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Tax Preparation & Filing Services
Preparing a tax return correctly requires up-to-date knowledge of the tax code and careful application to your unique situation. At Gregory Monaco, CPA LLC, we offer expert tax preparation services to individuals, families, and businesses. Located in Livingston, NJ, we understand both federal tax laws and New Jersey-specific tax rules that affect you. Whether you’re a wage-earning individual with investments, a self-employed consultant, or a business owner, we ensure your returns are filed accurately and with all the credits and deductions you deserve. Our services cover: Individual 1040s, business returns (1120, 1120S, 1065), estate/trust returns, and state tax filings for any state as needed. We also handle multi-state situations and local NJ taxes (such as NJ property tax relief programs). Our goal is simple: take the stress out of tax filing and maximize your after-tax income, all while keeping you in full compliance with IRS and state requirements.
Individual Tax Preparation
For individual taxpayers, we prepare Form 1040 and all related schedules. This includes:
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W-2 Employees: We’ll report your wages and ensure proper withholding reconciliation. We look for adjustments like IRA contributions, HSA deductions, and so on.
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Families: We handle joint returns, dependents, and credits like the Child Tax Credit, education credits, and the NJ Anchor property tax rebate if applicable. We’ll also check if you benefit from itemizing deductions (mortgage interest, state/local taxes up to the SALT cap, medical expenses, charitable contributions) or if the standard deduction is better. Since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, many use the standard deduction, but we check every time.
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Investors: If you have stocks, bonds, crypto (yes, we ask about crypto, as you saw above!), rental property, etc., we prepare the Schedule D and Form 8949 for capital gains, Schedule B for interest/dividends, and Schedule E for rental income. We ensure accurate cost basis reporting and apply special rules (like capital loss limitations, wash sale rules, passive activity limitations) properly. For NJ residents, we also handle NJ-specific tax calculations (NJ doesn’t tax capital gains the same way as federal, etc.).
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Retirees: We’ll make sure Social Security benefits are taxed correctly (federal can tax up to 85% of benefits depending on other income, NJ generally does not tax Social Security) and look at pension income exclusions (NJ allows a retirement income exclusion if income is below certain thresholds).
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High Net Worth or Complex Situations: We can handle AMT (alternative minimum tax) calculations, the Net Investment Income Tax (3.8% NIIT on high investment income), and phase-outs of deductions/credits as income rises. We also coordinate if you’re subject to foreign account reporting or have K-1s from partnerships/S-corps.
Every individual return we do gets a thorough review for accuracy and opportunities. We utilize professional software and up-to-date tax research. And before filing, we explain the outcome (refund or balance due) and any recommendations for the next year (like adjusting withholding or estimated payments).
Business Tax Return Services (LLCs, Corps, etc.)
For businesses, we offer preparation of all entity types: Corporations (Form 1120), S Corporations (1120-S), Partnerships/LLCs (1065), and sole proprietors (Schedule C on the 1040). We also prepare accompanying schedules like K-1s for partners/shareholders. Our approach:
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We start with your financial statements or bookkeeping records. If you need bookkeeping help, we can do that too (check our Accounting services). We adjust for tax-specific items: depreciation (we’ll apply MACRS and Section 179 expensing as appropriate), amortization of start-up costs, deductibility limits (like the 50% limit on meals, 100% on certain meals for 2021/2022 due to a law change, etc.), and we’ll reconcile book income to tax income on Schedule M-1 if needed.
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LLC/Partnerships: We prepare Form 1065 and K-1s for each partner/member. We handle special allocations, guaranteed payments, etc. If you have an LLC taxed as S-Corp, we do the 1120-S. We’ll make sure things like QBI deduction info are reported on K-1s (the 20% Qualified Business Income deduction for pass throughs, which we calculate for eligible businesses).
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S Corporations: We ensure officer wages are reported (reasonable compensation requirement to avoid problems with IRS), and we’ll handle the 1120 S and K-1s similarly. Payroll tax compliance and shareholder basis tracking are things we keep an eye on.
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C Corporations: We compute the corporate tax (flat 21% rate currently) and can handle things like NOL usage, dividends, etc. New Jersey CBT returns too, if applicable.
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State Business Returns: Along with federal, we file NJ CBT-100 or NJ-1065, NYC returns, or other state returns as needed for multi-state operations. We understand NJ’s quirks (like the minimum CBT tax, the BAIT pass-through entity tax which can help SALT workaround – we can discuss that if relevant).
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We deliver tax planning advice to businesses too – for instance, should you elect S-Corp status, are you maximizing retirement plan contributions, etc., which bleeds into advisory but is part of our comprehensive approach. By having us handle your business and personal returns, we can ensure everything is aligned (e.g., your K-1 from the business flows correctly to your personal return, estimated taxes cover both, etc.).
Tax Planning & Year-Round Support
We don’t believe in just “historical” tax prep (looking at last year only). Our service includes looking forward. During prep, if we spot something – say, you’re close to a threshold for a credit or you had a big one-time event – we’ll discuss strategies for the future. We offer tax planning sessions to clients who want to proactively reduce next year’s taxes. This could involve evaluating retirement contributions (traditional 401k vs Roth), adjusting withholding, considering timing of income or expenses (for instance, bunching deductions to itemize one year, standard the next), or business strategies like purchasing equipment before year-end to get a deduction. For families, planning might include college savings (529 plans), for high-earners maybe planning around AMT or NIIT, for businesses thinking about payroll bonuses or deferring income. We also keep clients informed of law changes that could affect them. For example, changes in the Child Tax Credit in recent years or new energy credits – if something arises mid-year, we often send out a newsletter or personal note: “Hey, consider buying that electric vehicle this year to get the credit,” etc. Furthermore, if you get an IRS or state notice outside of tax season, we are here to help respond (see our Tax Notices page). We don’t disappear after April 15 – we’re your year-round tax partner. As a local CPA, I’m reachable and happy to answer questions anytime, not just at filing crunch time.
Our Process: Accurate, Timely, and Secure
When you engage us, we’ll provide a checklist of documents needed (W-2s, 1099s, prior return, etc.) to make the process smooth. We offer a secure client portal for uploading sensitive documents (all data is handled confidentially per our professional standards). Once we have everything, we typically turn around returns promptly – we know clients appreciate getting their refunds sooner or knowing what they owe. We perform a thorough review on each return, double-checking calculations and cross-verifying data (e.g., did all 1099s get included?). Accuracy is paramount – we stand by our work, so if the IRS ever questions something, we’ll have the backup ready and will assist you. We also e file all eligible returns (which is most) for faster processing and confirmation of receipt. You’ll get copies of your returns for your records, and we’ll guide you through any payment or refund steps (including direct deposit of refunds or electronic payment of taxes due).
Additionally, as part of accuracy, we ensure you’re answering all those crucial questions on the returns correctly – for instance, the virtual currency question on Form 1040 (we brought that up earlier in context of crypto; rest assured we’ll ask you and mark appropriately so you’re in compliance). We also take care to avoid common errors like missing signatures, SSNs, etc., that can delay processing.
Working with a CPA like us means peace of mind: you’re not going it alone through convoluted forms and instructions. We keep up with tax law changes (for example, knowing that in 2025 many individual tax provisions might expire without new legislation – we plan ahead for that). And if there’s ever an error or issue, you have a licensed professional accountable to help fix it – not something you get from off-the-shelf software or seasonal chain preparers.
In summary, our Tax Preparation Services page is an invitation: let us handle the numbers and fine print, so you can keep your focus on what you do best, knowing your taxes are in the best of hands.