Skingco Services, Inc

12/01/2022

As those of you in the area know, it's hard to predict weather in the Seattle area. As of right now, 4:15pm on 30 November 2022, the forecast for overnight is on the "icky" side. You also might realize that the weather yesterday performed exactly opposite from the forecast (snow when it was supposed to be clear, rain, when it was supposed to be snowy, clear when it was supposed to rain).

We may not be able to post in advance whether or not we will be closed for weather on any given day this week. If the forecast for tonight holds then tomorrow, Thursday, 1 December, we may have to open late due to ice on the roads. If you can't get through to us on the phone, we will definitely be checking emails. All we say right now, though, is "we'll see"!

04/09/2022

We haven't posted for a while, and at this time of year it's hard to find the few minutes it takes to put something up. While taking a quick break between tax returns, though, we'd like to give a big THANK YOU to our clients who have stepped up to supplement our contributions to the charities we support! Here is our current total impact:

As a result of clients trusting us to handle their tax returns, we have given:

13,710 days of medical care to street dogs
$140 to provide clothing, bedding, and shelter to Ukrainian refugees
$140 to provide medical supplies to Ukrainian refugees

Thanks to clients signing up for our secure portal, we've provide 27 kilometers of travel to bring trafficked girls home.

On behalf of our new clients, we've provided 30 days of education to girls in Kinshasa (an area where girls going to school just isn't done).

They say every cloud has a silver lining. We say somebody has to put that silver lining into the cloud, so to honor our clients who have passed on we've planted 723 to increase the forest cover in India, trees that will also provide income to villagers as the trees grow and the rubber can be tapped. On behalf of non-clients who are special to us we've planted 101 trees to improve the environment in Kenya, with more to come soon.

If you're interested in seeing our absolutely up-to-date totals you can find them on our website, https://skingcoservices.com. If you would like to add to our contributions, just ask us how! We will never ask anyone to contribute, but always will be happy to pass your donations through to the selected causes.

(About the causes: we funnel our donations through an organization named B1G1 -- Buy One, Give One -- which carefully vets the programs on its list. To be included each program must (a) support one or more of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, (b) have been in business at least 3 years, (c) have audited financial statements, and (d) be able to quantify the exact impact of donations. The Ukraine relief funds were approved under special exemptions due to the urgency of the situation, but even these funds are managed by established partners in the program. You can rest assured that 100% of funds donated goes to the specified causes; administrative costs are funded through a separate revenue stream.)

Welcome Welcome to our website! This website exists to provide clients and potential clients with information concerning our firm and our unique, low-pressure approach to personal and professional services. We have an excellent client-retention rate, and we are extremely proud of the high-quality se...

12/27/2021

As it turns out, the side street is plowed but the main street still isn't finished. Go figure!

However, we still have issues getting out of the driveway to get to the plowed street, so we're not likely to make it into the office today (Monday). Tuesday *shouldn't* be a problem, but we'll see. We'll be sure to post an update here!

12/27/2021

As of 10pm Sunday, our neighborhood streets have been neither plowed nor treated, even though one of them is a supposed primary snowplow route in Federal Way. There is a decent possibility at this point that our office will open late or not at all on Monday. Consider this an advance notice in case we don't get around to updating this page right away!

If we do have to stay closed then we'll be sure the phones are covered. We can still work remotely, but due to (a) conflicting weather forecasts and (b) an already-overflowing bag we don't have much in the way of paperwork at home.

We'll try to let you know what's up as soon as we know!

08/31/2021

Our new website is now up and running! Check it out at https://skingcoservices.com .

We're not going to abandon the page, by any means, but for a while the website will definitely have more fresh content. At some point we'll have information feeding to both places, but right now the mechanisms favor the website.

Welcome Welcome to our website! This website exists to provide clients and potential clients with information concerning our firm and our unique, low-pressure approach to personal and professional services. We have an excellent client-retention rate, and we are extremely proud of the high-quality se...

07/21/2021

An update on our global impact: we have now provided 4,860 days of medical care to the street dogs we mentioned. This is all thanks to our clients, so give yourselves a hand!

Stay tuned for an update on the advance child tax credit payments now hitting your bank accounts. There's more to them than meets the eye!

06/23/2021

In 2015 a vast majority of the world's countries agreed to 17 Global Goals to make the world a better place for everyone. Our business is committed to do what we can to help with these goals, and starting this year we have joined the "When Good, Then Good" movement. What this means is that when something good happens in the business, we help something good happen in the world.

Our first commitment was that for every income tax return we file we will provide medical care to dogs living on the streets. We've only just started, but just by continuing to use our services our clients have to date helped us give 4,500 days of such care. Thank you to everyone for helping make this possible!

Our "real" website is under development, and once it's up and running we'll have real-time updates of the impact our clients help us make. We'll be sure to let you know when that's available!

05/28/2021

Memorial Day is the day when we celebrate those who have fallen while serving in defense of our country. Most people also recognize it as the unofficial start of summer, even though temperatures might still be in the 50s and 60s (be sure to wear your sunglasses to protect your eyes from the glare of the white shoes in the parts of the country where people actually wear such things!). When you're out having your first grill of the season, please take a moment to remember why the holiday exists.

Speaking of that, this is Memorial Day, not Veterans Day or Armed Forces Day. We can speak for many veterans when we say it feels awkward to be specifically honored on a day that's not ours. Memorial Day should be a day of remembrance, rather than one of appreciation. (We're talking in a formal sense here; if you're one who routinely thanks active and veteran military members for their service then please feel free to continue! It's just the formal, ceremonial recognition that should be restricted to the day's purpose.)

There are a number of stories about the origination of Memorial Day, most pertaining to decorating Civil War veterans' graves (which is how the holiday got its original name of Decoration Day). There is evidence to support the claims of both Union and Confederate origins, and it's not likely the debate will be settled in our lifetime. Even the date changed over the years, eventually becoming 30 May before being subject to the "Monday holidays" law so that it's now the last Monday in May.

Regardless of its origin, we will be honoring Memorial Day by being closed on Monday, 31 May. We'll be open for business again bright and early at 1000 on Tuesday (well, it's early as far as we're concerned -- none of us are morning people). Enjoy the day, but please do remember what it's all about.

05/26/2021

Now that tax season is over, we're getting a lot of phone calls to the effect of "where's my refund?" or "why is my refund different from what you told me?". In this post we address these two questions.

The IRS is taking a *lot* longer to process returns this year! In the few instances when we've been able to identify a cause it's had something to do with the amount of the stimulus payments that we reported with the tax return. Most of the time, though, we don't know what the holdup is and we have no way to find out.

The best thing to do if you're wondering about your refund is to go to the IRS website (www.irs.gov) and click on "Where's My Refund?". You'll be asked for your Social Security Number, your filing status, and the exact amount of your expected refund. You'll more than likely get a message that "we're still processing your return, please check back later". That is the only information available to us, and if you were to call the IRS it would be the only information available to the telephone agent. This status is updated daily by an automated process, and there is no explanation available in the system. Take heart, though; after a time (which we also haven't been able to determine) the IRS pays interest on your refund, and at better rates than the banks pay these days!

If your refund is a different amount from what you expected then you will receive a letter from the IRS with an explanation. More often than not the adjustment is correct, but if it's not then let us know and we'll see what we can do in response. Sometimes it's taxpayer error, sometimes it's IRS error (and then usually two computer systems not talking to each other in a timely fashion).

Just be sure to open the IRS letter when you receive it! In fact, always open IRS letters, then read them! Many who are in trouble with the IRS have received notices that they've ignored until it's too late. Even in the case of an adjusted refund there may be a time limit on responding (depending on the reason for the adjustment) so it's important to look at it right away.

Pay your taxes. Get your refund status. Find IRS forms and answers to tax questions. We help you understand and meet your federal tax responsibilities.

02/11/2021

Our latest weather update:

As of right now, it looks like we'll be able to complete our normal day (or close to it) today. We've seen only occasional slow flurries this afternoon and temperatures are still warm enough that frozen roads shouldn't be a problem until later tonight.

Tomorrow is still undetermined. It looks like snow shouldn't be much of a problem, at least early in the day, but if roads are icy in the morning we may not be able to get to the office at our normal time. We'll be doing our best, but safety is paramount.

Should we be late opening, or unable to open at all, we will still be checking email and voice mail regularly so please feel free to get in contact with us via normal means. There may be a slightly longer than usual delay in returning phone calls, but email shouldn't be affected.

Stay tuned for further updates as we learn more!