Thank you for the help over the years. Good to see you back in action. You are making tax declaration building and processing look easy by structuring and streamlining the process and having such a positive attitude. I wonder if this shouldn't be a tax write off in the marriage saving category, if it existed. So much easier than struggling through the broken mess of TurboTax, worth every penny. Thank you Steve. read more

Have you ever been ghosted by a tax professional? Sadly I have, and the possibility is strong that you will too if you choose to do business with Steve and Emperor Tax Service. Steve has done my taxes since 2009 and I started having him do my parents as well a couple years back. I used to work with Steve (taxes are his side gig) and he was much more responsive, but now that I am just your every day customer it seems as though I am not worthy of a response. Last year, Steve stopped providing physical copies of our tax records on the spot (which previously was a very nice touch). Instead, he provided a thumb drive. We told him then and there that we had a Mac and it wouldn't work. He said we just needed to format it and should there be any issues, we could contact him. When it came time to apply for my student loans it didn't work, so I contacted him asking for a copy. That was last May, and he still hasn't responded and I don't have a copy of my return. Similarly, my mother got an estate tax document and needed her taxes amended. He wouldn't respond to anything. Finally, I contacted an old coworker who asked him to contact my mom. He called me instead, from his work, and left a message. I called and texted him asking him to call my mom, not me. After about a month, he got in contact with my mom. He took her original estate tax document and told her he filed an amended return before the July extension. However, he has continued to withhold her original documents and has never provided her a copy of the amended return he states he filed. I have been calling, texting, and emailing Steve since May of 2020 asking for a print out of my taxes and the return of my mother's documents as well as a copy of her amended return. He hasn't responded or provided anything as requested. Needless to say, we will not be continuing our business with Emperor Tax Service. We just want our documents so that we can have someone else do them for us this year. Also, if you still choose to do business with Steve but find yourself where I am--I've done the homework and you can file form 14157 with the IRS to make a Return Preparer Complaint. read more

Completely unprofessional and negligent. I was calling and texting him to make appointment and he texted he will contact me to make appointment on weekend before last taxes day. I didn't contact anyone else now he's not replying or picking phone. Such a irresponsible person. I wish I could give zero star. read more

We have been using Steve for about the last 10 years and did not have any significant problems until this year. I always schedule our tax appointment for the first Friday in February and he has been really good about keeping that appointment. The real issue came after the appointment. Similar to other reviews, he is just non-responsive when you try to reach out to him. After our last appointment this past February the thumb drive he gave us did not have our taxes on it. My husband and I have been calling, texting, and emailing him to let him know so that we can have our tax information, bu haven't received any communication. We were due to get a small refund for our state taxes and we would have normally had the money electronically deposited by now from the state but we have received nothing. I went to the Franchise Tax Board website to the find my refund tab and it doesnt appear that our taxes have been filed, despite paying him for the service. Our family is extremely hurt and disapointed as he has been coming to our home for over ten years, trusting him with our personal information. It does not feel good. At this point we will file the necessary complaints and hope try to retrieve our money back from a service that he did not complete. read more

How can you run a business without answering the phone or returning voicemails? What a shame. read more

We started using Emperor in 2013, when our long-time tax preparer retired. We thought it was convenient as they will come to you, plus they had pretty good Yelp reviews. The first year everything worked as it should have (to our knowledge). In 2014, everything fell apart. We were utilizing Randy, one of Steve's (the owner) tax preparers. Randy was nice enough and very responsive. However when he arrived to have us sign our return, we noticed that dividend income and capital gains income was nowhere to be listed on the return. Our income was grossly understated and Randy spent 3 hours in our living room trying to fix it. Fast forward to 2015, we decided to give him 1 more chance. Our gut was telling us to cut bait, but he was so nice and people make mistakes, right?? Sadly, the exact same thing happened this year. We spent hours and hours of our own time trying to determine where Randy went wrong on the return. We were under the gun to file the return as the April deadline loomed over us. Eventually we were able to get the return done, and are crossing our fingers nothing gets flagged by the IRS. Pretty dismal experience so far, but it gets worse. A week after we receive our IRS 2015 refund, we receive a letter from the IRS telling us we owe thousands of dollars for the 2014 underreported income. What?? Are you kidding? Nope. We immediately went to Steve, the owner of Emperor and left several, yes, several voice mails telling him of our situation and asking him to respond to us. He left us one voice mail to date saying it was a "simple" mistake and they would take care of filing an amended return. Since we had no faith in Randy, we told Steve we wanted him to handle the amended return (if that's even what is required). In the last week, we have left 8 additional voice mails for Steve, with NO RETURNED CALLS. Please be forewarned. DO NOT use Emperor. You are asking for trouble if you do and rolling the dice on whether you will be a satisfied client or a highly dissatisfied client. When it's bad, I guess it's really bad. I am confused as to how anyone can stay in business with the lack of respect and response. People are anxious enough about doing/paying their taxes. When they have people like Steve in the picture who regularly behave like this, this just compounds to the stress. Find another tax preparer. Do your homework. Listen to your instincts. Learn from our mistakes. read more

Steven Shillings Emperor Tax Services is THE BEST. I can't even imagine getting better service either in terms of knowledge, hard work, convenience, ease to work with. My sister, who was my previous tax preparer, has worked as a tax preparer at H&R Block for over 30 years. She is very bright and knows a LOT about income tax. She is an IRS Enrolled Agent and takes update classes every year. She also teaches tax classes for Block. Other tax preparers in her office come to her with questions about difficult returns. She did my taxes every year for about 25 years. My taxes gradually became more complicated, with a rental property, stock options from my job, a little bit of stock and mutual fund buying and selling. A few years ago I took early retirement and became a investor full time. That was when my taxes became REALLY interesting. Stocks, bonds, option puts and calls, MLPs, hundreds of trades per year, two rental properties, multiple K-1 forms plus all the "normal stuff any middle class worker might have. My sister said she was not sure she could do my taxes any more. So she introduced me to a fellow who used to work for Block, who was THE go-to- guy for difficult returns. He had recently left Block to start Emperor Tax Services. Emperor Tax Services has been my tax preparer for 3 years now, and I could not be more pleased and impressed. The issues that made my sister balk were just standard fare for him. If it's tedious, he just does it. If it's new to him he researches. The prices are VERY reasonable, saving me AT LEAST $200 each year compared to Block's standard fees. and probably thousands compared to a CPA. Steven Shilling is also an IRS Enrolled Agent. And if that was not enough, HE COMES TO ME, bringing his computer and printer. I don't have to try to pull together every single item I might need for my tax return and take it somewhere. In the past it seems there was always some item that I forgot or just did not know was required because of a change to either the law or my finances. For Steve I gather as much of my tax records as I can think of and sort-of sort it, but when I find out I missed something we are right here in my living room and I can just go look up the missing item. I feel confident recommending Emperor Tax Services and Steven Shilling to my friends, and now to anyone who reads Yelp. I am not a big Yelper, I have to be REALLY impressed before I will bother with this type of thing. Without hesitation, I give Emperor Tax Services and Steven Shilling my highest recommendation. read more

This also my second year with Steve doing our taxes. He has a great service. He sets up a time and comes to the house. Within about an hour and a half, he is all done and the return is electronically filed. Very knowledgeable. You can call him during the year if any questions arise. So easy. We will be using Emperor Tax Service for a long time. read more

We've been going to Randy for our taxes the past few years and he's been outstanding every year. He's also very helpful and can assist you with your tax concerns during the year if you have an questions. He's very knowledgeable and addresses all our concerns when they arise, and is very responsive. He also makes house calls which is very convenient for us since we have a toddler that won't sit still if we're in an office. read more

He is by far one the the most affordable CPA I have met, very knowledgeable and looks for your best interest. Thanks again. read more

We had our Tax Service completed by Steve at Emperor Tax Service in 2013. Steve came out to our home and we supplied him with all of the documents required. He seemed knowledgeable and since he had good reviews we felt comfortable having him file our taxes. We were supposed to receive a State Refund and after a few months I check with the IRS to see when this refund would be coming. They said they did not show that our taxes had been filed. I called the Federal portion of our Taxes and they also did not show taxes being received. I called Steve and he said he was sorry and said it fell through the cracks. Now I'm on the IRS records as "Failure to file my taxes". I'm fined Failure to file penalty and Interest. Steve did pay the Failure to file penalty. Low and behold in November of 2014 I receive another notice from the IRS that my husbands pension payments were not listed. I immediately pulled our tax return that Steve had completed and they were correct he did not enter this pension income. As I stated above all documents plus the 1099's for the pension plan were given to him. We are now receiving another "Failure to File Penalty, Interest and back due tax amount owing. I sent an email to Steve and received an auto response .. __________________________________________________________________ I have received your e-mail. Your email is very important & will be responded to as quickly as possible. Thank you, Steven Shilling Emperor Tax Services sshilling@emperortaxservices.com www.emperortaxservices.com _________________________________________________________________ I have not received a call nor a response by email other than the above ...Irresponsible!! read more

We have used Steve's services for the last two years. He makes it very simple and painless. How amazing, he comes to you!!! I highly recommend emperor tax service! Better than the online programs, better than the corporate tax places, better than ice cream. read more

I had a very complex tax situation and Steve was more than capable of handling every situation I threw at him. He's very knowledgable and his prices are very reasonable (downright cheap) when compared to ANY other tax preparation services. I highly recommend him. read more

Wow Randy did my taxes my taxes this year and not only maximized my refund but did it in a professional manner. He was quick to respond to any questions i had. And even came right to my work to do on my taxes it printed up all my paperwork right then and there. I highly recommend him! read more

We had to reschedule our first appointment as something came up and Steve gladly accommodated us. It took about two hours as our taxes are kind of complicated but we are quite glad we decided to go with him instead of Turbo Tax this year! We're quite sure he saved us a bundle and gave lots of helpful advice. He left us with nice and tidy documents as well as envelopes/reminders for our estimated taxes. It was quite organized! We were very impressed with his service and we will definitely hire him again for next year. Thank you so much Steve! read more

Great service that comes to your house. They are flexible and very affordable. They even explained everything to me step by step. Will definitely use them again. read more

My husband and I were looking for a new tax service because we were disappointed in the services used in the past by those companies who dress up and waive signs on the street corner. We found Steve by looking for someone with recommendations, which we found on Yelp. Steve is great, He is a very friendly person with a great sense of humor. He actually came to our house (twice) and provided very professional and knowledgeable service. So convenient! I had a wrong tax record in my files. If he hadn't come to us, my taxes wouldn't have been done. Last year I went back and forth to the tax service several times before they could be filed. Did I say how convenient this service is! We had him do the whole family! Thanks Steve! read more

I admit I went with Steve for two reasons: One, because the Yelp reviews said he'd come to my place and that meant it'd be easy to work with my schedule. And two, because his logo was a penguin and I thought it was cute. Yes, it's true, I based my financial decision on a penguin logo. Penguin or not, I'm glad I went with Steve because he really is as good as all the reviewers say he is. He's on time, came with his own computer/printer set up, and had books to reference in case we wanted to check something. He's super friendly and very funny (a great contrast to the old dinosaur cronie that last did my taxes at H&R block). I was amazed he fit me into his schedule so late on a Saturday night but was glad he did because I didn't have to chop my day in half to do taxes. Overall we were done in one hour, start to finish including set up and printing. Amazing! I took longer installing Turbo Tax and getting the basic info input! For just slightly more than what I've paid for Turbo Tax in the past, this service is beyond compare for the time saved, ease and knowing it's done right. Not to mention that (sad as I was to have to owe money this year) Steve also saved me over $1000 compared to what the software initially said I owed. Sometimes doing it yourself really will cost you more in the long run even if you save $20 up front. Go with Steve and love the penguin. Do it. read more

We found Steve through yelp. He had great reviews so we decided to set up a meeting. We have found our new accountant. He has already helped us out a great deal! Highly recommended! read more

Steve has been doing my taxes for years and I trust him implicitly. He is very thorough, friendly and his rates are reasonable. Plus fellow yelpers, he is MOBILE; meaning he comes to you!!! This to me is sooooo convenient when you have a rambunctious toddler such as I do. I am so proud and glad that he went out on his own to continue to provide tax services and I would highy recommend him to anyone. read more

I found Steve through yelp and his service was as great as advertised. He came to our house and was very up to date on all of the tax laws. He even put up with our puppy who can be quite bothersome. His price was great and he even does all of the filing too. read more

I run a small but rapidly growing software company. We had a really good year last year, so I had to bring all my losses forward to keep my federal taxes low. We made a lot and spent a lot, so I didn't have much left over for taxes. Owed nothing to the Feds, then POW, the State wants over $10,000 in taxes from us - according to my handy dandy Turbo Tax for Corporations. I was in a panic about this zinger when I finally broke down and decided I needed a pro on this. Found Steve here on Yelp and he squeezed me in to a tight schedule. A few days after we first met to review, he gets my taxes down to $2,000. Whew! Steve was a lifesaver. He didn't drag it out to rack up the hours or anything. Just saw what needed to be done and did it. No more Turbotax for Business for me! That would have been an $8,000 mistake. Steve's my guy from now on! read more

Emperor Tax Service has been doing my taxes, and my family's for years! Extremely knowledgeable, professional, and prompt. He is approachable and stays in contact; returns calls promptly too! I can't recommend Steve highly enough! read more

Steve at Emperor was extremely helpful with my taxes. He answered all of my questions in a way that made the complex tax code seem strikingly simple to understand. Steve is extremely polite, has a great sense of humor, and is a joy to work with. I'll be using Steve in the future, and I will certainly be recommending his services to friends and family alike. read more

I found Steve through this website and took a chance, which is not something I would normally do, and it was well worth it! Steve came to our home with all the necessary equipment. It was nice because there was information he needed that I had not thought about and I was able to retrieve it easily. I had a question a few days later and he called me right back. What a find! We will definitely continue to use Steve for future years. read more

We've been using Steve (and Emperor Tax Service) for close to a decade now. He's been helpful and is very reasonably priced. Having his support through-out the year for tax related advice is a great help as well. read more

I highly recommend. Steve has been doing my taxes for the past 7 years. Maybe longer. Steve is always prepared, will come to my home, is quick, friendly, and extremely knowledgable about taxes. I highly suggest to give Steve a try. In addition Steve is always available to ask questions. read more

Steve has been doing our taxes for over 10 years and has done a great job. I know that things are going to be done efficiently, accurately, and filed on time. I look forward to getting my taxes done every year because it is truly a painless process because I can put it in his hands and trust that things will be done and will be done right. read more

It is with disappointment that I need to write this update. In 2014, we had our 2013 taxes completed by Steve. This was our 3rd year in a row. The prior two tax year filings (2011 and 2012) were very good experiences. It is now 2015, and we receive a Failure to File letter from both the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) and then the IRS. When I first rec'd the FTB letter, I thought it was a mistake. I emailed Steve on 4/13. Auto-response. No personal response. Then I emailed him again on 4/14. Auto-response. No personal response. A third time on 4/16. Finally get a simple response: "It has been sent." Okay, so I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, and that it was just some glitch on the FTB side. Then I get a bill from the FTB saying that I owe $X penalty fee for not filing, and for the interest owed due to not filing. I then rec'd a similar letter from the IRS this week. I called Steve on 5/6 and asked him to call me back and I clearly stated my problem. No response. I emailed him and asked him for proof that he did file back in 2014. No response. Called him again and emailed him again on 5/8. I have no other choice but to believe that he was irresponsible and negligent in his duties to file our taxes on time. Now I'm stuck with two large penalty bills because of his failures. Very disappointing is an understatement. read more

I have been using Steve for YEARS prior to him going out on his own. He's very thorough and knowledgeable, plus fun to be around. Now that hes on his own, he makes house calls, which is totally worth it in my opinion! Super convenient when you're a parent with a busy schedule. Great rate, much less expensive than the commerical counter parts. give him a call, you wont be disappointed read more

A total flake! I wish I could give him a negative rating. He offered to come to meet us in our home, then he looked our previous years' tax return, and said he can totally do it. I called him dozens of times afterwards for a follow-up meeting, but he never picked up or replied to any messages. In showing him our documents, he must have gotten some of our personal information, and I do not know what he will do with it. Thinking back, I was really stupid to contact this guy. He does taxes as a part-time job to earn extra cash, while in truth, he hires other people to do most of the work. He avoided telling us where he is by offering to drive out to meet us instead, as he does not have an real office. And the phone number is always a voice machine. If you care about your privacy, please do not trust this creep, and especially not with your SSN and financial credentials. He is dangerous! read more

Randy is excellent for preparing taxes. He has helped me with my taxes the past three years and I have never had a problem. He is patient, reliable, and very flexible with my busy schedule. He has very good prices much cheaper than H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. I highly recommend him to file your taxes you will not be let down. read more

Steve has been a pleasure to work with, really knows his stuff and is very inexpensive for the the services he provides. He has saved us quite a bit on taxes over the last two years - making him a very good investment! read more

We have used Emperor Tax Services for the past 4 years! Steve has always been professional, efficient, and completed our taxes in a timely manner. Thank you Emperor Tax Services for consistently exceeding our expectations! We will see you in 2015! read more

We've been working with Steven now for quite a few years now. Our experience with Steven has been stellar, to the point that we have recommended him to all our family, which I think says quite a bit. Steven is very organized, but also very busy, yet he knows how to go the extra mile for his clients. We have both been to his office, and also had him come to our home. We have had some complicated tax issues in the past and he was able to handle the taxes with ease. You might have to leave a voicemail, or I recommend you send him a text but Steven has always come through for us. We will continue to work with Steven and recommend him to the people we know. Thank you Steven. read more

We used Steven for a few years and do NOT recommend him. He is absolutely horrible about responding to calls/texts/emails. We recently discovered that he never even filed our business tax return for 2013 and we only discovered it when we were trying to close down our business. Unfortunately we cannot close it until the 2013 tax return is filed (and we have no copy of it....the digital copy cannot be saved and/or printed). It has now been more than a week with 6 separate requests for him to please file those and confirm...still no answer. Don't waste your time with this guy. He makes mistakes that can cost you and he definitely doesn't respond on a timely basis. He is so not worth it. read more

I was beside myself with the uncertainty of my taxes. Steve was friendly, efficient and easy to get along with. Thank you Steve for putting my mind at ease. I would highly recommend him! read more

I decided to use Steve from Emperor Tax Service based on all of the positive reviews on Yelp and I was not disappointed. He was very knowledgeable and asked a lot of questions to make sure that I got the best refund possible. He also explained a lot of scenarios concerning my investment property and explained the tax rules relating to that property, which Turbo Tax never would have done. I am very satisfied with his work and am definitely using him next year! read more

Steve is great! We found him on Yelp when we had an issue with the IRS for a mistake on a previous return. He helped us out, answering all our questions very patiently. We were so impressed with his help and the service we received that we will now have him prepare our taxes every year. He just finished our taxes for 2011. We called him yesterday and he came to our house tonight! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! read more

Really knowledgable and helpful. Steve is just good at his job.