Tax+consultant

A tax consultants, often also referred to as a tax adviser, main duty is to help their client to reduce the amount of taxes they will pay a certain year. A tax consultant will make sure their client pays all obligatory taxes, but at the same time is very aware of tax laws and where it is possible to cut down on your taxes. In the UK The Association of Taxation Technicians is focused on making sure taxation professionals (including tax consultants) are provided with up to date information and are commited to the highest standards of professional conduct. In the US a similiar organization, American Institution of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has set some ethical standards for the profession and is also responsible for publishing the magazine "The Tax adviser".

=On giving tax advise=

From the viewpoint of a tax consultant, the job has to be done in advance, which means asking the client "What can be done next year?". Having this said, it would make most sense for a tax consultant to try to build up the trust with their clients half way trough the year, which also leaves time for planning. Tax consultants have to balance between giving their clients the best advice on minimizing their tax, but also keeping in mind the responsibility they have towards the state and the system. Therefore there is an underlying pressure on tax consultants to pay respect to the framework built around tax control and have a decent amount of transparency in their work.

=toc Finding a good tax consultant=

To find a good tax consultant it can be suggested that you: ask your friends for a tax consultant who has been good, find someone who has the current and updated information about tax law and make sure the tax consultant has some record of working with tax planning in a successful way. Besides this, when choosing a tax consultant you should know to ask them the right questions, such as "Will you go over the new tax rules?" and "Will you do my return, or will someone else?", in order to make sure your tax consultant is up to date and actually taking care of your interests and not pushing it over to colleagues.

=The role of the Big Four=

The Big Four accounting firms (Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young and KPMG) are often referred to in the discussion of tax consultancy, and alltogether these accounting companies are operating on a market estimated to be worth 25 billion US dollars per year. The tax consultants working for these firms focuses on tax planning by using the tax law in order to create an advantage for their clients, and most of the consulting is done for corporations.