Tax preparation is filing an accurate return for a year that's already over — it's backward-looking and largely reactive. Tax planning is proactive: working with a strategist throughout the year to structure income, entity choices, retirement contributions, and major financial decisions before they happen, so the tax bill is lower by the time filing season arrives. Taxvanta is an advisory-first practice, which means tax planning is the core relationship — tax preparation is simply where that planning gets reported to the IRS.

An enrolled agent (EA) is a tax professional licensed directly by the IRS after passing a rigorous three-part exam covering individual and business taxation, or through prior IRS experience — and EAs must complete ongoing continuing education specifically in tax law. Unlike a CPA license, which is state-issued and covers broader accounting, an EA credential is federal and tax-specific, and EAs have unlimited rights to represent clients before the IRS in audits, collections, and appeals, in any state. Taxvanta's Scott Vance holds both the EA credential and a CFP® (Certified Financial Planner) designation, combining tax expertise with broader financial planning.

Yes — military and veteran tax planning is one of Taxvanta's core specialties. Scott Vance is a former active-duty service member and a member of the Military Tax Experts Alliance, so the practice understands PCS moves, combat pay exclusions, state tax residency questions for military families, and the unique timing challenges of tax planning around deployments and relocations.

Taxvanta is based at 300 S. Main St, Suite 212, Holly Springs, NC 27540, and works with clients throughout Wake County — including Apex, Cary, Fuquay-Varina, and Raleigh — as well as with clients nationwide through virtual tax planning and preparation services.

Tax planning is typically structured as an ongoing advisory relationship rather than a one-time filing fee, because the value comes from decisions made throughout the year — not just the return itself. Many clients find that proactive planning saves multiples of its cost in reduced tax liability, compared to a purely transactional, once-a-year tax-prep relationship.

Yes. Enrolled agents have unlimited representation rights before the IRS, meaning an EA can represent a client directly in an audit, respond to IRS notices, and negotiate collections or payment plans — the same representation rights as an attorney or CPA, but with tax-specific federal licensing.

Military spouses frequently miss deductions and benefits tied to the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act (MSRRA), which can allow a spouse to keep the same state of legal residence as their service member for tax purposes even after a PCS move — potentially avoiding double state taxation. Job-search and relocation costs tied to a PCS, along with state-specific military spouse exemptions, are also commonly overlooked without a planner familiar with military tax rules.description

For most military members, unreimbursed PCS moving expenses can still be deductible under a specific active-duty exception, even though the general moving-expense deduction was suspended for civilians. The rules depend on whether the move was ordered, whether expenses were reimbursed, and how they were reported on the member's W-2 — which is exactly the kind of detail a tax planner familiar with military moves should review case by case.ription

Often, yes — bookkeeping and general accounting keep your financial records accurate, but they don't necessarily include forward-looking tax strategy. A tax planner works alongside your bookkeeper, using clean financial records as the foundation for decisions about entity structure, retirement contributions, timing of income and deductions, and other strategies that reduce what you owe before the year closes.tion

There's no single best structure — it depends on your income level, how much you pay yourself vs. take as distributions, your growth plans, and your state. As a general pattern, sole proprietorships are simplest but offer the least tax flexibility, while an S-corp election can reduce self-employment tax once profit reaches a meaningful threshold, at the cost of added payroll and filing complexity. A tax planner should run the actual numbers for your specific situation rather than defaulting to a rule of thumb.

For most clients with a planning relationship, a mid-year check-in and a year-end planning session are the minimum — timed to catch major income changes, deductions, or life events (a new job, home purchase, PCS move, business change) while there's still time to act before December 31. Clients with more complex situations, like business owners or those with equity compensation, often benefit from quarterly check-ins.