If you’ve been watching any TV during the past month, you’ve probably been constantly reminded that April 15 (the last day to file your taxes with the Internal Revenue Service [IRS]) is creeping up quickly. Luckily, Murtha & Murtha Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) can help you sort through the details and get your biggest refund ever this tax season.
Located in the Seven Oaks Professional Park off S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel, Murtha & Murtha is a full-service accounting firm comprised of Thomas E. Murtha, MBA (Master of Business Administration), CPA, and his son Patrick T. Murtha, Sr.
Tom earned his B.S. degree in Management from Long Island University in Brookville, NY, in 1976, and went on to earn his MBA degree in Accounting from St. John’s University in Queens, NY, in 1981, while also working as an assistant controller in the non-bank financial segment of a major New York City bank.
When he moved to Tampa in 1987 and began his non-CPA public accounting business Accutax Services, Inc. (which he ended up selling), before joining another CPA firm in Englewood in 1999 (which he eventually bought into) that was named Flischel, Murtha & Associates. He passed the Florida CPA test in 2000 with the fourth highest score in the state. Tom ended up selling Accutax in 2010. He’s also spent more than 15 years teaching accounting courses at both Hillsborough Community College and at the American Institute of Banking in New York City.
Patrick, 26, graduated from the University of South Florida in Tampa in 2009 with Bachelor’s degrees in both Accounting and Finance. He grew up around his father’s business and began learning about taxes when he was in middle school, Tom says. Patrick lives in Meadow Pointe with his wife Jennifer (who also works as the firm’s office manager) and their newborn son Patrick Thomas Murtha, Jr. He also has served as Treasurer of the Wesley Chapel Noon Rotary Club for the past four years, which now meets at noon on Wednesdays at Stage Left (24410 S.R. 54 in Lutz; see story on pg. 45 of this issue).
The father-&-son team went into business together in 2010 in Wesley Chapel, before moving to downtown Tampa to an office in the Sykes Building in 2012 and finally to the office’s current Seven Oaks location in 2013. Tom says that, even after selling his previous firm, he still had people coming up to him for help with their taxes, so it made sense to him to start a family business.
“Patrick was getting his degrees and said he wanted to start something,” Tom explains. “I decided that I couldn’t leave (the industry) yet. This is a nice profession because you can keep coming back to work tax seasons.”
Tom says that the explosive growth in Wesley Chapel is what made the two decide to move the business back into the area. “We decided to move back up here to be in the middle of it all because it seemed like there was a lack of CPAs in the area,” he says. “There’s plenty of business here for everyone and we want to be close to our client base.”
Murtha & Murtha specializes in tax preparation and planning; accounting services and business consulting, including business appraisals, which help business owners follow how much their business is worth to help them set goals and continue to grow each year.
However, what the firm deals with most is taxes.
“These days, a lot of people do their own taxes, because of the online programs available,” Patrick explains. “We’ve been helping a lot of people with their taxes who have unique circumstances. For example, someone who has experienced a foreclosure in the past year will have a much more complicated tax filing process than a person with similar income who hasn’t gone through that ordeal. We also help business owners with their taxes and accounting. There are a lot of people who own small businesses in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel.”
Tom adds, “We take the situations that aren’t your typical tax situations and we figure them out for you.”
The ‘Obamacare’ Effect
Tom says that a lot of things have happened in the past year that have made filing taxes even more complicated.
“The Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka “Obamacare”) has added all kinds of benefits and penalties to tax law, but most people don’t understand what they are, so we can help people out with that,” Tom explains. “We take the mystery out of the tax rules and regulations. People come in who didn’t have insurance for three months last year and aren’t sure if they have to pay a penalty. There are several new forms and new lines on this year’s tax returns just because of the ACA.”
Patrick notes that coming in and speaking with Murtha & Murtha puts you one step ahead of those who only use online tax programs (like TurboTax) to file their taxes because you’re dealing with an actual human, who also happens to have extensive tax preparation experience.
“The typical tax program you can buy is one-sided,” Tom adds. “You’re just sitting there filling in blanks. It’s different with us. We sit down with each client and get to know what he or she does for a living. Then, we start thinking about all of that person’s possible tax deductions.”
Tom says to get the biggest bang for your buck this tax season, it’s important to know what deductions are available to you. For example, if you drive your own car for work, you’re allowed to take a deduction for gas mileage.
“By communicating with someone like me, we can find deductions for you,” Tom adds. “We ask the right questions. I dig into finding out how you live to see what you can deduct.”
Murtha & Murtha also can help businesses straighten out their financials using the popular online accounting program QuickBooks.
“We like getting calls from business owners who say that their QuickBooks is a mess,” Patrick says. “We like to help them figure it out and make sure that they’re complying with all of the applicable business tax laws. We like solving problems.”
Tom and Patrick also help clients decipher unexpected bills from the IRS.
“If a person comes in with a bill for $25,000 from the IRS, it’s probably a mistake, and we can help the client unravel the mystery of where it came from,” Tom says. “We’re instrumental in getting rid of penalties and making things right. Nine times out of ten, it’s a mistake.”
And, best of all, he adds, “We stand behind everything we do.”
To get the most out of your tax return this year, give Murtha & Murtha (2236 Ashley Oaks Cir., Suite 101, Wesley Chapel) a call at 991-1120 or visit TampaTaxFirm.com.
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