I have been using South Austin Tax for years. I have never been disappointed. Kristen has been the best! I truly appreciate that she is so knowledgeable as I can come to her with any question and she is able to respond pretty much off the top of her head with the answer. I highly recommend using them if you have any tax needs. Bring your information. Answer any questions. Get your resolution. What else do you want? read more

I've come here two years in a row and absolutely love Kristen. I read some of the other reviews and was honestly shocked what people said given I've had the exact opposite experience - twice now! She's kind, professional and very knowledgeable about all things taxes. She took time to explain to me why I owed what I owed. She also provided recommendations about what I can do differently to hopefully not owe next year. I highly support this wonderful woman owned business and encourage folks to come here. You will not be disappointed. Thank you, Kristen! read more

Do not recommend to anyone who needs to have taxes done. She does not answer any emails after if you have questions. Waste of your time, taxes, and any future savings. read more

I have used South Austin Tax Service for a great many years. I am so impressed with the professionalism and speed at which Kristen handles my taxes. I hand her my forms from payroll, dividends, charities and the like and she enters them in her computer and gets through it all in just a few minutes. She shows me how to send payment to the IRS and all is good. Her cost is very reasonable. She has a nice comfortable office with close parking to her office door. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND her services for filing your tax returns. read more

I've been using this business for the last 4 years. Easy, straightforward, and knowledgeable. Will keep using! Thank you! read more

Kristen Gorden is an absolute blessing. she did my taxes a month ago and from the moment we sat down together I felt very reassured by her professionalism and very confident in her abilities. She took the time to painstakingly comb through the mound of paperwork I showed up with and truly went the extra mile to help explain it all to me and to simplify things for me. no doubt about I will most definitely go back to her each year going forward. I have been to several big name chains over the years and never got the kind of attention and human connection I did with her. Not only did she explain everything to me, she went out of her way to help me save money. I can't speak highly enough about this woman. Thank you again Kristen! read more

Kristen is friendly, professional and makes doing my taxes so quick and easy! I've been going to her for 3 years and plan on many more!

Excellent, prompt work! Our family has been coming for more years than I can remember now and we wouldn't trust any other hands.

I'm a repeat offender here. Pretty complicated return and requires more time than I can allow. More than happy to step through the front door and hand off the responsibility to their more than capable hands. My questions are always answered so that I can understand and the applicable advice is explained clearly. Have to appreciate the ability to enter all my documents online as well. See you next year! read more

Kristen might be the worst person I have ever dealt with from any kind of professional service. She did my taxes and afterwards, I had a few questions on how my income was calculated as it showed way more income than I have actually received along with a few other things that I don't know where the numbers came from. I asked a question through their web portal and got back a cryptic document with scribbles all over that were not easy to follow and made absolutely no sense. I kept asking for time to talk through the web portal and leaving messages for weeks that went completely ignored. I finally stopped into the office one day, thinking I would get clarity as I had a couple of other questions to ask that were not in her previous unintelligible response. She almost immediately became rude and argumentative and acted like a crazy person. I guess you have to take what she gives you, and you are not allowed to questions. She said that she spent her hour on me and wasn't going to spend more. At one point she even said "I'm not explaining the tax code to a cave man." - I guess referring to my beard? Knowing that I was not going to get clarity from her, I asked for a refund (never pay until the job is done), as I was going to have to go to another tax professional to have them redone. She refused and said that I would have to file a dispute with my credit card company. The whole experience was absolutely insane and in some ways was a little traumatic. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GO HERE read more

We emailed and called over a dozen times with no response. They obviously don't need our business. All we were asking for was some form of communication. Incredibly unprofessional. read more

This place used to be great when Keith and the previous owner were doing the taxes. After the business transferred to new ownership, it was totally different. Service was very poor, took forever, and taxes were done incorrectly. Having to refile my return with another preparer. read more

My dad and I have come here for years (him longer than me) but we have never had any problems with Kristen or her dad. We understand that she is a very small locally owned company and that is one of the reasons we go. She is cost effective and we have never had issues with our returns or filings. We appreciate her. read more

Called for an appointment, lady was very short and rude with me. Oh and she doesn't do "state taxes".... she should start off with that prior to wasting a potential clients time. read more

I've been struggling to find a reliable tax preparer for the last 2 years. From the moment I walked into the office, Perry made me feel welcome and treated me with much respect. I explained the struggle I've had getting my 2017 tax return filed and he completed and filed my tax return within 15 minutes! Definitely coming back. Thank you Perry! Libni read more

Had a great experience with Perry Heston in the past when we used them (used them three times in the last four years or so). Last year my husband filed our tax return, and now Perry Heston is not accepting us as a client. According to the man who answered (Heston himself?) they went to work for a woman who has "thousands" of clients, and he indicated she isn't allowing them to accept anyone who wasn't in the system last year. Sounds like convoluted nonsense to me, even if it's true. Anyway, don't bother with Perry Heston. They're apparently so busy they can't accept former clients, so they're definitely not accepting new ones. Super disappointed to be treated this way as a previous client. read more

Jerry has been doing our families taxes for several years now. He is very knowledgeable and has a very quick turn-around time. Now his daughter Kristen, who has been working with him for several years now, is taking up the business and has always done a good job for us. Recommended! read more

I'm shocked at some of these reviews, especially regarding Kristen. I've been using SATS for years and have nothing but praise for their services! They have saved me thousands of dollars over the years, they are prompt and professional! read more

Been going to Jerry for years. Fast service and always kind. Also locally owned and operated in the heart of South Austin. My mom and I look forward every year to not just dropping off taxes but visiting! read more

I called to get some more information about the services offered woman on the phone was extremely rude and short with me. Tone of voice was rude didn't seem interested in helping me never use the service and probably never will now. Usually if a customer is calling to do business , And give money for service it's a good idea to be polite to them. read more

I contacted this business and had been with them for 17 years at least. This was mostly when it was Heston tax owned by Perry. He was the kindest person ever. Even helped me pay for my son to play baseball in Cooperstown. Fast forward to the last few years. Sadly, he passed away from cancer a few years ago. He left all his clients to Kristen at South Austin tax. I noticed from the very get-go if she wasn't very personable, no biggie. Fast forward to this week. I called in to ask for a tax extension. I got somebody in the office I did not know, who was actually very kind. She said she did not have the extension forms in front of her and took my phone number and said she would call me back when she had them in front of her. I asked her if she wanted the names of my adult children at the time because they need extensions also. She said no, when I call you back I'll get their information. At the same time, my husband went into the office to do the same thing. These people are hard to get on the phone, and I just wanted to make sure the extensions were filed for all of us. The lady at the office did not ask my husband for my children's name either. I guess we both assumed that she would call us back to get that information. Fast forward to today Friday, April 14. I had not heard anything back on the phone to verify if the extensions were filed and was afraid the new person in the office did not know my children's names because she did not ask for them, and my husband did not give them when he went in. I called their office at 8:24 this morning and then one time more at 8:25. No answer, so I just went on with my morning. About five minutes later, Kristen, the owner, called me and literally screamed at me, wanting me to tell her why I called her office two times Back to back. I explained the situation to her as to why I was calling because I hadn't gotten a call back and I was just trying to verify it was done. A business owner at that time should've just said yes, ma'am, we have it taken care of. However, She screamed at me for at least five minutes on the phone and told me it was being done. She said your husband came in. I explained that my husband did not give my kids information and I just wanted to make sure all three of us got extensions. I did not know the other lady in the office, so I was just verifying. She said don't you know that she would've ran it by me and we know your kids names because you've been here for a long time?! I said , no, I have no reason to believe she would've ran it by you. I was just waiting for the phone call back for verification. She screamed at me on the phone and said well there was a miscommunication with you and your husband, and no, there was not. He did not give their names either. She continue to ask me about four times why I called her back to back at 8:24 in the morning when I should know they don't open until 11. I said I didn't know you don't open until 11 most businesses open at eight. She said you didn't even bother to look at the website to see our hours. Well, why would I look at the website when I've been with you for years? She screamed at me and told me it was harassment that I called her office line 2 times back to back this morning. She kept continually saying I was harassing her because I called two times this morning. In my mind I was thinking am I in a dream? Is this lady going postal on me? Finally after about five minutes of her screaming at me, telling her my two phone calls to her business was harassment. I asked her if she would like to continue to yell at me or if there's anything else I could do for her. At that point I felt like I was the business owner and not the client! Not to mention, there was a huge mistake last year on one of my children's tax returns. Apparently he took in the same W-2 from 2020 and the same one in 2021. We take the mistake that we did not catch it when this happened. However, she is a CPA and she should've caught it before it was filed too! I am 48 years old, and I've never left a bad review for anybody, but this shook me up. I have never been screamed at by somebody that owns a business before. I was very calm on the phone and never raised my voice. I guess I should have however, in my mind, I thought I still needed her to do my taxes. Nope that's never gonna happen again. I have coworkers that I had referred them to her. I quickly called my coworkers and said you need to go elsewhere. My coworkers were also being ghosted on the phone. One of them left voicemails wanting verification that they received her W-2 and they never responded. I feel so bad for the late Perry because he would be taken back if he knew the way she was treating the clients that had. I am now trying to find a new tax person on file extensions from my family because I don't think she's even going to do it. I would never recommend them run away run fast. The owner is out of her mind. read more

I have been using this place for two years now, and am so glad i made the switch from H&R block. Not only are they actually experienced (20+ years) but they are locally owned and operated. So I get better service, year around and I also save money. Did I mention the fee is MORE THAN REASONABLE? $75 total versus the $450 h&r had been charging me. The other great thing about them is they know you, and you can reach them all year around. I inherited some property in August, along with several holdings. Jerry was able to give me advice on how to properly handle everything so when January rolled around I wasn't screwed in so many words. Lets just put it this way... Easily the best decision of my tax life. Period. read more

The only good thing that came out of a crappy marriage was an introduction to Perry Heston. He's been doing my very complicated taxes for years. (Rental properties, 401ks, stock plans, marriages/divorce, lots of moves and purchases/sales of many homes, plus years in real estate where I wrote off a lot of stuff.) Everyone I've ever referred has gone back again and again. He's not only great at simple and complicated taxes, but he doesn't charge an arm and a leg. He's a former IRS guy, so he definitely knows his stuff. I highly recommend Perry for good, cheap, fast, and friendly service! read more

They save me a lot ! And for the first time in 10 years they get me a refund by using some protocol that I never heard of ! Get yourself an accountant and let them do your tax for ya!!! Do it now read more

My husband and I sent out quotes to several tax businesses in town for our federal returns, plus two separate state returns, having worked/lived/moved in many different states, and also having a 1099/independent contractor document. They were up front with us that they rarely do state tax returns, especially in two different states, and especially with our complicated situation, but that they'd work hard to ensure it was done correctly, even if it took some extra time after our initial visit. Eventually, after a couple of calls back and forth, all of our returns were successfully submitted, and we ended up getting a refund on all three, much to my surprise. When I ran our info through TurboTax, I thought we OWED several. thousand. dollars. The $250 ($150 for federal, $50 for each state based on our situation) was well, well worth it considering that we're now getting money back. Holy cow. Thank you, thank you to Perry, Keith, and George for your excellent work. read more

Always trust Keith to do our taxes ever since we got married! We love knowing we are getting the most from our taxes and they are done so quickly and we have the money in our account by the next week! Thanks Keith!! read more

Been using them for past few years and thought everything was OK until I received a notice in late October from the IRS saying I owed them $5.060.00 for under-reporting my 2020 taxes. Pulled out the file, and sure enough, I now saw that Marcellus Griffin had failed to include my wife's income, even though it was included among the needed tax documents. I called about this, and sent them a copy of the letter for review. Their response was that I would have to pay the $4,004.00 in back taxes, but they would write an appeal to waive the $1,056.00 in penalties/interest. I included their response along with my check to the IRS. Late November I got another letter from the IRS saying the appeal was immaterial and that I would have to pay the outstanding balance. I admit I should have looked over their work more closely, but that is what I was paying them for! Don't use these people! Never any offer to make things right or to at least help with the large penalty incurred as a result of their oversight. read more

Perry is AMAZING!! Kind and hilarious and only cares about helping you and not nickel and dimeing you. My husband and I have been going to him for years. He was referred to us by my brother who has been going to him even longer. SUPER GRATEFUL FOR PERRY!!! -Liz B. read more

If I weren't so mad, I could laugh about this. Maybe I will one day. I submitted my taxes in mid April and was told my tax return should be submitted by end of April. It is now mid June and I've heard nothing. I sent an email mid May about the status and never received a response. You try to call and get no answer and there is no option to leave a voicemail. I sent another email. Nothing. Another email. Finally someone answered and gave me some excuse like there's a "merger" but wouldn't answer any questions about the status of my taxes. I set up an appointment through the client portal for today at 3. Well; what do you know? I show up and the doors are locked! And of course no one is answering the phone. For the love of God, don't go here. I was also told they filed an extension for me but doubt that happened either. These people are liars and frauds. I'm just hoping I'm not penalized by the IRS for their laziness and incompetence. read more

Heston is a very good taxman. He does not waste time with small talk or niceties as they are called. He just gives you a fair, honest deal.

Friendly guy. Amazingly Quick. Effortless experience. Now we will see how he tax return comes back :-) highly recommended so far.

Do not go to this place! They're rude, incompetent and you'll never hear from them. They think because they charge people $75 they can treat people like total garbage, this place you get exactly what you pay for. They had my documents for two weeks and didn't even look at them they kept stringing me along telling me they would call me in a week. One week came and went, never heard from them went there to check on the status of my tax return they said they needed a couple more days. Went back, on the day that they promised. Still haven't looked at my taxes. I demanded my documents back and they told me to get lost. Unbelievable. The old man is extremely rude if you try to ask for any tax advice and his daughter is even more rude. I made the mistake of recommending this place to some friends and they more or less got the same treatment. read more

We took our 1099s and W2s in and reported self employment income. He told us with the 1099s and W2's we would get less than $200 back and he didn't know how to file self employment taxes. We took it to HR block and got over $3,000.00 back. It's true they did take around $700 to do it but they did know how to file our taxes and they did get us a refund larger than we ever expected because we thought Jerry had been in business so long he couldn't be so off. I see a lot of people saying they paid $65 bucks. This concerns me a lot. I wonder where the money goes. I wonder how he could have possibly been so different from HR Block with the exact same information. read more

Perry is personable, affordable, knowledgeable, and actually a joy to see every year. He surprised me with all the money I got back.

Jerry and Kristen are awesome. Very precise and well calculated tax returns including all the details required. Been with them for nearly 20 years. Simply the best ! Cliff Hahn HAHN Real Estate read more

If you haven't done your taxes yet, you better skedaddle over to Jerry and he'll take care of you. Next year you shouldn't wait so long, tsk tsk! read more

After years of over paying my CPA I decided to switch to a new provider. To say I was blown away is an understatement, I brought in a pile of receipts and mileage info and the team sorted and organized everything for me. My return was comprehensive and done very quickly. Give these guys a shot you will be happy you did. read more

Heston Tax Service was recommended to me by a co-worker a few years ago. After the first time I used them I was hooked! Rudy helped me the first year, but Keith has done my taxes the last couple years and he's totally AWESOME! Very professional, knowledgeable, personable and fast! I have never used Perry but have watched him worked with other customers. He is extremely good! Last, but not least, actually, probably the best part is....their prices are extremely fair - very low! Overall, I highly recommend Heston Tax Service! :))) read more

Jerry is great and I continue going back to him every year. Worth every penny (and he's not expensive either).

Perry Heston is the BEST TAX PREPARER EVER!! He helped me so much and got my family a huge return that we were in desperate need of! He's super laid back and very down to earth and kind. He is so reasonable too! He definitely won me over and I will visit him every year! Anyone who is looking for a tax preparer, I totally recommend Perry. He sat with me for an hour and a half to make sure I got all of the deductions coming my way! We had 2 years worth of back taxes to do. I just can't say enough good things about him. He actually made the process funny and pleasurable. GO TO PERRY HESTON FOR YOUR TAXES, YOU WILL BE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED!!! read more