Discussion:10 things your tax pro won't tell you?

Why bother coming on here, investing in research and education, when we are just a bunch of cheats and incompetents? Give me a break.

And you know.........., that is the truth.

The bone fides they probably have, in the sense that you get what you pay for. The loyalty is zero, and one can only hope they hang themselves. For instance, is not this whole site an aide to the do-it-yourselfer? "Do your corporate return, any questions, check TaxAlmanac." They are eating our lunch, of course.

I often feel like the Catholic priest that must pass along teaching over which he has no control. We translate it, put the numbers to it, and then WE get kicked in the teeth.

I just got stopped on the street by a neighbor. He does his return in TurboTax. His question was, "Can I claim my son who is in college who had a job last year? He made $X,XXX amount." I laughed and told him yes he could, based on the other factors he shared with me. He said he might have me do them next year as it's getting too complex for him.

Gotta love it.

Tom

It does state that CPAs are educated, tested, licensed, etc. And largely unavailable in Tax Season - how many new clients would you take on in March?

I doubt Grassley prepares his own return. But I have one surefire way to simplify the tax code:

Get a law passed that requires all Congresspersons to prepare their own returns by hand with just the IRS publications as their references.

We will have simplification shortly thereafter.

Tom

When I first got out of law school, I taught Economics and Business Law part-time at a Junior College for about 10 years (admittedly,it's not Harvard, ok). In Business Law, we would start with the basics, and go all the way through Securities Law, which has a reputation for complexity. I can tell you without any doubt that Securities Law is a walk in the park compared to tax law. Not even close. P.S. Ok, Einstein might have been exaggerating, BUT he did say it! In addition, instead of requiring a test as Grassley has proposed, they need to require an apprenticeship (even for lawyers; hold on, especially for lawyers.lol.)

Experience can be like golf, same swing for 30 years, same result and the player thiks he's OK.

Q: What do they call the guy who graduates last in his class at medical school?

A: Doctor.

Experience is key, no question. Long-time friend of mine is a CPA and head of a Fortune 500 accounting department. She knows SEC stuff inside out, but not tax. Another friend of mine knows personal tax inside out, but can't tell you about non-profits.

I found it amusing recently a client's ex-boyfriend is preparing returns. He's dumber than a box of Cheerios. He has no qualifications whatsoever. He just started doing it for fun one day and does a bunch of friend's returns. MD is now trying to enact a law to license tax preparers. We will see what happens.

Tom

Taffe

Below is a summary of the percentage of candidates passing each of the examinations.

Part 1: 58.84 percent Part 2: 74.50 percent Part 3: 79.64 percent

Natalie, I'd be afraid...very afraid.  :-) But I do agree with you also. It has to be a comfortable fit, and not everyone works well together. I have a couple of clients who drive me nuts (are on the CTOBET list), but there's nothing inheritently wrong with them. We just don't 'mesh'.