Tax Preparation For Michigan Businesses And Families
Most tax problems are settled months before anyone opens a return. A return is only as good as the books under it, and a year of good decisions is hard to rebuild from a shoebox in March. At True North, the people who prepare your return are the same people who keep and review your books, so planning happens in June or September instead of the week of the deadline.
That is our idea of a tax preparer: someone who still knows your business in July. Our team members are PTIN holders and the firm is an IRS-authorized e-file provider. Monthly clients get their business return and one shareholder 1040 inside the package. Prefer to work with us once a year? We prepare annual returns too.
Tax work sits beside our bookkeeping services, and retailers and restaurants in the industries we know best get sales tax handled alongside.
Ten Tax Services Handled By One Team
Use one on its own or combine several.
S-Corp Returns (Form 1120-S)
Our S-Corp tax return preparation for Michigan companies starts from books we have already reviewed, so the 1120-S is ready for the March 15 calendar-year deadline, or properly extended, and K-1s reach shareholders while they can still use them. We track each shareholder's basis from year to year and look at reasonable compensation before the IRS does, not after a letter arrives.
C-Corp Returns (Form 1120)
A C corporation pays its own tax, so decisions made before year end matter more than anything done at filing time. Our C-Corp tax return preparation works from closed books, with timing and deduction questions settled before the return is drafted. A calendar-year Form 1120 is due April 15, and we look after the Michigan Corporate Income Tax side alongside it.
Partnership & LLC Returns (Form 1065)
Partnerships and multi-member LLCs file by March 15 for a calendar year, and every partner is waiting on a K-1 before their own return can move. Our Form 1065 partnership tax return preparation checks each allocation against what your operating agreement actually says, keeps the capital accounts straight year after year and gets every partner a K-1 they can rely on.
Sole Proprietor & Single-Member LLC (Schedule C)
Running the business in your own name, or through a single-member LLC, means the business lives on your personal return. Our Schedule C tax preparation for owner-operators sorts out the home office, vehicle and equipment questions each year, accounts for the self-employment tax on your profit and tells you plainly when the business has grown enough that an S-election deserves a conversation.
Personal Returns (Form 1040)
An owner's personal return rarely stands alone. We handle your individual tax return preparation in Michigan alongside the business return, so the two agree, and file the federal return with any state or city return that applies. Calls and emails come back by the next business day, and an extension is filed if paperwork is not in by March 15.
Tax Planning & Strategy
The best time to lower a tax bill is before the year ends, which is why we treat tax planning and strategy for small businesses as a conversation during the year. Entity structure, timing of income and expenses, retirement contributions and equipment purchases get looked at while there is still time to act. Monthly clients have two planning meetings built in.
Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments
Estimates based on last year's return are a guess, and a bad guess shows up as an underpayment penalty or a cash crunch in April. With our help with quarterly estimated tax payments, the amounts are calculated from real year-to-date numbers and you get a reminder before each of the four due dates, so none of them sneaks up on you.
Prior Year Unfiled Returns
A year or two of unfiled returns gets heavier the longer it sits. Our help with unfiled tax returns in Michigan rebuilds the missing years from bank records and whatever paperwork you have, files them in order with the federal and state authorities, and gets you current again. No lecture about how it happened, just a plan to close it out.
Amended Tax Returns
Sometimes a return needs fixing after it is filed: a missed 1099, a K-1 that showed up late, or a return from a previous preparer that just does not look right. Our amended tax return preparation corrects the original, whether we prepared it or someone else did, and explains what changes and what, if anything, you owe or get back.
Sales Tax Filing & Compliance
Retailers and restaurants live with sales tax every month. Our Michigan sales tax filing service calculates, files and reconciles Michigan sales and use tax back to the books, so the amount on the return matches what the register collected and what the balance sheet shows. New businesses get help with the state sales tax registration as part of the same work.
Most Of The Tax Is Decided Before The Return
Equipment placed in service, retirement contributions, owner wages and the timing of big invoices are all decided during the year, and the return only records them. That is why our tax work leans on the monthly close.
Questions Before You Hand Us Your Taxes
Can you do my taxes without monthly bookkeeping?
Yes. We prepare annual business returns (1120, 1120-S or 1065) and individual returns for clients who come to us once a year. If you end up calling every few months, a monthly package is usually simpler, and we will say so.
What if the IRS or Michigan sends me a letter?
Send it to us. Monthly clients get up to two hours a year of help with tax notices, and annual individual clients get help answering letters about the year we prepared. Many letters are routine requests that a clear, prompt reply settles.
Do we have to meet face to face to get our taxes done?
No. We are a remote firm and work with owners across Michigan and virtually anywhere in the country. Documents, meetings and signatures run by phone, email, video and secure file exchange, so nobody has to drive anywhere in February.
Bring Us This Year's Return And Next Year's Plan
Tell us what you file today and where the business is headed. The first consultation is free, and the scope is set out in writing before anything starts.