Tax Lawyer's Blog

Currently unenrolled, soon to be licensed (I ass-u-me), tax preparer Robert Flach in a blog post advising taxpayers on how to choose a tax preparer trots out this old saw:

 When you assume you make an ass out of u and me.

He offers two pieces of blanket advice:

1. Don’t assume that because a person has the initials “CPA” after his name he is an expert when it comes to federal and state income taxes!
2. Don’t assume that H+R Block will charge a low, or even reasonable, fee for preparing your tax return!

Robert explains this advice in detail so I recommend you read the entire post.

I generally agree with the advice, but would amend it as follows:

1. Don’t assume a CPA is a tax expert, but instead, ask him if he has done tax returns before. If he says yes, hire him over someone who is not a CPA and says he has done tax returns before.
2. Don’t assume that H&R Block will charge a reasonable fee for preparing your return, but instead, ask them to give you a fee quote before hiring them.

I also agree with Robert that overhead is a contributing factor in setting fees. Here are some overhead items that most CPA and tax attorney preparers have that unenrolled preparers generally do not have:

• Sophisticated tax preparation software, updated for the latest tax law changes
• A quality tax law library either on CD, through an Internet service, or in hard copy
• Malpractice insurance  (if your tax preparer makes a mistake, you can recover the costs of that mistake through an insurance claim)
• Fellow tax preparer employees to review all tax returns before they are filed (lack of secondary review is a major contributor to the filing of incorrect returns)
• Extensive continuing tax and professional education

You already know what I think, so I’ll leave it to you to decide whether or not these overhead items are worth paying a little extra for.

Finally, since we’re dealing in the world of cliches, I will close with two of my own:

1. You get what you pay for; and
2. Never buy a discount parachute.

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