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October 2024 by Martha Seneta
I had an unusual tax situation relating to self-prepared taxes and I was just looking for a sanity check, or high-level advice. I contacted several tax firms in Seattle and neighboring cities. All the other firms informed me that the only way they could advise me was if I hired them to do the tax preparation themselves. Steel Guarde, on the other hand, was willing to set me up with an appointment to speak with a tax advisor. When I spoke with Joe, he freely gave me the advice I had been looking for during just a few minutes on the phone. He was no-nonsense, smart, and helpful. As an added bonus, Steel Guarde is located right here in Ballard, where I live. I intend to use Steel Guarde for all my tax needs in the future.
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October 2023 by Shankar J.
Didn't find them to be very friendly. Just very matter of fact. The two years they did my taxes, I paid the most I've ever paid in taxes EVER and in addition to the fee for doing them, $275 for 20min.
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April 2023 by Missy Y.
Outstanding service and reasonable rates - highly recommend Blake for tax prep!
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January 2022 by Jennifer B.
Steel Guarde has great professional, professional service. We've been working with Blake for something like 10 years for our business and personal taxes. We moved to another state, and we still rely on Blake to support our tax needs. He's personable, helpful, responsive, and knowledgeable. If you have a question, he's got the answers. If you get a letter from the IRS, and don't know what to do or how to do it. He'll square everything away for you. SG will make sure you have the papers you need to file your taxes. Blake thinks of ways we can optimize our taxes and always gets things completed in time, even when we, the client, dropped the ball. Reception has always been nice as well.
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August 2021 by R R.
I do not recommend this business. I wanted to support a local ballard business but boy was that a mistake. The first experience was in 2016 with Ruth who suggested I give up my business because (that year) I wasn't making a big income, and my second time in 2017 hiring this odd company I worked with one of the owners Blake who forgot to ask me about a very standard Heath insurance form bc I got my insurance through Washington health exchange. That is a typical question that even the H and R Block online software asks. And therefore after filing with the irs by paying these people I received a letter from the irs asking for additional information that Blake forgot to file!! He was NOT apologetic at all (just short sentences, no sorry or acknowledgement of his MISTAKE) or really interested in rectifying the issue with any type of customer centric behavior. When he supposedly fixed the problem I got a SECOND email from the irs noting that "figures from line 25 of form 8962 were not transferred to lines 27 and 29." I sent that to Blake expressing I was disappointed and wouldn't work with them again... no response! A very uncomfortable experience. Especially if you are a woman or freelancer/small proprietor/ small biz I'd suggest going elsewhere.
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October 2020 by Kay Mac
We have worked with Blake for years and our stuff seems complicated. He’s helped us through everything and is our go to for questions throughout the year. We’ve recommended him to others who are happy too. Thank you, Blake!
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April 2020 by Navid Namazi
We have been with Blake / Steel Gaurd for personal and business tax filings and accounting services 4 years. They are a professional / reliable team of accounting experts. Highly recommend them.
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February 2020 by Karen McMahon
We have worked with Blake for years and our stuff seems complicated. He’s helped us through everything and is our go to for questions throughout the year. We’ve recommended him to others who are happy too. Thank you, Blake!
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November 2019 by Susie Lee
I've worked with Blake for a number of years, and he's always been supportive, informative and on top of things. Reasonable rate for the entire time I've been with him!
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September 2019 by William Ransohoff
Easy to work with, but I got a surprise 5-figure bill from the IRS for the year that I sought their help with.
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May 2019 by Jessica B.
Joe Rush at Steel Guarde has been doing our taxes for five years. We've moved across the country, sold a home, bought a home, rented property, started a business, had a child etc. Through all of life's changes he has been a trusted advisor to us. He has helped us plan ahead and figure out the implications of major changes multiple times. I cannot recommend enough!
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February 2019 by Florence V.
I worked with Joe 3 years ago to fix a tax issue which went smoothly which is why I came back to have my 2017 taxes. I came back with my husband to get our taxes done separately along with our business taxes. We called in February 2018 to set an appt. We were told both Blake and Joe were booked out till May. So the receptionist asked us to file an extension. So we did. When we came into our appt in May; we met with Joe who took all of our information down in his computer and made copies of all of the necessary documents. He said he would get the taxes done and sent to us to review in 1-2 wks. We reached out by calling and emailing for close to two months. He then got back to us finally after multiple back and forth emails asking for the documents and personal information numerous times. He finally gave us our tax documents after us threatening to send our business elsewhere 1 wk prior to the extension due date. After careful review he told me I would have to pay over 5k in owed taxes due to a certain law. That there was no way to bypass it. I then asked for my money back and processed my taxes on my own. My taxes were accepted by the IRS with no penalties nor did I have to pay the 5k. I do not believe Joe cared about keeping our business or trying to fix it. I would not recommend anyone going here.
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February 2019 by Evan W.
My wife and I have been doing our taxes with Joe Rush at Steel Guarde for the past 4 years. Joe is awesome, super friendly and helpful, and generous with his time. I always look forward to working with him every tax season!
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November 2018 by Yun J C.
We got a letter from IRS stating that we owe them $27k of additional tax on top of what we submitted through Turbotax Premium. It took him only a few minutes to find out how the letter was sent out by error. Thanks to him, we even got some of the taxes back. Will definitely book his time again this year.
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October 2018 by Greg R.
On my first call to the office, the person who answered the phone asked 'how she can help me?" I told her my tax situation, and her response was. "Well, good luck with that." I decided to go elsewhere.
