Stephen E Cohen LLC

Found Steve after looking through Unilocal when our trials with Turbo Tax led to much confusion.
Steve did a great job getting our taxes together and filiing everything, but that’s what you expect from a CPA. The reason we’ll definitely keep working with Steve is he was incredibly responsive through the whole process. We’re fairly new to US taxes and and we have a constant barrage of questions. Steve answers promptly and helpfully to all of these.

A friend suggested that we use Steve to help us with our taxes. We certainly have some complexity with our taxes (W-​2s, Self employment, Family partnership, etc.) but we had always done our taxes ourselves. After meeting with Steve late in 2014 to give him an idea of the complexity of our taxes, and then consulting with him again in early 2014, Steve agreed that it was OK for us to do our taxes again for 2014, and he would review them.
I realize that this time of year is a stressful time for tax consultants, but I have seldom ever been treated so poorly by someone that is supposedly in the consulting business. Steve was angry, rude, and charged us $ 200 for his review, with very little helpful feedback. He was impatient with us, and when I asked him what we had done to piss him off, he refused to answer, simply stating that our taxes had clearly become too complicated for us to be doing ourselves. You know, maybe that’s good advice if it had come from him when we first started talking, but that advice came after we had already completed our taxes and sent them to him for review. He sent us an invoice within a day or two of reviewing our taxes, and then, within 10 days, he sent a second invoice, demanding that we pay immediately. I’ll send him a check, but we won’t be asking for Steve’s tax consulting services again.

My better half and I moved to Portland midway through 2014. I was both a freelancer and W2’d employer during that year. On top of that, we bought a house. In short, my taxes were complicated. Online software wizards are great if you have a simple tax situation. Otherwise, they completely break down and you’ll likely be spending a ton for a false sense of convenience. Steve helped me sort through my situation, saved me significantly more than I’d arrived at on my own, and left me feeling confident my taxes were filed correctly. I can’t recommend Steve’s services enough. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re saving any money or time trying to hack through complicated taxes on your own.

I was referred to Steve by a friend and I have to say that every experience I’ve had interacting with him ended up being super informative, friendly, and helpful.
I had a confusing tax situation involving filing as an independent contractor for part of the year and a W2 paid employee for another part of the year on top of student loan interest payments, educational deductions, and charitable donations. Steve provided me with advice and tools that made navigating the situation much more clear and easy than it otherwise would have been, and he also set me up with documents that will help me be MUCH more organized and prepared for next year’s filing process.
Steve also only bills for the time that he’s actually working on your tax filing — not time spend on phone calls or emails — which makes giving him a shot a totally risk-​free process.
I would — without hesitation — recommend him to anyone who needs some assistance making sense out of a tax situation, no matter if their filing would be relatively simple and they just want an expert to be sure they’re not missing anything, or if they have a messy situation like mine was this last year.
My experience with taxes this year ended up being a reasonable, manageable, and painless process all around… which is not something you normally hear people say about filing taxes. Thanks so much, Steve!

Ever since I moved to Portland in 2007, Steve has been my go-​to tax person.
I run my own business, so I have him do both my schedule C and personal taxes. Steve has been great because every year he seems to give me new tools (such as an Excel file to help me track my expenses more efficiently) and tips (like how to get full Oregon tax credits by giving to my favorite Cultural Trust charity).
I find Steve caring and easy to talk with. He sends easy to understand educational e-​mail a few times a year and also gentle reminders around tax deadlines and how to best prepare. His prices are very fair for the quality of service he provides.
Now that I have moved to Ashland, I still work with Steve remotely. I have found him easy to work with, both in person and also online (through e-​mail). He is so good I refer people here in Southern Oregon to work with him!

Steve has completed my taxes for several years. He is very efficient and knowledgeable. What sold me on his service? The first year I worked with him, I was contemplating whether or not it would be beneficial to write off certain business expenses. He calculated that the cost of preparing the form would be more than the potential deduction. Plus, he isn’t hesitant about answering a tax question or two mid year. I’m glad I have Steve in my corner for tax preparation.

Steve did a GREAT job with our taxes. He was very fast and organized, got us more money back than we would have gotten if we had filed on our own. He was very helpful in answering all of our questions and I felt confident in him the whole time. I will definitely be going back to him next year.

Steve was referred to us by people I work with, and he did an incredible job navigating the tangled and complicated tax issues that were our transitional 2013 year. We both work full time — although there was a period where we were both unemployed, have a secondary small business, and switched states, to boot. He met with us, talked us through it, and provided professional service for an affordable price — plus ways of better keeping track of our finances for the coming year. We intend on using his services each tax season, now. Steve’s friendly, efficient, patient, and knowledgeable. You won’t regret enlisting his help.