Policy Statement
(Last Revision: January 18, 2012)

Edelman Tax Services is the tax consulting division of Cyprus-based PYXOS Management Consultancy Ltd, and is managed by Mr. Les Edelman, an American tax lawyer with degrees in Economics (UC-Berkeley) and Law (UCLA) and over 17 years of experience in US and international personal and corporate income tax law.

Edelman Tax Services provides a wide range of US and international tax services, including US & State tax consulting, US & State tax return preparation, and representation before the IRS.

This webpage summarizes Edelman Tax Services' policies and fees.

Location of Client Service

Mr. Edelman makes one or two annual trips to Budapest, and travels to other European locations on an as-needed basis. However, most clients are successfully served through electronic communications.

Tax Return Preparation Process

Generally, the tax return preparation process begins with a phone consultation to discuss the prospective client's overall tax situation and to determine the scope of service. To make this initial call more productive, we request that prospective clients fill out in advance the questionnaire which appears at the bottom of this web page (which can be copied and pasted into an email with your responses). Then, either during the call or afterwards via email, we will provide you with a list of specific information that we will need to prepare your tax return. In many cases, we will collect your information by asking you to fill out our data collection spreadsheet.

Extensions: The federal deadline for taxpayers residing abroad is automatically extended (no form required) two months to June 15. The various US states often have similar extensions, but this must be determined on a state-by-state basis. If you are unable to send us all of your tax information by the end of May, then we strongly advise you to request an further extension to October 15, 2012 by filing Form 4868. We can prepare and efile the Form 4868 for you, or you can prepare and mail the form yourself. If we expect that you will owe tax, we will estimate your tax liability based on the information available and advise you to make a payment in conjunction with filing Form 4868.

Tax Return Delivery & Submission: We offer electronic filing of US tax and many State returns at no additional charge, and encourage clients to e-file whenever possible. When e-filing is either impossible or not desired by the client, then the client must submit a paper return. In the latter case, we can either mail a hard-copy of the return (postage is recharged), or we can e-mail the return in PDF format for the client to print out. In all cases, we provide the client with detailed filing instructions.

Tax Return Preparation Fees

Federal Income Tax Returns: Minimum fee: $1,000. Most returns fall in the range of $1,250 to $2,000, with the actual fee depending on the time required to prepare the tax return and the complexity of the tax issues involved (including whether tax research is required to resolve issues).

State Income Tax Returns: State returns are generally charged at 25% of the Federal return fee.

U.S. Business Tax Returns: Business tax returns for U.S.-based partnerships and corporations (e.g., Forms 1065, 1120, and 1120S) are charged at fees in the $750 to $1,500 range. You will need to provide well-organized financial statements (i.e., income and expense or P&L statement, and in certain cases a balance sheet for the beginning and end of the tax year). If we have to create financial statements for you based on raw financial data, there will be an additional charge depending on the time required to construct financial statements.

Foreign Business IRS Reports: Special IRS information reports pertaining to foreign entities (e.g., Forms 5471, 8865 and 8858) are subject to separate fees, which generally fall in the $750 to $1,500 range. We are able to prepare these forms based on financial statements provided in English, French, German, Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian, Czech and Romanian. Financial statements in other languages will generally need to be translated to English.

Foreign Bank Account Reports (FBAR): FBAR preparation is charged at a $100 base fee plus $25 per reported account. We encourage clients to prepare their own FBAR. Click for more information about who must file an FBAR.

Discounts: We generally provide a fixed 10% discount for US government employees, educators, religious workers, and clients with less than $30,000 in gross income (before exclusions) for the relevant tax year.

Tax Consulting Fees

Tax consulting encompasses advice, planning, legal research, and review of tax returns prepared by the client or a third party, etc.

Mr. Edelman's consulting rate is $400/hour.

Payment of Fees

We accept personal US bank checks, wire transfers, and major credit cards. Detailed payment instructions will be included with our invoice. Please make all checks payable to the order of "PYXOS Management Consultancy Ltd".