Secrets about the 1040 business that no other accountant will tell you….

You'll probably get charged less if you've got your stuff together. Most tax pros charge based on some combination of hourly rates, complexity of the tax return and the so-called "hassle factor."

The early bird gets more attention. Early in the tax season, we feel like we have more time. This doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get a "better" return — we should go through the same questions and process regardless of when the return is done. But you have to figure that if your return is being worked on early in the tax season, a little more time (including time talking with you) is going to go into it than would otherwise be the case. If I had to use a tax pro, I would see him or her by mid-February.

We don't like last-second rush jobs. And you shouldn't, either. I want to do a good job for all of my clients. If someone I've never talked to before calls me on April 12, saying he or she needs to file by April 15, I'm probably going to refer them to someone else.

Extensions are fine by us. Many taxpayers worry that they're going to have trouble with the IRS if they file an extension. I've never seen any evidence of that. In fact, extensions are the perfect solution for the taxpayer who would otherwise be a "rush job." It's way better to file an extension and send in an accurate return later than it is to rush to meet the April 15 deadline and later discover things you missed that require you to amend the return.

With the extra time afforded by an extension, we can go over a client's tax situation after April 15 and make sure we've gotten all the documentation and asked all the questions that could help trim their tax bill.