If tax season drives you to drink, this could be the accountant for you!
A Bushwick bean counter is setting up shop inside an experimental cocktail bar next month, serving up completed 1040s alongside wacky mixed drinks — and, he hopes, shaking up his occupation’s uptight image in the process.
“I am probably on the edge of some bell curve,” said certified tax guru Shane Mason.
Starting in February, Mason will peddle his financial expertise to patrons at so-called cocktail “laboratory” Yours Sincerely — which serves nitrogen-infused beverages in beakers — three nights out of the week through the annual April 18 apocalypse.
The bartender turned bookkeeper first dreamed up the idea of mixing his master’s degree with booze while slinging drinks at the bar’s sister restaurant Dear Bushwick, where he and his bosses joked that he should conduct business out of the eatery’s bathroom.
But years later, the team realized that maybe spiking the hard slog of personal finance with some hard liquor was not such a bad idea.
“Filing your taxes is really boring,” said bar owner Julian Mohamed. “So why not come here and get mildly drunk?”
Mason’s help doesn’t come on the house — patrons will have to cough up $135 an hour for the service through February, and the rate will climb over time to encourage procrastinators to get ahead of the game. March filers will have to shell out $150, while folks who put it off until April will pay $175.
But the consultation does come with a free drink, Mason said, as well as the chance to sort out your 1099s and W–2s in style.
“The biggest difference is that you’re not in an office in Midtown that is pumping white noise through the speakers,” he said. “Also you are drinking an amazing cocktail.”
Get tax advice from Shane Mason at Yours Sincerely (41 Wilson Ave. at Melrose Street in Bushwick, www.yourssincerely.co). Feb. 1–April 18. Mondays and Tuesdays 8–10 pm, Sundays 6–10 pm. $135–$175, though freelancers and other more complicated cases may have to pay more.
