time to file his tax returns each year for several years in a row. The whole situation left Mrs. Stone with a federal tax liability of over $33,000. She came to us for help.

Enrolled Agent Cathy Boags and Case Specialist Mirian Rivera worked Mrs. Stone’s case from start through completion. Once they were able to get the basis worked out for all of the stock trades and prepare the Stone’s tax returns for 2000 through 2004, Cathy was able to contact the Audit Reconsideration unit at the IRS with the updated information. When the IRS received all of Mrs. Stone’s updated information, they determined that she now had a zero balance with the government.

In her letter, Mrs. Stone said, “I am extremely pleased with JK Harris and Company…Cathy Boags was extremely helpful and pleasant. I would and have recommended JK Harris to others in need of tax help. Thank you so very much for your great services.”

We are always glad to help our clients get the help that they need and we are very glad that we could be of assistance.