re: Accountants fees skyrocketing

quote:

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Experts are many times not experts

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CPAs specialize in different things.

Would you go to a corporate lawyer to handle your divorce and child support issues?

Would you go to an eye doctor for heart issues?

Over the years I've had a lot of CPAs who were clients of mine... because they were CPAs that had absolutely nothing to do with tax.

We joke that the smartest, best CPA in America knows less than 5% of the federal tax code.

For a tax CPA to say he's never heard of the EITC is silly, I'll admit. I see maybe one every two years and it's always a weird, one-off situation, like a weird year with a not-normal large business loss while the wife took a year off to deal with kid issues. Every time I see it, I need to re-learn the rules.

Now a guy who does nothing but audit cash for F500 clients? I can see him having no idea that the EITC even exists.

This is why it's so important to actually talk to your tax guy and make sure he's strong in the specific issues that impact you.

And if you don't have any specific issues, you don't need to spend the money for a tax guy =)