a better way to do your taxes
What happened to Class 5?
If you've been by our old location on Park Blvd, or you came across the website with the new messaging, you might be wondering what happened to Class 5 Tax? Rest assured, we're still here, and still helping our existing clients with their tax needs.
To be blunt, I have opted to put the brakes on the growth of Class 5 for one very simple reason: health insurance. Despite a massive overhaul of the national health care system in recent years, we're still left with a health care system that is very profitable for private health insurers, but not very effective for people who actually want necessary health care services without going bankrupt. And we have powerful political interests doing everything imaginable to claw the system back to the even more dismal state it was in just a few years ago.
Unfortunately, as a small business I found the options available were simply inadequate for my family's needs. Despite considerable success I experienced in my first year of public operations, I found that adequate health insurance for my family was simply unavailable at any price. In this situation, I felt it was in the best interests of myself and my family to accept an offer I received to apply my tax knowledge, as well as my background in computer science, to tax software development for a very successful and stable company. Included in the offer was access to an excellent health insurance plan...the kind of plan only a large corporation has access to.
I am saddened to see the growth of Class 5 put on hold by the lack of something considered so basic in every other nation that calls itself a developed country. However, I am quite happy with my new position. Part of the flexibility I have is that I am encouraged to continue a private tax practice, as long as it doesn't interfere with my employment responsibilies. I will continue to serve my existing clients. I will continue to employ, on a part-time basis, my extremely capable, resourceful, and hard-working office manager, Jonno. (Though I am also pleased he has found more stable work, but remains willing to assist me in serving Class 5 clients.)
Also, I have found another preparer locally in Oakland who I find to be not only knowledgeable and experienced, but also committed to being an ethical business and a responsible citizen of the community. If you have friends or acquaintances that need tax assistance, I feel confident they will receive excellent service at a fair price from Eric with Rheinheimer & Associates. In the interest of full disclosure, I am receiving compensation for referring all new client inquiries to Rheinheimer & Associates, but I can assure you I would not recommend another tax preparer at any price if I did not feel confident about the quality of service being delivered.
I look forward to continuing to work with all of my existing clients as we go forward. I wanted to provide transparency into why certain changes have occurred (such as closing the store-front office), as well as re-assure you that I will continue to be available to assist you with your tax needs for the indefinite future.
Thank you,
Devin Martin, EA
The Class 5 Tax 2010 Scoreboard
Class 5 Tax has a very-high rate of success in finding hidden savings in most tax returns. For a couple weeks during the 2010 filing season, we kept a spreadsheet to document the results of our reviews. As you'll see, the large majority of returns we reviewed resulted in additional savings. In several cases, the savings were very substantial. This isn't cherry-picked data, it's typical results that we'd expect to see from any couple of weeks chosen at random.
Why Class 5?
Class 5 Tax offers full-service, traditional tax preparation. We also offer review services and other options for people who prefer to be a little more hands-on. Our years of experience, both preparing and reviewing returns, as well as working on the development of leading tax preparation software, allow us to offer you top-notch tax expertise. And we offer this expertise at a very competitive price...if you're just looking for a McTax Preparer, you may find cheaper options, but nobody offers a better overall value!
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Free Resources
Class 5 Tax wants to help you keep more money in your pocket. We've provided links to a number of free resources to help you with your Federal and State tax questions. We've also provided some unique tools that you won't find elsewhere on the Internet--including a worksheet to help Same Sex Partners and Registered Domestic Partners accurately file their Federal returns in Community Property States (e.g. California).
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Class 5 Tax
1300 Clay St, Suite 600
Oakland, CA 94612
Office: (510) 545-7784
Fax: (888) 501-6328
What our clients say...
"You are very clear, knowledgeable and competent... AND very kind and patient when I obviously have little or absolutely no clue sometimes with the simplest of things involving numbers and finances. Thank you..."
-Sonja
"That advice [resulted in] an $8K swing to a refund from a tax debt. After reading your detailed rationale, I felt even more confident that the service that I was getting was the service that I needed."
-Anthony
Over $75,000 in Savings Found in 2011 for Registered Domestic Partners and Same-Sex Spouses!