As a special addition to our member promotion services, the Chamber is now offering a free Featured Member Profile, which will be printed in the Chamber View and posted on the website for a month, then moved into a prominently-placed online archive for the remainder of the year.  To win this free publicity, just drop your business card into the Featured Member Fishbowl at each monthly Networking Mixer and be present for the drawing.  For more information, call the Chamber, 410-719-9609.

Featured Member

Good Counsel  When Times Are Tough –
Janet Bruchey Advises Clients on Taxes, Money and More - January 2009

Foreclosures. Stock market drops. Trillion-dollar bailouts. Downsizing. Recession. By any standard, 2008 has been a wicked year for the economy.

As a Licensed Tax Preparer, Enrolled Agent, and Certified Senior Advisor, Janet L. Bruchey is seeing the personal impact of the economic downturn from nearly every possible angle….and she is using her position to make a difference.

Unlike ordinary tax preparers, Enrolled Agents are rigorously trained, tested, and licensed to represent taxpayers before the IRS, Ms. Bruchey explains. And for tax year 2008, she says, “I’ve done more work as a representative before the IRS this year than ever before.” So much so, in fact, that her office has been handling clients’ tax needs for the greater part of the year.

But this is the part of the work that she loves, she says.  After working for a large tax-preparation company for 13 years, she decided she’d had enough and set up her private practice in 2002. Since then she’s been providing tax preparation and representation, along with personal and business financial consulting services, for clients in Maryland and across the country.

 “I’m happy working for myself,” she explains. “I have more control, and I can do more for my clients. I really enjoy working with people.” Many of her clients are seniors at Charlestown, where she visits once a week during tax season.

Ms. Bruchey describes her business as handling “mainly individual and small business tax returns, along with some C-corps and S-corps, and some estates and trusts.” It’s a characteristic understatement. With her calm, unflappable manner, she often finds herself supporting clients through intensive problem-solving sessions, especially in knotty situations involving multiple years of missing information.

“I try to have them pay the lowest amount of taxes they legally can,” she says. “And I review the returns with them so they understand why they’re paying what they are…ultimately when they’ve signed the return, it’s their responsibility to be sure it’s correct.” If clients face unmanageable tax bills due to years of snarled or missed returns, she advises them on IRS payment options.

With the economic downturn this year, she says, the picture is bleak. “I’m seeing a lot of unhappy people losing their investments, some seniors losing the investment income they depended on, without pensions to supplement their Social Security. It’s having a big impact.” She sighs, shaking her head sadly.

Fortunately, as an Enrolled Agent Ms. Bruchey completes “between 50 and 60 hours” of continuing education each year, and this year’s coursework has focused on the needs of clients in financial distress.

Listening to her clients’ circumstances, she’s able to advise them on options ranging from homebuyer tax credits to reverse mortgages. For specific information regarding legal options or investments, she refers them to a local attorney or investment advisor.

“Some of my clients ask about starting a business – and it’s not a bad time to consider this now,” she adds. “A lot of people are dealing with the loss of their jobs, or are afraid of losing their jobs…they want to have a part-time income in case they are downsized.”  In such cases, Ms. Bruchey offers information about the options and responsibilities of prospective business owners, and refers clients to the Small Business Administration for help with business plans, incorporation or startup loans.

Certainly, it’s a wicked economic climate out there. But watching the intensity in Ms. Bruchey’s  eyes as she speaks of the services she offers, one comes away with the feeling that with care, common sense, and solid financial advice, even tough times like these can be managed.

 Past Featured Members