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WHEELING - Tax laws change at a steady pace - especially in light of pandemic-related tax issues - and if a taxpayer doesn’t rely on the services of a knowledgeable consultant, there’s a good chance they’ll be leaving a chunk of their own money in Uncle Sam’s pocket.
At this point in 2022, Wheeling-based Certified Public Accountant Jeff Yourkovich has entered his 27th tax season. Over those years, the owner of Yourkovich & Associates has filed a lot of tax returns.
"I personally just filed my 20,000th tax return this month," he said, as he and his staff in the office at 246 Kruger St. are in the middle of their busiest time of the year. "After 26 years, I know what’s expected of me. I know my routine, I know what we deal with seven days a week until tax season is over. For me, I get used to it."
Recent years have presented even more of a challenge because of the pandemic and all of the rule changes, Yourkovich said, stating that they are always up to the task.
"I think in the last two years, it’s been harder than any of those other prior years, for sure," he said. "We’ve had so many different congressional and legislative changes, acts and rules that have come out. It’s been a challenge. It really doesn’t even seem like tax season has ended the last two years."
Yourkovich said that if you are a tax preparer who has kept up with all of these changes in the fast-paced dance with the Internal Revenue Service, then you should be happy - because there are a lot of people who have not kept up with the changing landscape.
One shining example that Yourkovich has championed during recent tax seasons is a business payroll tax credit called the Employee Retention Credit. It is a pandemic-related tax credit for which many local businesses qualify. Yet very few area business owners took advantage of it or even knew about it.
"It started in March of 2020 when they passed the Family First Act," Yourkovich explained, noting that specific eligibility requirements, rules and time frames fluctuated several times since then. "With things like this, PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans and everything else, it’s a challenge to keep up with the ever-changing rules and applicable laws. Things like that keep us on our toes."
Yourkovich said they found that about 40 percent of their business clients were eligible for this Employee Retention Credit, but an estimated fewer than 10 percent of all qualified businesses in the Ohio Valley applied for it.
"If you’re lucky enough to have a good CPA - which we consider ourselves one of them - we’ve been able to save you a lot of money or help you benefit your business by getting you eligible for certain credits like this," he said.
The ERC allows employers to take a payroll tax credit against the Social Security and Medicare taxes that they pay on a regular basis through payroll taxes - through a 941 Form, Yourkovich explained. Through this credit, many businesses can get a huge tax break if they experienced a sales decline during the pandemic, if they shut down a business but were still paying employees, or if they had limited capacity rules that affected their business and were still paying employees."
"They should really sit down with their accountant or a knowledgeable CPA and determine whether they’re eligible or not, because it’s big bucks," Yourkovich said. "Our average refund at this point right now is around $130,000. So we’re talking about high five-figures or low six-figures for small employers with 10, 20 or 30 employees. It’s big dollars."
Bars and restaurants were allowed to reopen to limited capacity coming out of the pandemic shutdowns, so they are undoubtedly eligible. A myriad of other essential and non-essential businesses are, too, Yourkovich stressed.
"It’s still available for that year and a half - you still can apply for it," he said. "You just have to amend some tax returns to get it. I would not file a 2021 tax return for a business that has employees without first considering their eligibility for the Employee Retention Credit, because if you file and you find out later you are eligible, you will have to amend your return.
"It’s absolutely worth looking back at the time frame for eligibility, March 12, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021. Otherwise, you can be left out in the dark on a considerable amount of money."
Yourkovich & Associates specializes in several financial services from bookkeeping to accounting services and business financial consulting, but the primary realm of their expertise comes with taxes.
"Pretty much our focus is tax preparation, tax planning and accounting work for regular business clients that we have," Yourkovich said. "We consider ourselves experts on gas and oil taxes. Royalties, gas line money, pipeline money or mineral interests that they own."
The local gas and oil industry has truly made tax services a year-round business, as estimated taxes for people getting sizable royalties are filed four times a year - once every quarter.
"Gas and oil has really saved the Ohio Valley, and at one point I’d say the U.S. economy," Yourkovich said. "I went out and actually got a designation from the National Association of Royalty Owners. I’m a certified mineral manager - only one of two certified mineral managers and CPAs in West Virginia, and the only one in the Northern Panhandle and the Ohio Valley."
Yourkovich went to seminars all across the country while working to obtain his CMM status, and he now speaks on oil and gas topics at conferences, giving advice on taxes. He said the local shale play has gone through ebbs and flows, noting that as demand goes up, activity will follow. He predicted that local wells will be producing for the next 50 years.
"They’ve not really tapped into Utica as much as Marcellus shale," he noted. "It’s still a developing industry locally. We’re still in the infancy."
Times change, and everyone must change with the times - including CPAs and professional tax consultants.
"Our first two years, we actually prepared tax returns by hand," Yourkovich said. "Now you can’t find forms anywhere - everything is online, and everything is filed electronically."
Tax laws change, too. In fact, new tax changes have come about on average once a day over the past 20 years. And if your tax preparer isn’t keeping up with them, they are doing you a disservice.
"You get what you pay for," Yourkovich said. "I’ve always told clients: I’ll save you more money than you’ll pay me, typically. It’s better advice, better service and bigger savings over periods of time. It’s going to educate you, and it’s going to save you money."
For more information about services available at Yourkovich & Associates, visit yourkovichcpa.com.