Thanks to the new Transportation Security Administration branch office inside the UPS store on…read moreMaynardville Pike, I no longer have to remove my shoes, belt, laptop and quart-size baggie of liquid toiletries from my suitcase when I board a commercial aircraft. I am now a participant in the United States TSA Pre-Check Program. I filled out an online TSA application and made an appointment that required me to produce my valid passport and driver license. When I arrived, a clerk fingerprinted me and confirmed the information I had provided online. I paid the $85 processing fee and waited 3 weeks until I received a letter notifying me of my acceptance. It's good for 5 years. Folks also can walk in without appointments, however, pre-enrollers take priority and the overall process takes less time. Other setbacks may be for those who have a criminal history or have involuntarily been committed to a mental institution or are not U.S. citizens. It's well worth checking into if you're a frequent airline traveler, as more and more airports are recognizing TSA Pre-Check passengers.

As a rebuttal to Todd's comment please see my screenshot from my personal taxes proving things were…read morefiled late and I indeed paid a penalty. As for the error, in the taxes, I have provided screenshots of emails between myself and Mary. Moral of the story do not use these CPAs, as proof by Todd's lying below and unwillingness to make things right when customers have been wronged. I used Culpepper for three years and will not be returning. The first year was excellent, but my experience declined sharply after that. In the second year, communication with Mary became difficult, she was hard to reach and frequently offered excuses for delays. Our taxes are somewhat complex, and I expect extensions, which was the case for both 2023 and 2024. In 2023, despite poor communication, we finalized our taxes shortly after the deadline, so I let it go. 2024, however, was unacceptable. Mary prepared both our business and personal taxes. While working on our personal return, almost a month later, she discovered an error in the business return and attempted to blame me, claiming I hadn't communicated a change. That change was clearly included in the information sheet we provide every year. She eventually corrected the mistake at no charge, but only after deflecting responsibility. Meanwhile, weeks went by between responses, filled with the same excuses as the prior year. She didn't file our taxes until July, over three months past the deadline. I paid the bill but raised no further complaint at the time. Later, my husband called to give them an opportunity to make things right after they charged us an exorbitant fee for both returns, plus penalties from the late filing. Instead of addressing our concerns, they refused to let us speak with anyone other than Mary. She repeatedly placed blame on me and insisted she had done her due diligence, despite the fact that I had documented the gaps in communication with a clear timeline. Nothing was resolved. Because of this, I will no longer use Culpepper and strongly caution others against doing so.

I hate leaving non-stellar reviews, but I was disappointed with my overall experience. I called in…read morea state of panic knowing that we would not get our taxes done by April 15 (we moved from out of state and it was a complicated return). We had our appointment at the end of April and our return was not complete until early June. I found an error that reduced our tax liability by $7,000. I was told that we would be getting a letter from the IRS regarding the late filing and that I should send that to the CPA and she would request an abatement of the penalty since we had never filed or paid late before. I assumed that was part of the process that we had paid for, but then I got an additional bill for almost $200. If I had known that there would be an extra charge, I would've just called the IRS myself.