Today we’d like to introduce you to ToBina Thornton-Stephens. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Because there was no class in high school to teach her, and because the low income and service-based class of workers do not usually have education beyond high school, ToBina identified a need to create an income tax firm in her community that was geared toward educating taxpayers on the importance of income tax filing requirements beyond receiving a tax refund. She put processes in place to help as many people as she could while also being a full-time employee with the state of Michigan. These processes included allowing clients and potential clients to schedule telephone calls with her to ask general tax question that they otherwise were unable to find answers to, assisting clients and potential clients with completing their federal, state, and local w4 form to ensure appropriate withholding posting tax tips of the day on social media highlighting important tax law and tax filing information, working with a community agency to start teaching children about income tax liability and how income taxes will affect their paycheck in an attempt to fill the gap of the information not being taught as a general course in school. She also began recording live Facebook videos explaining important tax topics offering people a better understanding of tax filing requirements and helping to identify their tax filing status, and debunking tax myths that have been prevalent in the African American community.
In the very beginning, ToBina had a mission but had no background in tax law, the financial services industry, and no knowledge at all about how to run a business. This did not stop her, ToBina started with reaching out to as many small business owners in the tax and financial services industry asking for help, leads, and where to find any relevant classes that would help her to fulfill her mission of changing the narrative in her community regarding income tax preparation. Those business owners offered little to no help, which sent ToBina on a mission of finding publications and courses that would eventually open her up to a new understanding of tax law and encouraged her even more to share this information with her community. ToBina took several courses on tax law during that first year and studied IRS publications on tax topics. That was a rough year for her, she was working full time as a children’s protective services investigator, raising a toddler, and was strapped for cash. But through determination ToBina used her checks from work, made sacrifices to abandon having a social life, and used credit cards to ensure she was able to pay for courses, software, a laptop, and a printer. Since that first year ToBina has taken hundreds of courses using most of her free time on learning about different tax topics as well as small business operations topics. It has been 10 years since ToBina started out on this mission and 3 job changes, spending more on courses and business operations than the amount of money coming in, raising children, marriage, the loss of loved ones have not deterred her from mission that she cares so strongly about.
ToBina remembers needing help with understanding how to run a small business, how to structure a business, what her tax liability and filing requirements are as a small business owner, and she remembers having no one she could go to for help. Because of this, she offers services to small business owners with the goal of being to them what she did not have starting out. ToBina used money from her paycheck, utilized personal credits cards, and lived check to check while trying to get her business operating. She had no knowledge of financial resources for small business at that time. Over the years she has taken courses, attended information sessions, signed up with various community agencies, and financial services providers to learn about financial resources for small business. She has in turn taken all of that information back to her community and is able to share resources with small business owners who she comes in contact with so they will know that they have options and there is help out there for them. ToBina continues to stay up to date on tax law with continuing education courses as they change yearly to ensure that her clients and community are aware of any new or updated requirements. She makes herself available all year round to clients as she understands that life changes, and important financial decisions, don’t only occur during the income tax season.
ToBina has used her influence to help people connect with each other through services and mentorship. She has connected small business owners with each other for collaboration and support services. She has used her network of tax clients to help support community agencies that she works with. She uses her social media platform to encourage people to remain in compliance with IRS tax law which could affect the overall wealth and financial opportunities for a family
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Service First Tax Service LLC?
Service First is an independent Income Tax firm. We offer an Income Tax preparation experience which focuses on making individual and business clients aware of their tax responsibility and other tax-related compliance and requirements. We offer classes for teens ages 13-19 to teach basic income tax requirements such as how and why taxes are deducted from the way check and at what rates. We have paired with the founder of The Youth Community Agency to teach financial literacy and basic income tax filing requirements. Over the years ToBina has assisted thousands of individuals to understand their tax liability, filing requirements, properly filing their income tax return, and protect them from falling victims of tax preparation scams. She has also assisted hundreds of people with restoring compliance with the IRS after falling victim to tax preparer scams or preparer misconduct after working with other income tax companies. Through her mission of assisting small business owners with mentorship, she created a community of small business owners who share resources and services with each other. Also, she has set out to be the tax preparer that she needed as a new tax preparer and offers preparer mentoring services to preparers who are in their 1st-3rd year all over the United States. She continues to offer a helping hand to those who are just starting out in business and helping them to connect with people and agencies who can assist them in their respective fields.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
I’ve learned that hard work and perseverance goes a long way. If you have goals and if you are determined to meet those goals you will find ways to accomplish those goals. I learned that community and collaboration are an intricate part of running a business. I’ve also learned that there are people who will try to deter you from setting your goals, and that life can be a bit hard on your journey but there are even more people who want to see you succeed, and will help you along the way.
Contact Info:
- Email: taxprep@servicefirsttax.com
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Servicefirsttaxservice
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/servicefirst_taxservice_llc?utm_medium=copy_link
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ServiceFirstTaxServiceLLC
Image Credits:
Rodnesha Ross
