Individual and Business Tax Preparation

Tax preparation at SBS Accounting Firm goes well beyond entering numbers into a form and clicking submit. When you work with Santiago Aguilera and the SBS team, the process begins with a thorough review of your financial picture for the year. That means gathering your income documents, whether those are W-2s, 1099-NECs, K-1s, or business profit-and-loss statements, and matching them against what the IRS expects to see on your return.

For individual filers, the service covers federal Form 1040 and all associated schedules, including Schedule C for self-employment income, Schedule E for rental or pass-through income, and Schedule SE for self-employment tax. For business entities, it covers federal returns for sole proprietors, single-member LLCs, partnerships, S corporations, and C corporations, along with any applicable state filings required by states where you have nexus or earn income.

Because Florida has no personal state income tax, many South Florida residents assume they have no state tax exposure at all. That assumption can create problems if you earn income from other states, own rental property elsewhere, or operate a business that triggers filing requirements in another jurisdiction. Part of what SBS does during preparation is identify those situations early, so you are never surprised by an unexpected liability or a missed filing after the deadline has already passed.

SBS Tax Preparation is designed for three overlapping groups: South Florida small business owners, self-employed professionals, and families whose tax situations have grown beyond what a basic software program handles cleanly.

You likely need professional tax preparation if you are a freelancer or independent contractor receiving multiple 1099-NECs each year. The moment you have self-employment income, you owe both the employee and employer portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes, and you have deductions available for business expenses, home office use, health insurance premiums, and retirement contributions that most DIY filers leave on the table.

You also need this service if you own an S corporation or partnership, because those entities file their own returns on a different deadline from individual returns, and the owner's personal return depends on information flowing out of the business return first. Missing that sequence creates cascading errors.

Immigrant business owners and families who are still learning how the U.S. tax system works are a particularly strong fit for SBS. The bilingual environment means you can ask every question in the language where you think most clearly, and you will receive a plain-language explanation, not a lecture full of jargon. Whether you arrived in the United States recently or have been here for decades, you deserve to understand exactly what you are signing before you sign it.

The most common and costly mistake self-employed filers make is underreporting income. When you receive payments through payment apps, direct deposits, or cash, and you do not reconcile those amounts against your actual records, the IRS has ways to cross-reference what was reported to them by payers. A mismatch triggers a notice, and responding to IRS notices without professional help often makes the situation worse before it gets better.

Overlooking deductions is the other side of the same problem. Business owners who prepare their own returns frequently miss legitimate deductions for vehicle mileage, business-use portions of phone and internet bills, professional subscriptions, and the deduction for half of self-employment taxes paid. Those omissions result in a higher tax bill than the law actually requires.

For business entity returns, errors in how income and losses are allocated among partners or shareholders can create discrepancies between the business return and the individual returns of each owner. The IRS compares those documents, and inconsistencies invite scrutiny.

Late filing is another recurring problem. Many small business owners do not realize that S corporation and partnership returns are due about a month before the individual return deadline, or that missing those deadlines triggers per-month, per-partner or per-shareholder penalties that add up quickly. Working with SBS puts a professional in your corner who tracks those dates and reaches out to you before they arrive, not after.

SBS operates entirely remotely, which means you never need to take time off work to sit in a waiting room. The firm uses a secure client portal for document exchange, so you upload your tax documents, bank statements, prior-year returns, and any other records through an encrypted connection rather than emailing sensitive information.

Once your documents are in the portal, Santiago reviews them and identifies any gaps. If a document is missing or a number needs clarification, you receive a specific request, not a vague ask to send more stuff. That targeted back-and-forth keeps the process efficient and avoids the weeks of delay that often happen when a preparer and client are not communicating clearly.

For business clients who use QuickBooks Online to manage their bookkeeping, SBS can connect directly to the account, review the year-end records, and flag any categorization issues before they carry over into the return. Clean books produce an accurate return far more quickly than a shoebox of receipts.

Communication happens by phone, email, or video call, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and both English and Spanish are available throughout every step. You are not handed off to a junior staff member for questions. When you call (954) 915-4932 with a concern about your return, you get a direct, informed answer. That continuity matters when your questions involve numbers that directly affect your financial life.

At the end of the preparation process, you receive a complete copy of your filed return, organized so you can understand what was reported and why. SBS walks you through the key figures before the return is submitted, so you are not approving a document you have never actually read.

Beyond the return itself, most clients walk away with a clearer picture of their estimated tax position for the coming year. If your 2024 return showed that you owed a significant balance at filing, that is a signal that your withholding or quarterly estimated payments need adjustment before the same situation repeats. SBS identifies those patterns and explains what to do differently going forward.

Your filed return also serves purposes outside of satisfying the IRS. Mortgage lenders, landlords, visa sponsors, and some government benefit programs require copies of recent tax returns as proof of income. Having a professionally prepared, cleanly formatted return makes those processes faster and more credible.

For business owners, the return provides a year-end financial snapshot that supports decisions about equipment purchases, retirement plan contributions, or entity structure changes before the next filing deadline. Tax preparation done well is not just a compliance exercise. It is one of the most concrete financial planning conversations you will have all year, and SBS treats it that way.

South Florida has one of the most entrepreneurially active immigrant communities in the United States, and a large portion of that community speaks Spanish as a first or primary language. Navigating the U.S. tax system in a second language, when the stakes are real and the terminology is dense, creates unnecessary stress and increases the risk of errors caused by miscommunication rather than bad intent.

At SBS, the bilingual capability is not a marketing line. It is a practical feature of every client interaction. You can describe your business in Spanish, ask follow-up questions in Spanish, and review your return line by line in Spanish if that is where you are most comfortable. Santiago conducts the full preparation conversation in whichever language serves you better, and switches between the two naturally when a technical term is clearer in one language than the other.

From a tax geography standpoint, Florida's lack of a personal state income tax is a genuine advantage for individuals, but it does not eliminate all state-level obligations. Businesses operating in Florida may need to register with the Florida Department of Revenue for sales tax purposes if they sell taxable goods or certain services. Corporations doing business in Florida are subject to the Florida corporate income tax. SBS prepares returns with awareness of these obligations and helps you understand which ones apply to your specific situation, so you are compliant at both the federal and state level without overpaying or missing a required filing.

Federal individual returns are due in mid-April each year, with an automatic extension available that gives you additional months to file, but not additional time to pay. That distinction matters: if you owe tax, the payment is due by the original deadline even if you file later. SBS helps you calculate a reasonable extension payment when needed so you avoid underpayment penalties.

S corporation and partnership returns follow an earlier deadline, typically in mid-March, because the K-1 forms generated by those returns flow into the individual returns of each owner. Filing these returns late affects multiple people, not just the business.

For self-employed individuals and business owners, federal estimated tax payments are due four times per year. Missing those payments or underpaying them results in an IRS penalty that is calculated separately from any balance owed at filing. SBS calculates your estimated payment amounts based on your projected income and helps you understand when each payment is due so the obligation stays manageable throughout the year rather than becoming a large surprise in April.

For clients who employ workers, payroll tax deposits and quarterly payroll returns add another layer of compliance. SBS can help you understand how those obligations interact with your income tax filing so nothing falls through the gaps. Staying current on all of these deadlines is one of the clearest ways that working with a professional protects your business from penalties that are entirely avoidable.

One of the most frequent issues SBS encounters when reviewing a new client's prior-year returns is the misclassification of workers. Business owners who pay workers as independent contractors and issue 1099-NECs but should have treated those workers as employees face payroll tax liability, penalties, and potential back taxes. Catching this pattern early and addressing it proactively is far less costly than waiting for an IRS inquiry.

Another common error is failing to report foreign financial accounts or foreign income. South Florida's international business community includes many individuals who maintain bank accounts or receive income outside the United States. The reporting requirements for foreign accounts are strict and the penalties for non-compliance are severe. SBS asks the right questions during onboarding to identify whether this applies to you.

For S corporation owners, one of the most consistently mishandled areas is reasonable compensation. The IRS requires that shareholder-employees who perform services for the corporation receive a salary that is reasonable for the work performed, before taking distributions. Paying yourself only through distributions to avoid payroll taxes is a well-known audit trigger. SBS helps S corporation clients structure their compensation in a way that is defensible and compliant.

Mixed personal and business expenses are also a recurring problem, particularly for sole proprietors and single-member LLC owners who use the same bank account for everything. SBS reviews those records carefully and helps you establish cleaner practices going forward so the next filing is cleaner than the last one.

Every new client relationship at SBS begins with a free initial consultation. You can schedule that conversation by calling (954) 915-4932 during business hours, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The consultation is a working conversation, not a sales pitch. Santiago asks about your income sources, your business structure if you have one, your filing history, and any specific concerns or situations you have been uncertain about.

By the end of the consultation, you will have a clear sense of what your return involves, what documents you need to gather, and what the preparation process will look like. If you have prior-year returns that may need review or amendment, that conversation will surface the issue so you can make an informed decision about next steps.

In the first 30 days of working together, you gain access to the secure client portal, receive a document checklist tailored to your specific situation, and begin exchanging records with SBS. For clients filing close to a deadline, the process moves quickly and Santiago communicates proactively about where things stand. For clients with more lead time, the pace is more deliberate and includes time to review your books, discuss estimated payments, and identify any planning opportunities before the filing deadline arrives.

The goal of those first 30 days is not just to file a return. It is to make sure you understand your tax position, feel confident in the documents you signed, and have a clear picture of what to expect in the months ahead. That foundation is what turns a one-time filing into a long-term professional relationship.