Jack Skehan & Associates #ThinkGardinerFirst
“I am a graduate of the University of Maine with a degree in Political Science. I had been in the restaurant business for several years. Once we moved to Gardiner, I started working here seasonally and took the tax class at UMaine in Augusta. When my restaurant career ended, I talked to Jack about starting here full-time and it’s worked
out really well. Last week, I got my official Enrolled Agent certificate in the mail, where I got licensed to go before the IRS on clients behalf and state their case. I have been here for about seven years now and I mostly handle individual cases but we also work with partnerships, corporations, estates and trusts. A lot of my clients are people who have done small work on the side but still have everything going through their personal tax return. If you are a parent with kids in college or a new graduate with loans you may be eligible for an opportunity credit program and I can help get you started on that. Those are the kind of things that are my specialty. It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to find things clients were missing out on that will benefit them going forward.
As an agency we’ve built these really special relationships with our clients where it becomes multigenerational. We started helping people who become parents, who we then go on to help the children. Jack has been here over 50 years, so as an agency we’ve had that time to be able to establish that kind of partnership with the community.
A majority of our clients are locally based or at least at some point started local. We do have some that have moved away but they continue to use us. It’s great that we are able to have those clients that come in and we can help them by showing them ways to make the most out of their filing. There are homestead exemptions, local programs that most people don’t know about, and so many other ways we can advise them. We have people stop in and say, “I got this letter from the IRS. What does it mean?” We can figure out then and there what we need to do to help them solve whatever issues at hand. We have six full-time people that are here year-round for assistance whenever issues or questions arise, and then we bring on another ten seasonal people for helping with the tax season. We all go through training throughout the year to bring everybody up to speed with these new changes that happen annually, and to keep our agents ready for the time crunch in the Spring.
It’s going to make it an interesting year with all the new changes. Many people received the two impact payments from the government this year, but for those who received partial payments it may be your chance to get that full amount. For some it was their first time on unemployment and if the right deductions weren’t in place, they may be shocked when they go to file. If you had to take money out of your IRA to pay bills this year, there may be ways to spread it out over time when paying it back. There’s a lot to just be on the lookout for with everything that has happened this past year and we are prepared to help you determine if you’re getting the full benefit from it. We offer an hour of complimentary time to all our clients outside of tax season for any questions they may have.”
Do you have any questions about the upcoming tax season? #ThinkGardinerFirst. Daniel and the rest of Jack Skehan and Associates are ready to help. Daniel can be contacted directly by email at daniel@jackskehan.com or by calling the office at 207-582-1040. Jack Skehan & Associates is located at 30 Bridge Street in Gardiner.