I was behind on my taxes and in a predicament with liens breathing down my neck and was very happy…read moreto find Surf City Tax Services. Cole made everything feel simple and not so overwhelming. I will definitely be recommending Cole and Surf City in the future.

I started a new job recently and wanted to discuss how this would affect my taxes at the end of the…read moreyear. Cole responded quickly and set up a time to chat. I admitted my lack of knowledge in taxes made me nervous, but Cole assured me that him and his team would meet me at whatever level of experience I had. I left the conversation relieved and would absolutely recommend.

Allison has been a dear helping me fix up my past year's taxes. It's a lot of work but she managed…read moreit well and she was able to hop on calls when needed! Would recommend her!

My wife and I were avid TurboTax users before considering a CPA for our tax planning and filing…read moreneeds (if I'm being real honest, I was probably the person really** pushing our family to look for someone reliable and trustworthy that could act as an advisory for us). After a new home purchase and more chances of us forgetting to do something with our full-time and side hustle income, we knew it was time to find a CPA, and I'm so happy we found Allison after three CPA interviews. Allison was responsive and provided us tangible things to consider as our annual income tax bill becomes more of a challenge. I genuinely appreciate her transparent approach, her "human-ness" in how she looked at our situation, and I'm glad we worked with her this year. Thanks, Allison!

Great place to do your taxes!…read more Amy Parker is very knowledgeable, professional and organized. I have been using her for several years and couldn't be happier. My taxes are pretty cut and dry, not too complicated, but I still like someone to organize it all for me. It is very easy to get an appt with her come tax season. I have been to HR Block before, but I felt they could care less if I got the best refund. Mrs. Parker asks you a lot of questions to make sure she covers every possible tax break. She also gives you pointers on how to save in the future. An example I learned from her: save your receipts from improvements you made on you house to show when you sell your house. It's great to support an honest, small business owner in Salinas.

I've been coming with Amy for almost 10 years and I wouldn't want to be with anyone else. She is…read morequick, efficient, and very easy to communicate with. I am so thankful to have found her and be able to entrust her with my family's taxes! I will continue to have her complete my tax filing to until she decides to retire Thank you Amy for a painless tax experience.

Robert Arne, owner of Carpe Diem, prepared our tax returns for the first time this year. He was…read morerecommended by a friend whose tax he has done for several years. We were very happy with the service Robert provided and will definitely use his service again. We got an appointment right away and he completed our returns and filed them electronically within a few days. He was thorough in asking for all of our information so that we didn't miss any possible deductions. The entire process start to finish was the most painless tax prep experience I've had in years. His price, I feel, was very fair. Our return is about medium in terms of complicated, with a few rental properties and to be honest he could have used that to bump his price. He didn't do that. I don't know Robert yet but I have the feeling he is above board and honest in his financial dealings, just had the impression he isn't someone who gets every penny he can in an exchange. His office is in his home and his home is on a remote road in the Santa Cruz mountains. We only needed to make one trip there as he was very willing to do everything electronically after the initial visit to meet each other.

We are a retired couple with a duplex in Boulder Creek. I haven't done our taxes in a few years…read moreand the wife finally pushed me to call carpe diem. The gentleman there is very nice, but we didn't feel he took the time to understand who we were and where we were coming from. He chatted with my wife for some time, but mostly talked about himself. He made some assumptions about how we wanted to handle the duplex, which were wrong. He seemed to think we were much wealthier than we actually are. At some point he apparently triggered some deep feelings she had, but he did not seem to notice it care. She cried all the way home. After we got home, we consulted AI. It turns out that we needed a different kind of tax person, if we even need one at all. AI was able to put us on the right track. Thank you, Gemini . That's about it. I don't like confrontations so I am still in contact with this man, but the wife says just pay him for the visit and cut our losses.

Timothy is awesome. He was recommended to my husband and I by good friends of ours. After a…read morenightmare with TurboTax and Covered CA, Timothy took time out of his very busy schedule to look over our return. He provided very good advice and explanation for our situation within a day! I highly recommend him!

Well..... I don't know what to say here. I almost didn't write this review, but after the call I…read morejust had, I felt like I should. I gave 3 stars because this review isn't of his accounting skills (which I won't have the chance to experience), but rather his customer service, so I tried to be fair. After reading the great reviews I tried to call today to see if Tim might be a good fit for our business and 2 families that own the business. When he picked up the phone it sounded like I interrupted him. I asked if it was a good time to talk. He was a bit short-sounding in his response, so reading that, I asked if there might be a better time to connect. Again, the reply was short in tone and certainly not what I was looking for in a person who would be this important in our lives. I am happy he seemingly has enough business, but I guess we will have to continue our search.

Why 1star? The communication for tax year 2022 was the nail in the coffin. I was called and sent…read moreinfo to the wrong email and phone over and over again...even though we corrected them everytime. They weren't returning any phone calls I had to walk into their office. Another time I needed a notary. Left messages, Noone ever called back. The last tax return was awful as you might imagine. They answered zero questions I posed in my paperwork, instead they just filed my returns without that critical info. I also feel they line charge for many items that should just be part of the service. When called to get help with getting copies of my returns sent to my new tax preparer. They said it's $75 per year. I said this is part of why I left. She hung up on me. GO ELSEWHERE FOR TAX PREPARATION

No one looks at your stuff, but one person who doesn't even have her CPA license. The owner is so…read moreoverworked and can not give enough time for reviewing work done because he has to put his name on all work performed. If your company is small and wants cheap fast work down and dirty, this is your place. The service is just how fast and how quick can we get your stuff out the door, with out considering anything else. But, they will sell you the moon and provide the bare essentials.

Heather is knowledgeable, experienced, prompt and pleasant. What else could you ask for? I am new…read morein Santa Cruz and randomly picked her out among other CPA's here -- and I certainly lucked out. It was great working with her and while I may be moving out of state soon I intend to keep her as my accountant. If you're looking for an accountant with whom to have a relationship that gives you peace of mind she's a great candidate. And her little office in a beautiful Santa Cruz yard is very pleasant to visit. I highly recommend her.

Heather is very helpful and professional. She does what she says she will and in a timely fashion…read more She has been completing our taxes for about a decade. I highly recommend her.

I've been using Viet Tax Services for my filings two years in a row, and they've always handled…read moreeverything promptly and efficiently. I particularly appreciate the pre-filing questionnaire-which helps make gathering documents and preparation a breeze. The Tax Dome App is incredibly convenient for uploading files on the go. Viet and Clare stands out for their excellent communication, meticulous organization and deep expertise. I'm thrilled I discovered them on Yelp and definitely will be hearing from us next year! Best, Ngoc and Jose

I wanted to edit this review, because it made me sound like I reviewed while mad/upset…read more I have been working with this company for 5+ years, & I used to file single. Once I was married & we had complicated things to add, we made sure to go to Viet. I used to get to make an appointment with him in person & he answered any & all of my questions, before I filed. But sadly COVID hit & things changed to online. My husband & I have changed careers several times since 2022, & we had a baby, so there are several things to add into your taxes. This year, we spent over $15k in medical expenses, had our first child, & hoped we would get some kind of a tax refund. But unfortunately that didn't happen. When I asked about adding money to our IRAs, or why we didn't get to file itemized, or how else we can reduce our tax bracket, we were told it was a "paid question that required a paid appointment". Anyway, I think you can get your own taxes done for free or less than you're charged by this guy. He can't help you with basic questions without requiring money so... stay aware & ask questions!