VPTax Inc., specialists in corporate tax, have partnered with SURF Incubator, Seattle’s innovative and fast-growing home for young startups, to bring high-quality corporate tax advice to the next generation of successful companies.
Located in downtown Seattle, SURF Incubator provides a home for young startups to begin and advance their products and business plans. SURF is a vibrant community, which hosted 200 educational events in 2012. These events help the entrepreneurs with legal, accounting and business development as well as learning about the latest evolution of programming languages. With common areas like kitchens and a coffee bar, company founders are able to meet, share ideas and resources, and learn from each other.
Last year VPTax opened a Seattle office. Seattle-based Principal Shelby Eckroth spends a couple of hours each week at SURF Incubator, where she offers practical tax advice to SURF residents. She is planning a series of monthly roundtables focusing on a different and important tax topic each month. A recent survey of the SURF residents will help focus the roundtables on current and relevant topics to businesses in this stage of development.
VPTax provides cost-effective corporate tax advisory services and tax-return preparation to clients ranging from startups through Fortune 500 corporations. For smaller companies, retaining VPTax is like having a “Tax Director down the hall.” In explaining complex tax matters, VPTax’s policy is to “Say it in Crayon.” They simplify the complex and identify issues that require immediate action and prioritizing based on business goals. This enables startups to focus on essential tax matters without distraction from core business challenges.
“VPTax provides a refreshingly clear and simple no-nonsense approach to taxation, something companies at SURF really need,” said SURF founder and CEO Seaton Gras. “Startups typically have small teams and often lack knowledge about state and federal taxes – especially when there are new rates or new tax issues. Therefore, we are delighted to offer VPTax’s expertise to our members.”
“Seattle has a thriving community of young startups,” said Eckroth. “VPTax is committed to helping them work through tax and other finance issues to better position them for success. With our help, and the support of other SURF resources, these companies can avoid the tax and accounting pitfalls that have historically plagued many new companies.”