A Message from Bob Dreizler, Chartered Financial Consultant:

For more than two decades, I've helped people seek financial security while honoring their emotional and social concerns. During this time, I looked for but never found a practical and engaging money management book I could recommend to my clients, so I wrote Tending Your Money Garden.

As a specialist in socially conscious investing, I enjoy educating people about how their investing habits can impact more than just their assets. I hope this column will help you enhance your financial situation so you can fulfill your dreams.

Tips for Finding a Good Tax Advisor

The Internal Revenue Code is a bubbling stew concocted from mandated federal budget requirements, political payoffs, and economic theories. Regulations that explain the Code are so lengthy and convoluted that intelligent and reasonable people often need assistance to navigate through the maze.

During my twenty-five years of preparing taxes and chatting with accountants at tax seminars, I've compiled a list of suggestions for clients. I hope these tips will help you find a tax advisor with whom you can work well.

1. Look for more than prowess with an adding machine. At the top of the list of desired traits in a tax advisor, discretion should rank very high. Your tax return includes an abundance of personal information. In addition to your occupation, salary, and number of children, advisors know which charities you contribute to (or if you only donate a $500 bag of old clothes year after year). They also know if a member of your family suffered a major illness, if you refinanced your mortgage, contemplated divorce or made an imprudent investment that your fellow book club members don't know about.



2. Value honesty and attitude. Choose your accountant the way you would choose a physical therapist or roofing contractor. Don't base everything on price because you may regret it if you opt for the cheapest; on the other hand, paying an exorbitant fee won't necessarily buy competence.
   
   
3. Beware advisors promising massive refunds and "creative" deductions. If you get audited, you are the one who pays the tax, interest, and penalties. By the time of your audit, your "tax professional" may be preparing tax returns in Costa Rica.
   
   
4. Tax preparation is an art, not a science. Science deals with the predictable and immutable laws of nature; income tax laws are created by legislators, enforced by bureaucrats and interpreted by judges. So find someone who is more than a technician.
   
   
5. Be skeptical of a tax advisor who knows everything about taxes. Some tax questions just don't have obvious answers. It is not uncommon to encounter dilemmas that our portly Tax Code manual, computer software, and rows of reference guides don't even acknowledge. When certifiable answers do not exist, tax veterans use their "tax logic."
   
   
6. Don't be concerned if your advisor can't answer every question immediately. All accountants have normal clients with abnormal tax situations; so don't expect instant feedback on and resolution of your issues. Better to employ a thoughtful advisor who will take the time necessary to unravel a complex situation than a quick fixer who may cause you more trouble down the road.
   
   
7. Neatness is no substitute for accuracy. Don't be content with your return just because it was printed by a laser printer and looks good. Double-check your return and ask your preparer to explain anything that doesn't look correct.

Site Map | About MsMoney.com | About Tiffany Bass Bukow | Contact Us | Privacy | Terms of Use