News and Information
Monday, January 12, 2026
PSW Deploys New Secure Client Portal
Introducing Our New Secure Client Portal: Truss
We’re excited to introduce Truss, our new secure client portal designed to make your tax experience smoother, faster, and more convenient than ever.
The client portal in Truss is your own private, secure online space where you can easily manage everything related to your tax return—from uploading documents to communicating with our team—all in one place.
Why We’re Using Truss
We know tax season can feel overwhelming. Truss helps simplify the process for both you and our team by keeping everything organized, secure, and easy to access.
Here’s what you can expect:
🔐 Super Safe
Your security is our top priority. Truss uses advanced, top-tier security to keep your personal and financial information protected at all times.
📂 Easy Document Uploads
Upload documents as soon as you receive them—no need to wait until you have everything. You can:
Upload files individually or in bulk.
Take a picture of documents right from your phone.
Avoid email attachments or physical mail altogether.
Everything goes straight into your secure portal.
✅ Built-In Document Checklist
Based on your prior-year return, Truss provides a customized checklist of documents we’re expecting. You’ll always know:
· What’s already been uploaded
· What’s still needed
No more guessing or back-and-forth emails.
⚡ Faster & Simpler Process
Truss automatically organizes your documents, helping both you and our team stay on the same page. This means fewer delays and a more efficient tax return process overall.
💬 Stay in the Loop
You can:
Check the status of your return.
Receive updates.
Send us messages.
Communicate about documents that may be coming later.
It’s like having our office in your pocket.
✍️ Electronic Copies & Digital Signatures
Once your return is complete:
· You’ll receive a full electronic copy of your tax return.
· All required forms can be signed digitally within Truss.
This makes it easy to share your return with banks, lenders, or other third parties whenever needed—no printing required.
We’re confident Truss will make your experience with us more secure, more organized, and far more convenient. If you ever have questions about using the portal, our team is happy to help.
Monday, January 12, 2026
2025 Client Organizers - Important Information
Client organizers for the 2025 tax year have been sent, and this year, we used two primary delivery methods to ensure secure and timely access.
Electronic Organizers via Client Portal
If we have an email address on file for you, your organizer and tax checklist were delivered securely through our new client portal. You should have received an email from “PSW Partner” containing:
A detailed message from Becky & Kara
A unique, secure link to your personalized tax checklist
Please be sure to check your inbox and your spam/junk folder, as automated security filters may have blocked the message.
Paper Organizers by Mail
For clients who have used a paper organizer in the past and for whom we do not have an email address on file, a paper organizer was mailed, consistent with prior years’ delivery methods.
Prefer a Different Format?
We’re happy to accommodate your preference. If you would like to receive your organizer in a different format, please contact our office. Available options include:
A secure, field-masked PDF
A printed organizer for office pickup
A paper organizer mailed to you
If you would prefer to use our electronic client portal but did not receive an email, please contact us with your updated email address. We would love to get you set up with the portal and share its benefits with you.
Important Deadline
To ensure timely filing of your 2025 tax return, your completed organizer must be received by our office no later than March 13, 2026.
Information received after this date may require filing an extension for your return.
If you have any questions or need assistance accessing your organizer, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our office. We’re here to help and look forward to working with you this tax season.
Monday, January 12, 2026
Electronic Payments
Modernizing Federal Payments - What You Should Know
The federal government has issued a new Executive Order titled “Modernizing Payments to and From America’s Bank Account” (EO 14247), signed March 25, 2025, aimed at updating how the United States processes payments with the goal of making them faster, more secure, and more efficient.
What This Means
Beginning September 30, 2025, the federal government will transition away from traditional paper checks for most payments and collections—such as tax refunds, benefits, fees, fines, and vendor payments—and move toward electronic payments like direct deposit, real-time transfers, digital wallets, and other digital methods where permitted by law.
The change is designed to:
Reduce fraud, lost mail, and administrative costs.
Speed up the delivery and receipt of funds.
Increase security and efficiency in federal payment processes.
Encourage wider adoption of modern digital payment options for all taxpayers and payees.
What You Should Do
To ensure you receive federal payments—such as tax refunds—promptly, make sure your bank account information is current in IRS and other federal agency records so you can receive payments electronically.
For those who currently receive paper checks, the transition emphasizes the importance of updating payment preferences to avoid delays. Exceptions may apply in limited cases where electronic payment is not feasible.
Monday, January 12, 2026
Security Updates and Recent Bank Frauds
In the past six months, we have noticed a large increase in fraud, occurring in various ways and impacting our community and clients. In response to this, we have been in communication with various resources, including our professional associations, governmental authorities, and banking contacts, to inquire as to steps that are advised to help combat the increased fraud occurrences.
While this list is not all-inclusive, please note that there are things you can be doing to protect your data:
Be diligent in reviewing your individual bank accounts. Check your activity regularly and let the bank know immediately if there are any discrepancies within the bank or credit card accounts.
Make sure to review and update passwords regularly and make them complex. If you have been notified by a company that your account was part of a data breach, please make sure to change your passwords and do not share passwords across sites.
Please do not send any sensitive data over email or via text. This includes any documents that contain your bank account information, your social security number, date of birth, or your tax information.
We are recommending that our clients move forward with obtaining an identity protection PIN (IPPIN) from the IRS. Once obtained, this unique six-digit number will be required to file your tax return each year (with the number changing annually). This prevents someone else from filing a tax return using your Social Security number. You can find detailed instructions on this process here: https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/get-an-identity-protection-pin. In addition, please view the FAQs related to IPPINs here: https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-identity-protection-personal-identification-number-ip-pin
If you have any type of business or trust account, we recommend you look at adding a positive pay system, where you approve payments before funds can come out of the account. Methods vary by bank, so we recommend you reach out to your bank and see what options are available to you.
Saturday, January 13, 2024
2023 Individual Tax Preparation Information
Client organizers for 2023 have now been mailed. Please utilize this information as you plan for your 2023 tax preparation. We have included your 2023 tax engagement letter with that mailing that we will need returned to us in order to begin the tax preparation process.
Please review the bank information within your organizer and confirm that the data we have on file is correct. If changes are required, please provide us with updated banking information.
If you need to send tax documents electronically, please contact our office so that we can coordinate communication through a secure shared portal instead of sending sensitive data through email transmission.
In order to meet the filing deadline for your 2023 tax return, your completed organizer needs to be received by our office no later than March 15, 2024.
Information received after that date may require an extension of time to be filed for your return.
Thursday, January 11, 2024
RE: Corporate Transparency Act — Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Reporting Requirement
Dear Valued Client,
The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) was enacted into law as part of the National Defense Act for Fiscal Year 2021. The CTA requires the disclosure of the beneficial ownership information (otherwise known as “BOI”) of certain entities from people who own or control a company.
It is anticipated that 32.6 million businesses will be required to comply with this reporting requirement. The BOI reporting requirement intends to help US law enforcement combat money laundering, the financing of terrorism, and other illicit activity.
The CTA is not a part of the tax code. Instead, it is a part of the Bank Secrecy Act, a set of federal laws that require record-keeping and report filing on certain types of financial transactions. Under the CTA, BOI reports will not be filed with the IRS, but with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), another agency of the Department of the Treasury.
We wanted to send you this communication to put you on notice of this new requirement.
What entities are required to comply with the CTA’s BOI reporting requirement?
Entities organized both in the U.S. and outside the U.S. may be subject to the CTA’s reporting requirements. Domestic companies required to report include corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), or any similar entity created by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or any similar office under the law of a state or Indian tribe.
Domestic entities that are not created by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or similar office are not required to report under the CTA.
Foreign companies required to report under the CTA include corporations, LLCs, or any similar entity that is formed under the law of a foreign country and registered to do business in any state or tribal jurisdiction by filing a document with a secretary of state or any similar office.
Are there any exemptions from the filing requirements?
There are 23 categories of exemptions. Included in the exemptions list are publicly traded companies, banks and credit unions, securities brokers/dealers, public accounting firms, tax-exempt entities, and certain inactive entities, among others. Please note these are not blanket exemptions, and many of these entities are already heavily regulated by the government and thus already disclose their BOI to a government authority.
In addition, certain “large operating entities” are exempt from filing. To qualify for this exemption, the company must:
a) Employ more than 20 people in the U.S.;
b) Have reported gross revenue (or sales) of over $5M on the prior year’s tax return; and
c) Be physically present in the U.S.
Who is a beneficial owner?
Any individual who, directly or indirectly, either:
Exercises “substantial control” over a reporting company, or
Owns or controls at least 25 percent of the ownership interests of a reporting company
An individual has substantial control of a reporting company if they direct, determine or exercise substantial influence over important decisions of the reporting company. This includes any senior officers of the reporting company, regardless of formal title or if they have no ownership interest in the reporting company.
The detailed CTA regulations define the terms “substantial control" and “ownership interest” further.
When must companies file?
There are different filing timeframes depending on when an entity is registered/formed or if there is a change to the beneficial owner’s information.
New entities (created/registered on or after January 1, 2024, and before January 1, 2025) — must file within 90 calendar days.
New entities (created/registered on or after January 1, 2025) — must file within 30 calendar days.
Existing entities (created/registered before 1/1/24) — must file by 1/1/25
Reporting companies that have changes to previously reported information or discover inaccuracies in previously filed reports must file within 30 days.
What sort of information is required to be reported?
Companies must report the following information: full name of the reporting company, any trade name or doing business as (DBA) name, business address, state or Tribal jurisdiction of formation, and an IRS taxpayer identification number (TIN).
Additionally, information on the beneficial owners of the entity and, for newly created entities, the company applicants of the entity is required. This information includes — name, birthdate, address, and unique identifying number and issuing jurisdiction from an acceptable identification document (e.g., a driver’s license or passport) and an image of such document.
On November 7, 2023, FinCEN issued a final rule that specifies the circumstances in which a reporting company may report an entity’s FinCEN identifier in lieu of information about an individual beneficial owner. A FinCEN identifier is a unique identifier to provide the required identifying information directly to FinCEN. The final rule is effective January 1, 2024, to align with the effective date of the BOI Reporting Rule.
Understand your reporting requirement.
Penalties for willfully not complying with the BOI reporting requirement can result in criminal and civil penalties of $500 per day and up to $10,000, with up to two years of jail time. While we wanted to inform you of this new requirement, it is important that you understand that our office is unable to assist you with the filing of the BOI, as our office has all non-attorney CPAs, and this reporting requirement is being viewed as legal in nature. We wanted to share this information so that you can coordinate with your attorney to meet the necessary filing requirements in a timely manner. As always, planning ahead can help you comply with and understand your filing obligations. FinCEN announced a new Small Entity Compliance Guide to assist the small business community in learning about and complying with the beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting rule. In addition, FinCEN has issued FAQs about the BOI reporting requirements that incorporate content from the Small Entity Compliance Guide. For further information, please visit FinCen’s BOI website at: https://www.fincen.gov/boi. We will also provide links to this information on our website for your convenience.
Sincerely,
Potts, Steele & White, P.A.