Commonwealth Tax

Tax Preparation and Accounting Servicesctaxva.com

Commonwealth Tax is a privately held accounting firm in Virginia Beach, Virginia, founded in 2002, that provides personal and business tax preparation, payroll, bookkeeping, sales/meal tax filing, and consulting to individuals, small businesses, trusts, and estates in Virginia.

Company typePrivate
Founded2002
HeadquartersVirginia Beach, United States
Headcount1–10
GTM typeB2B and B2C
OfferingServices

What Commonwealth Tax does

Commonwealth Tax is a privately held, founder-owned accounting and tax preparation firm headquartered at 3092 Brickhouse Ct., Virginia Beach, Virginia. Founded in 2002 by Bernadette Vaughan, EA, the firm delivers professional services — not a software product — to individuals, families, small businesses, trusts, and estates primarily in Virginia Beach and the surrounding region. The service portfolio spans personal and business income tax preparation (Forms 1040, 1065, 1120S, 1120, and 1041), full-service payroll processing on weekly through quarterly cadences, monthly/quarterly/annual bookkeeping, multi-state sales tax and meal tax preparation, year-round tax planning and consulting, and trust/estate work. The firm is credentialed through two Enrolled Agents and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER, with documented specialization in military and multi-state tax situations.

Operationally, the firm runs on a team of approximately six professionals and requires new clients to attend an in-person appointment, with ongoing engagement handled through a third-party secure document portal (securefilepro.com). Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, with a one-time fee structure per return type, plus a structured discount stack (Early Bird -$25, Referral -$25 per referral, Personal Organizer -$25, dependent-return pricing of $240) and extension fees of $50 (business) / $35 (personal). Client acquisition is driven by referrals, a Facebook presence, and periodic newsletters on tax-law changes — there is no paid acquisition or outbound sales motion. No external funding has been raised, no acquisitions have been executed by the firm, and there are no partnerships, patents, or technology assets beyond the standard document portal.

The firm's strategic posture is that of a mature, locally embedded professional services practice. Growth has been incremental — most notably the 2012 absorption of clients from Commonwealth Tax Professionals, Ltd., the 2014 consolidation of operations, and the 2022 and 2025 additions of credentialed preparers and a dedicated bookkeeping/sales tax specialist. It carries no AI/ML capabilities, no software product, and no geographic expansion beyond Virginia, and it does not disclose revenue. The 2025 Coastal Virginia Best of Awards Silver recognition and active solicitation of 2026 votes reflect continued investment in local brand rather than a growth pivot.

Commonwealth Tax firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Commonwealth Tax
Legal name: Commonwealth Tax
Website: https://ctaxva.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2002
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 1–10 employees
Short description: Commonwealth Tax is a privately held accounting firm in Virginia Beach, Virginia, founded in 2002, that provides personal and business tax preparation, payroll, bookkeeping, sales/meal tax filing, and consulting to individuals, small businesses, trusts, and estates in Virginia.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Commonwealth Tax industry classification

Industry

Product category: Tax Preparation and Accounting Services
NAICS: Tax Preparation Services (541213)
SIC: Services-Services, Nec (8900)
akta.pro primary industry: Tax Return Filing, Processing & Assessment (BPAIADAC)
akta.pro secondary industry: Tax Advisory & Compliance (BPAHABAB)

Keywords

Tax preparation services
Bookkeeping services
Payroll processing
Tax planning consulting
Sales tax filing

Where Commonwealth Tax is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Virginia Beach
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

Commonwealth Tax business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B and B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

Tax Preparation Services: One-time tax return preparation fees for individuals, businesses, trusts, and estates. Fees vary by return type and complexity. Discount programs include early bird ($25), referral ($25 per referral), and personal organizer ($25) discounts. Reduced pricing of $240 for dependent returns.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
One time/ perpetual license	Pay-as-you-go	Tax Preparation Services - Pricing by return type

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Commonwealth Tax product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Commonwealth Tax is a professional services firm that prepares personal and business income tax returns (Forms 1040, 1065, 1120S, 1120, and 1041) and provides bookkeeping, payroll processing, sales tax and meal tax filing, and year-round tax planning and consulting. Services are delivered by credentialed preparers (Enrolled Agents and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER) to individuals, small businesses, trusts, and estates in Virginia Beach, with multi-state and military tax expertise.

Product overview

Commonwealth Tax is a traditional service-based tax preparation and bookkeeping firm offering professional services to individuals and businesses. The company does not offer a software product or platform; instead, it provides a suite of interrelated professional services delivered by trained tax preparers, bookkeepers, and payroll specialists. Core services include personal and business tax preparation (covering Forms 1040, 1065, 1120S, 1120, and 1041), full-service payroll processing, monthly bookkeeping, sales tax filing, and strategic tax planning. Supporting these core offerings are ancillary services such as a secure client document portal for sensitive document exchange, online tax extension request processing, and trust/estate tax services. The service portfolio is delivered through a team of credentialed professionals including Enrolled Agents (EAs) and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER, with specialized expertise in military and multi-state tax situations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Personal Tax Preparation

Companies that use Commonwealth Tax

Customer profile

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Commonwealth Tax technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Commonwealth Tax partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Commonwealth Tax competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Emerging players

Botkeeper: AI- and automation-driven bookkeeping service for small businesses, providing continuous transaction categorization, reconciliation, and reporting with human oversight. Partially overlaps with Commonwealth Tax's monthly bookkeeping offering and represents the technology-enabled competitor trajectory for SMB accounting.

Broad incumbents

Intuit TurboTax Live: Intuit's expert-assisted tax preparation product bundling TurboTax software with access to credentialed tax professionals for personal and small-business returns. Directly addresses the same customer need (professional help with a tax return) and competes for the same client wallet share as Commonwealth Tax.
H&R Block: Largest U.S. retail tax preparation chain offering personal and small-business tax filing, plus DIY software and online products. Operates a much broader retail footprint than Commonwealth Tax but serves directly overlapping customer segments (individual taxpayers, small businesses) with the same core product (Form 1040 and small business returns).
Liberty Tax: National retail tax preparation franchise chain offering personal and small-business tax filing. Operates a much larger footprint than Commonwealth Tax but competes for the same individual and small-business tax preparation customers, particularly in mid-Atlantic markets.
Jackson Hewitt: National retail tax preparation chain serving individual taxpayers and small businesses through company-owned and franchise locations, plus an online platform. Directly comparable in target customer (mass-market individual and small-business tax filers) with broader geographic reach than Commonwealth Tax.

Direct peers

Bench: Tech-enabled bookkeeping and tax preparation service specifically built for small businesses, pairing software with a dedicated team of bookkeepers. Highly comparable to Commonwealth Tax's SMB-focused bookkeeping, tax, and payroll offering, though Bench scales nationally via a software-driven model.
1-800Accountant: Virtual-first accounting and tax firm targeting small businesses and individuals with on-demand access to CPAs, EAs, and bookkeepers. Closely comparable to Commonwealth Tax in services offered (tax prep, bookkeeping, payroll, advisory) though differentiated by a virtual-only delivery model versus Commonwealth Tax's in-person approach.
Pilot: Specialized accounting, tax, and CFO services for small businesses and startups, blending dedicated human bookkeepers with software tooling. Comparable to Commonwealth Tax in targeting small business bookkeeping + tax workflows, though Pilot leans into technology and subscription pricing for scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Commonwealth Tax financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Commonwealth Tax leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Commonwealth Tax funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Commonwealth Tax M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Commonwealth Tax

What does Commonwealth Tax do?

Is Commonwealth Tax a public or private company?

Commonwealth Tax is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.

When was Commonwealth Tax founded?

Commonwealth Tax was founded in 2002. It employs 1 to 10 people.

Where is Commonwealth Tax based?

Commonwealth Tax is headquartered in Virginia Beach, United States, in the North America region.

How does Commonwealth Tax make money?

One revenue line is on record: tax Preparation Services.

Who are Commonwealth Tax's main competitors?

Botkeeper is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Intuit TurboTax Live, H&R Block, Liberty Tax and Jackson Hewitt. Direct peers are Bench, 1-800Accountant and Pilot.

Does Commonwealth Tax have an API?

No public API is recorded for Commonwealth Tax.

What industry is Commonwealth Tax in?

Commonwealth Tax's product category is Tax Preparation and Accounting Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIADAC, Tax Return Filing, Processing & Assessment, with a secondary code of BPAHABAB, Tax Advisory & Compliance. Its NAICS code is 541213 and its SIC code is 8900.