Last updated: 04/05/2024

Tax Services Agreement 

Thank you for selecting us to assist you with tax services. 

This Tax Services Agreement is between the entity providing tax services indicated on the Engagement Letter (“we”, “our”, “us”) and each business or individual that subscribes to the Tax Preparation Services, each as defined below (the “Company”, “you”, “your”). The written contract(s) executed by you and us, including any scope(s) of work appended thereto (the “Engagement Letter”) together with this Tax Services Agreement are referred to herein as the “Agreement”. The Effective Date of this Agreement is the date that the first Engagement Letter has been signed by both you and us. If the Engagement Letter contains additional terms and conditions, then those terms and conditions govern to the extent they conflict with any term and conditions in this Tax Services Agreement.

The purpose of the Agreement is to establish the terms of our engagement and the services we will provide.

IRS Regulation 26 C.F.R. § 301.7216-3 consent to disclosure and use:

Please note that we may perform any or all of our obligations hereunder through a third-party tax service provider, including in each case its Affiliate(s), some of which may be located outside of the United States (each service provider and its Affiliates, a “Service Provider”) and/or our Affiliate(s), some of which might be located outside of the United States. These Service Providers and/or we and our Affiliates may use subcontractors, some of which may be located outside of the United States. In such event, we will remain liable to you for any nonperformance of the Agreement by us caused by an act or omission of the applicable Service Provider.

You hereby consent to (1) Ralph & Ralph, PC, and/or its Affiliate(s) (“Ralph & Ralph”) disclosing your information that is required to provide the tax services (this information is referred to in this paragraph as the “required information” and it includes, for example, your financial and business information, entity and ownership information, complete tax return(s) in Ralph & Ralph’s possession, and other tax return information communicated through Ralph & Ralph’s systems) to us and our Affiliate(s) and/or Service Provider(s), as applicable, (2) our and our Affiliates’ and Service Providers’ use of the required information to provide the tax services, including disclosure to, and use by, subcontractors to provide the tax services, (3) the disclosure and use of the required information outside of the United States to provide the tax services, (4) our disclosing your complete tax return(s) and other tax return information to Ralph & Ralph to share it with you through Ralph & Ralph’s systems and facilitate completion of your tax return(s), (5) Ralph & Ralph using your complete tax return(s) from the tax services, required information, and other tax return information communicated through Ralph & Ralph’s systems to perform and improve its services, including, for example, use in bookkeeping and other services and disclosure to potential partners for evaluation purposes and service providers for processing purposes, and (6) disclosure of the required information and tax return information in response to state subpoenas and grand jury subpoenas, subject to notice to you of the same to the extent permitted by law. This consent is valid with respect to Ralph & Ralph’s use of your information for services performance and improvement purposes for as long as Ralph & Ralph has a business purpose for using the information, and with respect to other uses and disclosures until the statute of limitations to assess any tax by the Internal Revenue Service or other applicable state agency with respect to the applicable tax return has expired. 

We shall have in place with the applicable Service Provider at all relevant times a written agreement obligating the applicable Service Provider (including its Affiliates, if and as applicable) to comply with confidentiality obligations protective of all such information substantially similar to those contained in this Agreement.

I. Services

Tax Preparation Services

If you engage us to provide tax preparation services (as reflected in your Engagement Letter), we expect to perform the following services (the “Tax Preparation Services”):

  • Prepare the federal, state(s), and local income tax returns with supporting schedules, based on financial statements that accurately represent the financial activity of the Company, as provided by the Company, or Individual, as provided by the Individual.

  • Any additional tax returns or other government filings for the Company or Individual not included in the Engagement Letter must be requested in writing by the Company or Individual, and accepted in writing by us, and will then be subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

Except as specifically provided in an Engagement Letter, this engagement and the Tax Preparation Services do not include any returns other than income tax returns (including without limitation sales or use tax returns) and do not extend to determining the Company’s filing requirements or nexus in any particular taxing jurisdiction. We may be able to assist you in the preparation of these filings, if you request. This request must be in writing by the Company or Individual, and accepted in writing by us, and will then be deemed added to the Engagement Letter and be subject to this Agreement. Please note there are substantial governmental penalties and personal liability for noncompliance.

We and the Service Provider must use judgment in resolving questions where the tax law is unclear, or where there may be conflicts between the taxing authorities’ interpretations of the law and other supportable positions. As a condition of receiving Tax Preparation Services, you agree to honor our reasonable directions and those of the Service Provider regarding disclosure of return positions to avoid or mitigate penalties.

In the course of the Tax Preparation Services, it may come to your or our attention that you may need to file tax returns in one or more additional jurisdictions, including foreign jurisdictions. While we will advise you if this comes to our attention, you remain solely responsible for identifying all filings for which you are seeking Tax Preparation Services, including any liability and additional expenses resulting from choosing not to prepare and file any tax returns, tax forms, and/or supporting schedules (whether recommended by us or not). You must inform us of any new or expanded activities that could trigger filing requirements in additional state(s) or country(ies), such as the acquisition of property or the hiring of employees or use of independent contractors in a new state or country. Activities of a partnership, LLC, trust or other pass-through entity in which you are an owner or beneficiary may also trigger additional state and/or foreign tax filings, so you must inform us if you have acquired an interest in a new pass-through entity over the past year.

II. Records

We will retain copies of the records you have supplied to us along with work papers for your engagement for a period of seven years from the due date of the applicable return (including extensions). Please notify us within this period if you need copies of any of these materials. After seven years, work papers and engagement files will be destroyed. Your original records will be returned to you at the end of this engagement. Working papers and files that we maintain are not a substitute for your original records, and you should arrange for secure storage of the originals.

III. Fees

Our fees for these services are as set forth in the Engagement Letter.

Tax Preparation Services

With respect to Tax Preparation Services, our services include filing the following tax returns for the Company or Individual:

  • One U.S. federal business income tax return

  • One U.S. state business income tax return

If you notify us in writing that there are additional state income tax returns, personal tax returns, franchise tax returns, quarterly sales tax returns, foreign shareholders owning greater than 25%, foreign financial accounts, or changes in accounting methods, additional fees will apply.

You acknowledge that engaging us for Tax Preparation Services does not include a verification of any amounts or values related to crypto assets or transactions provided by you or on your behalf for purposes of completing any tax returns.

Generally

Ralph & Ralph collects payments for the Tax Preparation Services automatically via ACH or credit card. You represent that the account you are authorizing for ACH and/or credit card is an account that is not primarily used for personal, familial or household purposes. By authorizing us to use ACH, you agree to the NACHA Operating Rules that govern ACH payments. Fees are exclusive of taxes, which you are responsible for, if applicable. You hereby authorize Ralph & Ralph or its payment processor to initiate entries to your business bank checking account on file with Ralph & Ralph (using your provided address on file) in order to pay amounts that you owe to us, and, if necessary, to initiate adjustments for any transactions credited or debited in error. You represent that you have authority to bind the organization that owns the bank account and to authorize these transactions to the bank account. This bank account payment authorization will remain in effect until you notify Ralph & Ralph in writing to cancel it in such time as to afford Ralph & Ralph and the bank reasonable opportunity to act on it. We may immediately suspend provision of the Tax Preparation Services if your account is past due with respect to the payment of fees for any services or any other amounts owed by you to us or Ralph & Ralph. You agree to pay any fees for Services owed by your Affiliates. Except to the extent expressly set forth in the Agreement, all payments are non-refundable and non-creditable.

We reserve the right to request prepayment before starting the provision of any Services. In the case of nonpayment of any amount due and owed under the Agreement, in addition to such unpaid amounts you will reimburse us for all costs and fees incurred to collect the unpaid amounts.

IV. Rights and Protections

You retain the right to terminate the Tax Preparation Services upon written notice to us at any time, and we retain the right to resign at any time upon written notice to you. If we resign, we will provide you with a full refund of any amount prepaid for terminated Tax Preparation Services that have not yet been rendered.

OUR (INCLUDING OUR AFFILIATES) CUMULATIVE LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING IN ANY MANNER TO THE TAX PREPARATION SERVICES OR THIS AGREEMENT SHALL IN NO EVENT EXCEED THE TOTAL FEES PAID TO US (OR TO SUCH SERVICE PROVIDER, AS APPLICABLE) FOR THE NONCONFORMING SERVICES AND OUR WORK PRODUCTS GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY. WE (INCLUDING OUR AFFILIATES) AND THE SERVICE PROVIDERS ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY OF THE FOLLOWING: (A) INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES; OR (B) DAMAGES RELATING TO LOSS OF USE, DATA, BUSINESS, REVENUES, OR PROFITS. THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS APPLY EVEN IF WE (INCLUDING OUR AFFILIATES) OR THE SERVICE PROVIDERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS AGREEMENT SETS FORTH OUR (INCLUDING OUR AFFILIATES) ENTIRE LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE TAX PREPARATION SERVICES, AS APPLICABLE.

The Company or Individual agrees to indemnify, and hold harmless, us, each Service Provider and each of our and their officers, directors, employees, contractors, Affiliates and agents for any liabilities, damages, expenses (including reasonable attorney’s fees and costs), costs and/or losses incurred in connection with (a) any financial liability for penalties or interest resulting from misinformation or misdirection originating from Company or failure by Company to timely provide required information, sign e-file forms or make necessary payments and/or (b) any third party claims or other legal or regulatory action or proceeding involving or relating to the Tax Preparation Services or this Agreement. With respect to any action or proceeding in which we are not a party, the Company shall indemnify, and hold harmless, us, each Service Provider and each of our and their officers, directors, employees, Affiliates, and agents for all costs and expenses (including reasonable attorney’s fees and costs) associated with providing testimony, documents or information relating to the Tax Preparation Services, including any time expended at our (or an applicable Service Provider’s) then standard rates.

We and the Company, to the extent permitted by applicable law, each knowingly, voluntarily and intentionally waives the right to a trial by jury in any action arising out of or relating to this Agreement, the Tax Preparation Services to be performed by us pursuant hereto. This waiver applies to any action or legal proceeding whether sounding in contract, tort, negligence or otherwise. This Agreement and all claims relating to the relationship between the parties are governed by the laws of Texas, U.S.A, excluding Texas’ conflict of laws rules. The arbitration provisions of the PSA Sections (defined below) shall apply to the resolution of any dispute under this Agreement, unless you have opted out as provided in the PSA Sections.