Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Gaskins.
Hi Rachel , can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My name is Rachel Gaskins and I am owner of Celestial Tax Service – (CTS) for short. I was born and breaded in S.E. DC Minnesota Avenue to be exact. Raised in the “Reagan” era and I’m an official Marion Barry kid.
From all the unorthodox skills I’ve learning and possess I decided in 2007 that I would one day prepare tax returns. I started learning and preparing how to structure my skills in that field of tax preparation in 2007 and in October 2013 Celestial Tax Service was born. I set out to connect my business to sevice the immediate DMV and all 50 States for entrepreneurs, working mothers of children and to households that have a big working family unit to assist them in their life growth of maintaining finances.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The immediate struggles that where there when I first created my business were the new changes in the tax laws and the processing of tax returns with IRS. I came in right when a big shift happened with Federal and State Taxes due to many unregistered tax preparers and ERO unethically misused tax payers personal information and filing fraudulent returns. The next challenge was the audience that looks like me not giving the required respect to my business. Example, all customers have to fill out a company application to get any service done with my company, but I would run into resistance with questions like “Oh why do I have to do all of that” or “Didn’t I do that last year? If I was of another race or another gender those questions would not even come up. I’ve watched people walk to Staples in high snow just to get things processed for a service or purchasing things like a car; my company should not be any different.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Celestial Tax Service ?
My Tax company holds two EFIN numbers which one is a bureau where all year-round we process tax returns and I have Tax Preparers with active IRS PTIN that work with us as independent contractors. We also process “Offer of Compromises” and some business accounting. We are known for having the best adequate tax preparation system, which we pay for yearly and our fees are competitively better with outstanding results. We can electronically process three years as well as electronically do amendments for current clients and for clients looking to have their taxes corrected. What sets me a part from other tax companies is that I am very personal with my clients regarding any tax issues they face. Unlike any tax person or company that is just looking to get paid off a person‘s tax return, if my clients are owing, I guide them on how to work through their tax debt and going forward they are able to see the best return for themselves. I pride myself by having independent tax preparers that keep to that very same standard. A proud moment for me each time is when I have a Tax client and I see the difference of response they have after my initial filing of their taxes the first year they come to me. They are now not afraid to file and they leave with such knowledge and a better understanding of paying taxes in their finances. The highlight of my Brand to my clients and all my new clients is “it’s not about the money” – it’s about you feeling safe and secure and getting the best return LEGALLY due to you.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
A lot of my friends I grew up with me were definitely surprised that I went into creating a tax business when my first business was a hair salon. What most people do not know about me is that I love to read and I am ADHD. Normally with ADHD you can’t sit still, which normally would assisted with me using my hands in my hair business; but because of the tools my dad taught me early I learned to structure myself to “Race” in the words (something he would say) like I’m running to understand the paragraph and that type of mentality taught me to catch words and numbers in a certain way, which in my current business I can physically look at numbers and add them in a certain percentage. I can look at how much my client has made in a year versus how much they’ve paid in taxes and guesstimate where their exemptions are. They’ll normally laugh at me because I’m right ( Lol) and then we’ll go back into that whole discussion of where their exemptions need to be.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.celestialtaxservice.org/
- Instagram: Celestial_TaxService
- Facebook: Celestial Tax Service
