Charles Paul McCue
January 19, 2010Jan. 21
January 21, 2010
As the hustle and bustle of tax season rears its head in the Tri-parish area, local tax preparers stand ready to handle the area’s 2009 income tax returns. Ann and Patty Dupre are two such preparers.
They formed Dupre’s Professional Services in 1977 and specialize in preparing tax returns for “big business” corporations, small “Mom and Pop” businesses and every day working people.
Their love of numbers began as early as high school.
That is when Ann prepared her first set of tax returns as a high school senior. Her ultimate goal in life became centered on the idea of preparing tax returns for businesses in Houma.
Ann partnered with her sister-in-law, Patty, and they both attended Bowman’s Business College on Grand Caillou Road, which has since closed. They received their tax preparation certification from the business college, and the two were off.
Although they continue to do what they love today, they admit that things have changed through the years. Ann recalls the early years.
“There was no fancy computer software that calculated figures and totaled them for you. Every thing was done using a paper-based form, a typewriter and a calculator,” she explained. “This process took forever.”
The computer age emerged in the mid-1980s and improved the preparation methods tremendously, Ann continued. Federal tax officials and computer whizzes came up with a variety of programs tax professionals can use to prepare taxes.
“There’s no way we could go back to the old way and handle the clientele that we have,” she said.
Ann and Patty say their job is to take the stress away from individuals and businesses and make sure they are in compliance with Internal Revenue Service laws.
“This is such a stressful time of year for everyone,” Ann said. “But, once it’s done, people can feel a sigh of relief. And if they are getting a return then they are really happy.”
The Dupre’s have three offices between Thibodaux and Houma, one on Tiger Drive in Thibodaux and on Prospect Boulevard and West Main Street in Houma.
The tax professionals perform short-form, long-forms, corporation, small business and nonprofit income tax return preparation.
They use everything from W-2s to Form Schedule C for the self employed, Form Schedule A for itemized deductions to Form 1120 for corporations, Form 1120-S for Sub-s corporations, Form 1065 for business partnerships and Form 990 for non-profit organizations.
Short-form users have the easiest income tax returns, according to Ann. She said normally she uses the forms 1040-EZ and 1040-A to prepare such returns, along with their Form W-2.
This process takes a few hours to complete, she said. Customers usually file their returns the same day. However, the process does get tougher with the long form, corporation and non-profit entity tax returns.
Ann said the longer forms take days or weeks to prepare, depending on how much tax information the individual or business has.
No matter which method, the first step begins with an interview. Each person meets with Patty, Ann or one of the company’s 15 tax professionals to ensure they have the necessary documents to make the process seamless.
“We make sure they have all their earned income, we look for any tax credit and we see if they can itemize their deductions,” Patty Dupre said. “If they have everything then things are pretty easy for us to compile the information and prepare the tax forms.”
Once they have the information, Ann said each tax professional takes a thorough examination of the Internal Revenue Service tax booklet to make sure each individual gets all the deduction and credits available to them.
This year, the IRS has added more credits for taxpayers. The earned income credit policy has increased to up to three children, instead of two as it was in previous year. For those who purchased new cars and homes in 2009, Patty said they could use their sales tax as a deduction.
Keeping in line with Obama’s stimulus package, the IRS will offer a “Making Your Pay Credit” tax break to filers this year. Patty said single filers can get up to $400 and married/joint filers can get up to $800.
In recent years, some consumers have begun to seek alternative tax preparation methods. However, Patty Dupre said even with the inception of software like TaxACT, the H&R Block Home edition (formally known as TaxCut) and TurboTax, their business has been unfazed.
“No one is without business this time of year,” she said. “People can use Turbo Tax and that’s fine. But, I’ve had clients that have used the system and they find that they are not getting the maximum amount of money possible. That’s why we are here.”
From the attitude of the Dupres, they plan to be here for a long time to come.
Patty and Ann Dupre, co-owners of Dupre’s Professional Services, browse the 2009 Internal Revenue Service tax booklet as they gear up to handle tax returns for the Tri-parish area. * Photo by SOPHIA RUFFIN
