You’ve been filing your own tax return for a number of years now. You generally have the hang of gathering the documents you need and the tax prep software is pretty intuitive. Why spend the money on a professional?
I got a call from an individual tax client recently. He has a relatively simple tax return (wages, itemized deductions, h
is savings is generally accomplished through his 401k plan). Sound familiar? You might even ask why in the world does he pay a professional to prepare his tax return?
But on this day there were some changes being considered in the way he would be paid by his employer. Incentives, deferred compensation possibilities, issues that if handled incorrectly could render a tax result that was not intended. The conversation didn’t take more than 10 minutes and it probably won’t be added to his normal billing. When we were done he understood the potential pitfalls and tax advantages he was facing.
It was a nice opportunity for KLP to provide additional value to the basic tax preparation assignment. The client had a trusted advisor he could call and quickly have answers to his questions.
We’d love to hear if you have any reasons why you believe hiring an accountant is important. Tell us why in a comment below!
