I've been a client of David's for the past 7 years (since I moved to North County). Originally, his…read moreoffice was located in Carlsbad but he later relocated to Poway and I still make the trek out to see him from Oceanside. Why? He's the most knowledgeable tax accountant I've worked with. He sincerely does try to get me the best refund possible... and every year, he doesn't fail to impress me. Not only do I see more return value than with any other tax preparer but I learn about how the changing laws affect me, write-offs I missed, and future tax saving ideas. Having a former federal auditor prepare your taxes is honestly the best way to go. David started filing my taxes as an individual and now files for both hubby and I. I honestly haven't been able to find anyone with the same qualifications and experience as David. As a disclaimer, I will say, David's skills are in high demand and keeps him very busy. I usually schedule my tax prep as soon as I get my W-2s and have all my paperwork sent to him well in advance. I realize some people wish to have their taxes/tax experience expedited but patience must be appreciated for quality service. If you're a new prospective client, my recommendation would be to email/contact a few tax preparers (rather than wait on one) since he has a high clientele or, if able, either contact David before tax season starts to get started. Finding a good tax preparer can be frustrating, but I believe investing time in someone you trust is worthwhile. Best of luck to everyone and may you get the maximum refund possible!

If there was an option to give this unethical company zero stars, I would have done so - it was…read morethat bad of experience. I have never experienced anything so terrible before. It was the worst $500 ever spent. David will take weeks to get back to you, if he ever does at all. Saying this experience was disappointing is a vast understatement. We selected Rundlett last year around this time because we had purchased a home in 2015 and need some extra help with our taxes. Rundlett had a 4 or 5-star rating at the time, and great reviews, so we went with them. We should have gotten the hint when they took a week to respond to our first email, and we had to contact them multiple times to get a response, but we thought it was tax season, so we'd give them a break. Eventually, they gave us a list of items to bring into the office and we had an appointment with David & Matthew, one of David's associates. After that they told us that he would call us in a two weeks to set up another appointment to review the outcome. Two weeks came and went - no call, no email, no communications whatsoever. We had to call and email again, multiple times to get David and Matthew to finally respond. We finally got an appointment with them one week before taxes were due, and we went over our options. When we met with them, they highly recommended that we file an extension because they want to try to save us more money. We owed a lot on our taxes, so we decided it was the best thing to do. When we agreed to the extension, we thought that meant a few extra weeks - so May instead of April. However weeks went by without any communication from them - no status of our taxes, no email telling us an expected date, nothing. We had never been through this process before, as we told them, and the lack of communication was astounding. I called, emailed and texted for weeks until I finally got an answer. And the answer was that we had until October, so "don't worry, there is no rush". We did not want to wait until October just because we had until October, we just wanted to get them submitted and move on -- so I had to convince them to finish my taxes. By the time all of this back and forth happened, it was mid-June until we could submit these and finally be done with this completely unprofessional company. Unfortunately, it didn't end there. In August, we got a statement from the IRS that we still owed money from our taxes and that we had a penalty on our account because we filed our taxes late and had never filed an extension. How is that possible? ... Well, other than the fact that David is completely incompetent and shouldn't touch anyone's taxes, he also claimed to file our extension, but couldn't seem to find our paperwork or proof that the extension was ever filed. I had multiple emails asking him to send a copy of the extension paperwork and a mail receipt for my records, and never did produce the documents. His assistant mailed me a copy of a receipt a month before we even met with them to stop me from bothering them, but I called them out on it and never did get anything for my records. On top of that, David failed to tell us that when you file for an extension, the money you owe accrues interest and you have to calculate that and pay that to the IRS when you pay for your taxes. It was a minimal amount (under $50), but for us it was the point. Again, he is the expert and failed to tell us this important detail. I called, emailed, texted them multiple times again and it took over two weeks, until the day before the payment was due, to get a response. I had to tell one of their associates that it was an emergency to get a call back. David and Matthew finally got back to me and said they were calling the IRS to ensure we didn't have a penalty on our account and promised that wasn't the case and there was a mistake. A week later, I had heard not a peep from them. Again, I called, text, emailed and tried to get in touch with no response. I had to call the IRS myself and wait on the line more than one hour to talk to someone to find out that there was a penalty on our account, but because I called and explained what happened, they removed it and confirmed they had accepted the payment. If you are looking for a professional company to complete your taxes in a timely manner, and communicate with you as any normal business would do, then you've come to the wrong place. You will do yourself a disservice by using them. Stay away, stay far away.

Great experience, if you can say that about taxes. Their attention to the details got me thru this…read morewith out a scratch. Had a few tricky financial issues which were handled with ease. E-Filed, with refunds arriving within a few days. GREAT JOB ...see you next year.

KYLE YOU ARE RUDE, DISRESPECTFUL AND UNPROFESSIONAL! Blonde…read morelady, first door on right when u go in....lord. she asked if i needed help, i explained announced i was called for info and she said oo the spouse with the missing info actually came in.....like wtf. First I have a name ignorant blonde. Then Kyle....we set up an appointment and when i got there, he already had an appointment and 0 time for me.....i dont know why you made an appointment with me when you already had one then to top it off, i thought if he rolled his eyes more they would roll right out of his head. Not professional. I had to ask him to stop. Then to tell me that MY husband isnt my business. You know what's not someone's business, saying disrespectful comments like that to someone. I mean I'm not a customer and this is how you treat me??

Long overdue review for this business! We found Daniel through Yelp after some major changes and…read moreneeding a little stability in our tax situation. He's done our taxes for two years in a row at this point, and we are so happy with his tax expertise. We found his prices extremely reasonable for our tax situation, especially because we tend to get him documents a little later than we should. He's extremely communicative and responds quickly. I'm so grateful for Daniel's continuous guidance over the past two years. We hope to work with him for quite a while!

I called and they were very rude and he talked down to me. I hired another cpa firm in Los Angeles.read more

I have been using Top Hat Taxes for many years! Daryl Hale, owner, personally does each and every…read moreperson's taxes! He is accurate, prompted and ready to assist. Give him a call! https://miramesataxpreparation.com/

I originally found Darryl Hale on Yelp and had him prepare our taxes the last couple of years…read morewithout issue. This year Darryl reached out directly offering tax planning services. After paying the $2,500 assessment fee Darryl recommended two tax strategies, both of which raised significant concerns: 1) GFX Trading - a complex Series LLC foreign currency structure. This strategy was presented as a way to generate large tax deductions through foreign currency trading. When I asked for written explanations of how the strategy worked, what the economic substance was, and how it would hold up under IRS scrutiny, the answers were incomplete and at times inaccurate. When I declined to proceed, he called me immediately, insisting "everyone is doing this," and became defensive. I later understood that his affiliated company receives commissions from this arrangement, which was not disclosed before he recommended it. 2) DNA Harmony - involving the purchase of gift certificates for Jazz Band Splash red-light therapy. This was presented as a deductible expense through a separate Series LLC structure. Again, I requested information in writing about the IRS basis for deducting these types of purchases, but the responses did not address compliance, valuation, or audit exposure. When I decided not to move forward with either strategy based on the lack of clear documentation and concerns about risk, I requested a refund of my $2,500 fee. The request was denied. My experience did not meet the level of professionalism I expect from a tax advisor. I would not return nor recommend Darryl Hale and will be filing a complaint with the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility and notifying the California Franchise Tax Board.

Wes and his team are truly amazing. They have helped us for the past 3 years, and we are so glad to…read morework with them. They helped us establish the foundations of our dental practice, and are extremely prompt about responding to all my messages and get me to the right place. They are not just a CPA firm, but they have a lot of things under one roof such as consulting. The practice consultant he works with, Deb is also amazing. She has helped us through everything! Wes put me in touch with the right people to help my practice grow. Wes is also very detailed. We could not be happier with his services.

I cannot say enough good things about everyone at PracticeCFO. Everyone on the team is…read moreprofessional, organized, knowledgeable, helpful and kind. They also respond to emails and phone calls immediately and are always happy to help. They have helped me navigate year to year as a business owner and really went above and beyond this year with all the changes to businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. PracticeCFO gives me so much peace of mind that my business is in good hands. I am so grateful.

Tim has done our taxes for 2 yrs and will be a 3rd time for our 2018 taxes once we get all our docs…read moretogether. He has always been very patient with us, listening to us, answering our questions and explaining things. Final doc package that he puts together is great. We look forward to working with him again. Larry and Ana

We came in as first time customers to get our taxes prepared and filed. We had a wonderful…read moreexperience, the appointment was quick but thorough and the staff was very friendly! We will definitely be back next year.

3rd year with Cuong Nguyen Best tax man ever!!! Quality…read moreservice, great people, fast service!! Thank You

Bryant is fantastic, been working with him / LaunchCPA for several years. I don't think I'd be…read morehere without them.

Bryant and his team are outstanding. No need to look any further for your CPA. you will…read moreBe more than pleased with his services. I have a few businesses and it took 4 CPAs to find the right one and when you know, you know. Even when my businesses weren't doing as well and I couldn't afford monthly services, I was pleased and relieved by his approach to still answer my questions and do screen shares with me when I needed assistance when I am technically only paying at the end of the year to file my taxes. He doesn't feel like other CPAs I have worked with where you can tell it's all about the paycheck for them. You can tell he genuinely cares and wants to help. He will take the time to explain things thoroughly and any questions I have are answered quickly, which is very much appreciated.

The first couple years these guys were very average. The level of service dropped each year until…read moretwo years ago when we couldn't get a call or meeting and every email was answered by someone different. Then they fired us with no referral or explanation. We had referred some family members and they found basic math errors with their filing. Very unprofessional! I would not recommend.

I had a terrible experience with Dave at Coastal Tax Advisors. He would belittle me with every…read morequestion I asked him and at the end, after my Corporation sent tens of thousands in tax payments at his direction, he wouldn't file my 2020 return and told me to find another CPA. Totally unprofessional and terrible customer service. Would not recommend.