Skip to main content

 

 Tax Season Guide - 2025 

Learn more about what to expect for the tax filing season including key deadlines, best practices, and answers to frequently asked tax questions.

Resources

Navigate to the resources that apply to you and your taxes for 2025.
individual taxes

Individual Taxes

business taxes

Business Taxes


Individual Income Tax Information

Overview


Thank you for considering Founder's CPA for your individual tax return. This guide will give an overview of the key deadlines you should be aware of, best practices for your return, resources and some common FAQs. If you have further questions or concerns over anything below, don't hesitate to send us a message.

Key Deadlines


1/15/25

4th Quarter 2024 Estimated Tax Due 

1/16/24 

Tax Proposals Sent + Organizers Uploaded/Sent 

4/15/25 

Individual Tax Deadline – (Individuals, Trusts, C-Corporations, various state Pass-Through entities) - Returns or Extensions Must Be Filed 

4/15/25

1st Quarter Estimated Taxes Due

6/16/25 

2nd Quarter Estimated Taxes Due 

9/15/25

3rd Quarter Estimated Taxes Due 

10/15/25

Individual Tax Extension Deadline – (Individuals, Trusts, C-Corporations, various state Pass-Through entity returns) - Returns on Extension Must Be Filed 

1/15/26 

4th Quarter 2025 Estimated Taxes Due

IRS Online Tax Calendar

Best Practices


  1. Unless otherwise noted, FPSG, LLC cannot guarantee a specific filing date of your tax return other than the federal and applicable state extension filing deadlines. The best way to have your tax return prioritized is to provide complete, timely, and accurate responses to our information requests. Our team prepares a high volume of returns in a short period of time, and we ask that you work with us to respond to inquiries in a timely manner.

  2. Please be thorough when providing requested information and completing your tax organizer. We understand that some of the questions may seem redundant, but we need to understand if anything has changed since the prior filing of your tax returns, so please spend the time to answer the questions completely. If you are unsure as to whether or not something applies to you, please err on the side of providing more information than not. Our team will review and help determine whether or not further information is needed. Keep in mind that we cannot accurately complete your tax returns if the information is not provided or disclosed to us.

  3. Please do your best to respond to questions or additional information requests from our team within one business day. Delays in responding to questions necessitates a reprioritization of tax assignments on our team so if timely responses are not received the timeline of your tax return completion will shift accordingly.

  4. When reviewing your tax return drafts, please prepare a list of questions you have on anything unclear to you. Our team will respond to those questions via email to help clarify anything that we can answer clearly and concisely. If we determine, at our discretion, that a phone call or Zoom meeting would be more appropriate, we will offer up to 15 minutes to go through the questions you’ve prepared in advance. Requests to review the returns via phone or Zoom without specific questions prepared ahead of time will not be honored due to time constraints on our team.

  5. Please review your tax returns within 48 hours of drafts being submitted to you from our team. In the event that modifications to the return are needed, we will need additional time to prepare the return, and additional fees may apply.

  6. Please only use our tax organizer to share documents containing sensitive information and do not use email.

  7. When uploading documents, we ask that you upload a clear copy of all pages of the tax documents requested. If we need to request additional pages of an incomplete document, delays in processing your return may occur.

  8. If our team does not prepare financial statements for you, please be aware that we will need to charge for adjustments that are required to bring your financial statements to a tax ready filing state. If you’re unable to prepare financial statements that meet these standards, our team will assist you in doing so subject to additional fees.

  9. We are engaged to provide only the services described in your engagement letter.  If you have partners or other stakeholders who have questions relating to the tax returns filed but for a separate tax return filing altogether, we are able to assist on an as needed basis subject to additional fees.

  10. As tax documents are sent to you for the tax year, please keep an organized folder of all emails containing electronic documents and maintain a paper organization system for all hard copy documents received in one centralized location.

  11. In general, be skeptical about certain tax strategies you hear about that seem too good to be true. Often those strategies are considered abusive tax schemes or outright fraudulent. Our firm will not assist or provide guidance in those instances under any circumstances.

  12. We expect changes to the tax code to be introduced from future regulation passed by congress. If changes are substantial and materially impact your tax situation, we may need to delay the filing of your return until full clarity is received regarding new changes to the tax code. A thorough understanding of changes will take our team time to digest, so please be patient as we sift through the impact before requesting specific guidance from us. 

Administrative Items


  1. Unless otherwise noted, we will perform our services in accordance with the Statements on Standards for Tax Services (“SSTS”) issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“AICPA”) and U.S. Treasury Department Circular 230 (“Circular 230”).  We will not audit or verify the data you submit, although we will exercise professional due diligence and ask you to explain certain items or furnish us with additional data. Our engagement does not include any procedures designed to detect errors, fraud, or theft. Therefore, our engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose such matters. It is your responsibility to safeguard your assets and maintain accurate records pertaining to transactions.

  2. We will not perform tax planning services with your engagement unless otherwise noted.  In the event that upon reviewing your completed tax returns, you would like to engage our team for tax planning services, we will be happy to assist under an additional scope of work.

  3. We will use our professional judgment in preparing your tax returns. Whenever we are aware that applicable tax law is unclear or that there are conflicting interpretations of the law by authorities (e.g., tax agencies and courts), we will discuss with you our knowledge and understanding of the possible positions that may be taken on your return. If the Internal Revenue Service should later contest the position(s) taken in your tax returns, there may be an assessment of additional tax liability plus interest and possible penalties. We assume no liability for any such additional adjustments.

  4. Federal, state, and local tax authorities impose various penalties and interest charges for non-compliance with tax laws and regulations, including failure to file or late filings of returns and underpayment of taxes. The current tax laws also call for penalties against taxpayers for substantial understatement of tax. This penalty will be assessed unless the taxpayer can show that a tax position had “realistic possibility” of being sustained on its merits. You, as the taxpayer, remain responsible for the payment of all tax, penalties, and interest charges imposed by tax authorities.

  5. We rely on the accuracy and completeness of the information you provide to us in connection with the preparation of your returns. There may be some situations in which our professional ethics or the tax law requires us to disclose a tax return position. If this occurs and is a material consideration for you, we will inform you of this requirement and its consequences. Failure to disclose or inadequate disclosure of income or tax positions may result in the imposition of penalties and interest charges.

  6. Our pricing of your tax filing engagement is based on our known information, facts, and circumstances at the time of the engagement letter execution date. If throughout the course of our diligence or preparation of your return, we uncover additional filing requirements or services needed, we will notify you and you are responsible for the additional fees incurred for the increased scope of services.

  7. You have final responsibility for your tax returns. We will provide you with a copy of your electronic tax returns and accompanying schedules and statements for review prior to filing with the IRS and state and local tax authorities (as applicable). You agree to review and examine them carefully for accuracy and completeness. You will be required to verify and sign a completed Form 8879, IRS e-file Signature Authorization, and any similar state and local equivalent authorization form before your returns can be filed electronically. 

Resources


Read below to find helpful resources from the IRS that you may need for the tax filing season.  Please note that the IRS regularly updates their sites with pertinent information so please check on this regularly for any administrative changes or updates that you should be aware of.

IRS Payments

Online Account Login

Refund Status Check

Payment Plans

Penalties

Interest

Online Tax Calendar

Taxpayer Advocate Service

Internal Client Communications

2024 Year End Updates

BOI

State Apportionment Template TY 2024

FAQs


What happens if I don't sign my engagement letter by the signing date?

If you fail to sign your engagement letter by the signing date, you may be subject to disengagement and will be placed on a waiting list. Once on the waiting list, we cannot guarantee that we will have the capacity to file your return during the tax season.

How do I accept a proposal on Ignition?

Please follow these instructions: Ignition Proposal Instructions

What happens if I don't submit my documents by my assigned submission date?

If you don't submit your documents by your assigned submission date, you may be subject to disengagement per the terms and conditions of our engagement letter. 

What if I don't sign the e-file authorization right away?

We cannot submit your tax return without the e-file authorization signed and submitted to us. Failure to do so in a timely manner means that we may not have time to submit your tax return before the e-file deadline. After the e-file deadline has passed, your return will have to be mailed in. Late filings may result in penalties from the IRS.

How do I log in to the SafeSend Tax Portal?

Go to this link: https://founderscpa.ssportal.com/

If you need additional help, follow these instructions to log into the SafeSend Tax Portal.

How do I upload documents to the SafeSend Tax Portal?

Go to this link: https://founderscpa.ssportal.com/

If you need additional help, follow these instructions on how to upload documents.

Can I mail in my documents?

Yes. We would prefer if you uploaded the documents to us via the SafeSend Tax Portal, but if you prefer to mail them, please mail ALL your documents at once to:

Founder's CPA
850 W Jackson, Suite 330
Chicago, IL 60607


Business Income Tax Information

Overview


Thank you for considering Founder's CPA for your business tax return. This guide will give an overview of the key deadlines you should be aware of, best practices for your return, resources and some common FAQs. If you have further questions or concerns over anything below, don't hesitate to send us a message.

Key Deadlines


 1/16/24 

Tax Proposals Sent + Organizers Uploaded/Sent 

1/31/25

W2 Form Filing Deadline

1/31/25

1099 Form Filing Deadline

3/1/25

DE C-Corp Filing Due

3/17/25

Pass-Through Tax Deadline - (Partnerships, Multi-Member LLCs taxes as Partnerships, and S-Corporations) Returns or Extensions Must be Filed

3/17/25

S-Corporation Election (Form 2553) Deadline

 4/15/25

Individual Tax Deadline – (Individuals, Trusts, C-Corporations, various state Pass-Through entities) - Returns or Extensions Must Be Filed 

4/15/25

1st Quarter Estimated Taxes Due

 5/15/25

Tax-Exempt Tax Deadline - Tax-Exempt entities(such as non-profits) - Returns or Extensions Must Be Filed 

6/1/25

DE LLC Filing Due

6/16/25

2nd Quarter Estimated Taxes Due

 9/15/25

Pass-Through Extension Tax Deadline - (Partnerships, Multi-Member LLCs taxes as Partnerships, and S-Corporations) Returns on Extensions Must be Filed

9/15/25

3rd Quarter Estimated Taxes Due

9/30/25

Trust Returns on Extension Must Be Filed

 10/15/25 

Individual Tax Extension Deadline – (Individuals, C-Corporations, various state Pass-Through entity returns) - Returns on Extension Must Be Filed 

 1/15/26

Corporate 4th Quarter 2025 Estimated Taxes Due

IRS Online Tax Calendar

Best Practices


  1. Unless otherwise noted, FPSG, LLC cannot guarantee a specific filing date of your tax return other than the federal and applicable state extension filing deadlines. The best way to have your tax return prioritized is to provide complete, timely, and accurate responses to our information requests. Our team prepares a high volume of returns in a short period of time, and we ask that you work with us to respond to inquiries in a timely manner.

  2. Please be thorough when providing requested information and completing your tax organizer. We understand that some of the questions may seem redundant, but we need to understand if anything has changed since the prior filing of your tax returns, so please spend the time to answer the questions completely. If you are unsure as to whether or not something applies to you, please err on the side of providing more information than not. Our team will review and help determine whether or not further information is needed. Keep in mind that we cannot accurately complete your tax returns if the information is not provided or disclosed to us.

  3. Please do your best to respond to questions or additional information requests from our team within one business day. Delays in responding to questions necessitates a reprioritization of tax assignments on our team so if timely responses are not received the timeline of your tax return completion will shift accordingly.

  4. When reviewing your tax return drafts, please prepare a list of questions you have on anything unclear to you. Our team will respond to those questions via email to help clarify anything that we can answer clearly and concisely. If we determine, at our discretion, that a phone call or Zoom meeting would be more appropriate, we will offer up to 15 minutes to go through the questions you’ve prepared in advance. Requests to review the returns via phone or Zoom without specific questions prepared ahead of time will not be honored due to time constraints on our team.

  5. Please review your tax returns within 48 hours of drafts being submitted to you from our team. In the event that modifications to the return are needed, we will need additional time to prepare the return, and additional fees may apply.

  6. Please only use our tax organizer to share documents containing sensitive information and do not use email.

  7. When uploading documents, we ask that you upload a clear copy of all pages of the tax documents requested. If we need to request additional pages of an incomplete document, delays in processing your return may occur.

  8. If our team does not prepare financial statements for you, please be aware that we will need to charge for adjustments that are required to bring your financial statements to a tax ready filing state. If you’re unable to prepare financial statements that meet these standards, our team will assist you in doing so subject to additional fees.

  9. We are engaged to provide only the services described in your engagement letter.  If you have partners or other stakeholders who have questions relating to the tax returns filed but for a separate tax return filing altogether, we are able to assist on an as needed basis subject to additional fees.

  10. As tax documents are sent to you for the tax year, please keep an organized folder of all emails containing electronic documents and maintain a paper organization system for all hard copy documents received in one centralized location.

  11. In general, be skeptical about certain tax strategies you hear about that seem too good to be true. Often those strategies are considered abusive tax schemes or outright fraudulent. Our firm will not assist or provide guidance in those instances under any circumstances.

  12. We expect changes to the tax code to be introduced from future regulation passed by congress. If changes are substantial and materially impact your tax situation, we may need to delay the filing of your return until full clarity is received regarding new changes to the tax code. A thorough understanding of changes will take our team time to digest, so please be patient as we sift through the impact before requesting specific guidance from us. 

Administrative Items


  1. Unless otherwise noted, we will perform our services in accordance with the Statements on Standards for Tax Services (“SSTS”) issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“AICPA”) and U.S. Treasury Department Circular 230 (“Circular 230”).  We will not audit or verify the data you submit, although we will exercise professional due diligence and ask you to explain certain items or furnish us with additional data. Our engagement does not include any procedures designed to detect errors, fraud, or theft. Therefore, our engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose such matters. It is your responsibility to safeguard your assets and maintain accurate records pertaining to transactions.

  2. We will not perform tax planning services with your engagement unless otherwise noted.  In the event that upon reviewing your completed tax returns, you would like to engage our team for tax planning services, we will be happy to assist under an additional scope of work.

  3. We will use our professional judgment in preparing your tax returns. Whenever we are aware that applicable tax law is unclear or that there are conflicting interpretations of the law by authorities (e.g., tax agencies and courts), we will discuss with you our knowledge and understanding of the possible positions that may be taken on your return. If the Internal Revenue Service should later contest the position(s) taken in your tax returns, there may be an assessment of additional tax liability plus interest and possible penalties. We assume no liability for any such additional adjustments.

  4. Federal, state, and local tax authorities impose various penalties and interest charges for non-compliance with tax laws and regulations, including failure to file or late filings of returns and underpayment of taxes. The current tax laws also call for penalties against taxpayers for substantial understatement of tax. This penalty will be assessed unless the taxpayer can show that a tax position had “realistic possibility” of being sustained on its merits. You, as the taxpayer, remain responsible for the payment of all tax, penalties, and interest charges imposed by tax authorities.

  5. We rely on the accuracy and completeness of the information you provide to us in connection with the preparation of your returns. There may be some situations in which our professional ethics or the tax law requires us to disclose a tax return position. If this occurs and is a material consideration for you, we will inform you of this requirement and its consequences. Failure to disclose or inadequate disclosure of income or tax positions may result in the imposition of penalties and interest charges.

  6. Our pricing of your tax filing engagement is based on our known information, facts, and circumstances at the time of the engagement letter execution date. If throughout the course of our diligence or preparation of your return, we uncover additional filing requirements or services needed, we will notify you and you are responsible for the additional fees incurred for the increased scope of services.

  7. You have final responsibility for your tax returns. We will provide you with a copy of your electronic tax returns and accompanying schedules and statements for review prior to filing with the IRS and state and local tax authorities (as applicable). You agree to review and examine them carefully for accuracy and completeness. You will be required to verify and sign a completed Form 8879, IRS e-file Signature Authorization, and any similar state and local equivalent authorization form before your returns can be filed electronically. 

Resources


Read below to find helpful resources from the IRS that you may need for the tax filing season.  Please note that the IRS regularly updates their sites with pertinent information so please check on this regularly for any administrative changes or updates that you should be aware of.

IRS Business Tax Payments

Payment Plans

Penalties | Underpayment of Estimated Tax Penalty

Interest

Online Tax Calendar

Internal Client Communications

2024 Year End Updates

BOI

State Apportionment Template TY 2024

FAQs


What happens if I don't sign my engagement letter by the signing date?

If you fail to sign your engagement letter by the signing date, you may be subject to disengagement and will be placed on a waiting list. Once on the waiting list, we cannot guarantee that we will have the capacity to file your return during the tax season.

How do I accept a proposal on Ignition?

Please follow these instructions: Ignition Proposal Instructions

What happens if I don't submit my documents by my assigned submission date?

If you don't submit your documents by your assigned submission date, you may be subject to disengagement per the terms and conditions of our engagement letter. 

What if I don't sign the e-file authorization right away?

We cannot submit your tax return without the e-file authorization signed and submitted to us. Failure to do so in a timely manner means that we may not have time to submit your tax return before the e-file deadline. After the e-file deadline has passed, your return will have to be mailed in. Late filings may result in penalties from the IRS.