Serving U.S. Citizens in or outside the U.S.A.

Sondra Gaylord Enrolled Agent,

U.S. Tax preparation for
ExPatriots Member NTPI

330-759-7605 (voice),

330-759-7625 (fax) or
email: sgaylord@neo.rr.com

2005: Invited to join a 4-year Post-graduate program: National Tax Practice Institute. Achieved the designation “Fellow” three years later.

Education, Treasury & IRS Experience

• 1980 All but Dissertation to PhD, Virginia Polytechnic & State University
• 1977 Master’s Degree, Virginia Polytechnic & State University
• 1955 Bachelor’s Degree, Indiana UniversityI was never an employee of Treasury Department
• 1976 First exposure to Federal Taxation, IRS 17th St., Wash. DC – VITA Class
• 1980-1996 Represented IRS in VITA, TCE, and Operation Outreach Programs.
• There was no program of any kind in the Northeastern area of Ohio. Worked under Cleveland Taxpayer Assistance Office. My duties included teaching, creating full curriculum (we had no texts at that time), scheduling training, arranging for sites, public relations (including publicity, radio and TV Q&A programs), public appearances, scheduling speakers from other taxing agencies, staffing sites, site management and reporting to IRS.
• 1991-1994 Board member of IRS District Director Institute on Federal Taxation.
• Duties included: planning, moderating, and presenting topics on federal taxation.
• 1994 – 2003 Continue to offer workshops and presentations as requested by
• Taxpayer Education. Will be a presenter at Youngstown State Univ. Institute on Federal Taxation, 2003, Topic of Code Section 1031 Tax Free Exchanges

Employment Experience

• 1980 – 2003 Tax Practitioner. I own and operate a full-service year-around firm.
• 1987 Attained Enrolled Agent status
• 1980-1984 Created and presented 2 teaching units:
• Yes, You Can!, a 32-hour workshop which offered 8 different aspects of personal financial planning to the public. Coordinated speakers, curriculum, activities through the Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. Invited to present it in Cincinnati at the National Library Association Conference 1983.
• Your Money or Your Life (With my late husband, a physician) 16-hour unit integrating good health management with good financial management. Four workshops within the unit.
• 1976-1980 Teacher of the Deaf, Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, Virginia
• 1972-1976 Career Education Specialist, Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, Virginia
• 1964-1972 Self-employed Speech & Hearing Therapist
• 1955-1964 Speech & Hearing Therapist private practice and in school systems

Professional Memberships

• National Association of Enrolled Agents
• Ohio Association of Enrolled Agents
• National Association of Tax Practitioners
• Pennsylvania Association of Enrolled Agents

More About My Practice, My Focus and My Approach…

I accept Audit cases from a variety of referring sources: attorneys, other professionals, friends of clients. “Audits won or resolved in my clients’ favor include such issues as: innocent spouse question in 1991: a carpenter entitled to earned income credit but denied two years in a row; contested dependency questions; basis adjustment problems; 941 and 940 issues; numerous new clients who arrive in my office having not filed in a decade or more; and many other issues.

My love of research was honed during my graduate work at the doctoral level. If I am unsure of my own findings, I do not hesitate to reach for a research bank (such as National Association of Tax Practitioners) for substantiated answers to questions. I am not afraid to ask and insist that all people in my office approach tax problems with the same attitude.

I developed a series of presentations to: Realtors (6 speeches last year), contractors, hairdressers and groomers, senior citizens, and other special interest groups.

Through the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, I developed a 16-unit workshop which I wrote and implemented. “Yes, You Can!” This involved 32 hours of lecture, activities, and group interaction. Topics included banking, finance, insurance, housing, tax, retirement, starting a small business, marriage & re-marriage, personality and money. Invited to Present at the National Library Association meeting in Cincinnati, 1983.

Also, I developed and offered (with my Physician-husband) “Your Money or Your Life”, 16 hours of lecture, interaction, and workshops. This was presented at churches from Reston Virginia to Aptos, California.

I developed and am presenting a program to tax exempt organizations in which people are instructed in legal ways to increase building funds, operating funds, etc.

I was featured in many radio and television appearances (for Internal Revenue Service) monthly for from one to three hours of Q&A, for over a decade. I continue to service a Florida radio program in which I supply tax answers to weekly questions.

I wrote and published two newsletters: First Class Female (a variety of business issues for businesswomen which was sold to the Youngstown Business Journal; and Femina, a newsletter for women physicians under the sponsorship of Northeastern Ohio University School of Medicine (NEOUCOM)

My business is intentionally small with an Associate and two secretaries. We employ the best tax programs available. We pride ourselves on our on-going personal relationship with our clients. We underscore ethical practices in all elements of our work. Also in the business is another Enrolled Agent and a payroll specialist.

I am closely tied to national tax practitioners. Locally, Weestablished a network of support. We meet 8 times a year and present topics to each other. My professional relationships include a key member of our multi-city tax professionals. She has invited me to address their group. (“Techniques for Recognizing Hidden Taxable income: Corporations and Partnerships”)

I work best when I have assembled a “team”. For instance, on a number of occasions, an IRS agent, an attorney, and I have worked together in collaboration, we three, on behalf of a taxpayer. I believe that networking is one of my key strengths.

I enjoy studying an issue by “picking it up by all four corners to examine it from underneath.”

I enjoy boiling complex subject matter down to manageable units. For example, recently the Mahoning and Trumbull County Boards of Realtors asked me to present a concise presentation on Code Section 1031 Tax Free Exchanges. I wrote a 40-minute lecture which I illustrated. I brought in a Title Guarantee person to discuss her duties as a Qualified Intermediary. People were able to walk away with a workbook in plain English, illustrated with “silly dogs”, to help them remember the key points.

I have done the same with various groups on such topics as: “Independent Contractors vs. Employees”, “Business vs. Hobby”, “Publication 230 and Ethical Practices”, “Business Formation”, “Starting a Small Business”, “The Alternative Minimum Tax and Timing Issues”, “Depreciation Since 1978”, “Earned Income Credit Since 1988: Legal, Ethical, and “Practitioner Issues: Office in the Home”.