New mission statement recognizes commitment to customer service

The JK Harris mission is to deliver financial and tax representation services with the highest levels of ethics, advocacy, and client satisfaction.

I am pleased to announce we have recently unveiled our new mission statement. JK Harris has come a long way in the past eleven years. As we head toward our twelfth year in business, it is my hope these 22 thoughtfully composed words will mean as much to you – our clients – as they do to the employees here at JK Harris and Company.

This mission statement was created by our Executive Committee to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind as to what our mission is at JK Harris – to do our jobs effectively, with our customers’ best interests at heart and to perform our services in a manner that delivers client satisfaction. Our company was built on the idea of offering clients affordably priced representation before the IRS. We work hard every day to get resolution for our clients so they can escape the burden of back tax debt. We want our customers to be completely satisfied with the services and the resolution they receive. We wanted to create a new mission statement capturing this idea in one simple but powerful sentence.

In my next blog posting, I will tell you about our new Client Advocacy department, created in tandem with our new mission statement to insure our clients are satisfied.

John Harris
www.JKHarris.com

Tips to get an early jump on tax season

Teresa Thomas – Enrolled Agent

Years of experience have taught me it’s never to early to start thinking about the upcoming tax season. In fact, this is actually the perfect time to begin getting paperwork in order and maybe look for ways to lower your tax bill between now and December 31st.

The most obvious to me is to make use of the estimated tax payment. If you think you are going to have a tax liability when April 15th rolls around, you may want to go ahead and make an estimated payment to the IRS ahead of time. This will actually help lower your tax bill by lowering your penalties and interest. And the payment isn’t actually due until Jan. 15, 2009.

And don’t forget to pay your property taxes because these can be used as a deduction if they are paid before Dec. 31, depending on the state you are living in.

Another option is to make a contribution to a charity. These contributions can include money or non-cash items such as clothing, furniture, etc., which can be donated to organizations such as the Salvation Army or Goodwill.

If you or a child is attending school, you might want to pay as much tuition as you can afford by the end of the year. By doing so you may just qualify for an education credit on your tax return.

Another good idea is to put money into a traditional IRA. Unfortunately, money put into a Roth IRAS will not be deductible.

And, perhaps the most important thing you begin doing is get organized. Gather up all of your paperwork, receipts, last year’s tax return, etc., and keep them together in one place so you will have them handy when it comes time to file a tax return on April 15.

For more tax tips throughout the year, visit www.irs.gov.

Teresa Thomas is an Enrolled Agent and has been with JK Harris since 1999. She also worked as a tax preparer for a major tax preparation company for 25 years.