I was surprised at the lack of comments to my POPPYCOCK post. I did, however, hear from fellow tax professional, the ol’ Mountain Biking Tax Pro himself, Tom K -
“Sorry, but I have all that stuff, including 'errors & omissions insurance' through CNA Surety.
2 main reasons I see that MOST CPAs and Tax Attorneys charge higher. One is the same reason the green block people, the Statue company, and that other one do.
#1 is store front rentals, I can drive you around my neck of the woods and show you a dozen or more CPAs/tax attorneys who have 1200/2000+ sq. ft. offices in high priced office buildings/strip malls, all of which I know personally rent for $2 to 3 thousand a month, if not more.
The other reason is 'prestige/ego'. Which I don't really blame the individuals themselves as much as I blame the industry. Once you get them 'letters' behind your name, there is a certain amount of 'prestige' that you have to front (staff, high priced office, restaurant lunches, etc.) in order to fit in with the other high-class peers...”.
I do believe that having initials after one’s name causes such a person to charge twice as much for half the service.
As Tom has proven – when the offending blogger “assumed” he only made an ass of himself!
Tom also commented on my mention of Mary O’Keeffe’s post on “Who Should Be Tested” -
“I saw you posted on Mary’s post about who she thinks should be tested.
I have said that from the get go in several comments to you in mid '09 and on a blog I half started back in June/July of '09 {click here for Tom’s archieved blog post – rdf}.
Ain't goin' happen though, I know it, you know it, Mary knows it. Nice thoughts but that would be the last thing IRS would ever require...
Keep up the good work”
Thanks, Tom, for being a regular visitor and a regular commentor.
Before I go I wanted to quote a comment not directed to me, but to TAX GIRL Kelly Phillips Erb in response to her “Fix the Tax Code Friday” question on the registration of tax preparers (the highlight is gleefully mine) -
“My problem with this is who is going to be required to do this. If you are an accountant (CPA) you’re exempt from this requirement, as are many others along that line. As a tax preparer some of the worst returns I’ve had to amend for people have come from these CPA’s. They do not know tax laws - they understand accounting and bookkeeping but that doesn’t make them knowledgeable about taxes.
As a preparer I believe something like this is needed, but I think that ALL people who do taxes should be required to be tested, not just preparers. In many firms one person prepares the taxes but since they aren’t signing them, the CPA is, they will not be required to pass a test, so a large group will still not be required to show any knowledge of tax law or current tax rules.”
Right on!
TTFN
“Sorry, but I have all that stuff, including 'errors & omissions insurance' through CNA Surety.
2 main reasons I see that MOST CPAs and Tax Attorneys charge higher. One is the same reason the green block people, the Statue company, and that other one do.
#1 is store front rentals, I can drive you around my neck of the woods and show you a dozen or more CPAs/tax attorneys who have 1200/2000+ sq. ft. offices in high priced office buildings/strip malls, all of which I know personally rent for $2 to 3 thousand a month, if not more.
The other reason is 'prestige/ego'. Which I don't really blame the individuals themselves as much as I blame the industry. Once you get them 'letters' behind your name, there is a certain amount of 'prestige' that you have to front (staff, high priced office, restaurant lunches, etc.) in order to fit in with the other high-class peers...”.
I do believe that having initials after one’s name causes such a person to charge twice as much for half the service.
As Tom has proven – when the offending blogger “assumed” he only made an ass of himself!
Tom also commented on my mention of Mary O’Keeffe’s post on “Who Should Be Tested” -
“I saw you posted on Mary’s post about who she thinks should be tested.
I have said that from the get go in several comments to you in mid '09 and on a blog I half started back in June/July of '09 {click here for Tom’s archieved blog post – rdf}.
Ain't goin' happen though, I know it, you know it, Mary knows it. Nice thoughts but that would be the last thing IRS would ever require...
Keep up the good work”
Thanks, Tom, for being a regular visitor and a regular commentor.
Before I go I wanted to quote a comment not directed to me, but to TAX GIRL Kelly Phillips Erb in response to her “Fix the Tax Code Friday” question on the registration of tax preparers (the highlight is gleefully mine) -
“My problem with this is who is going to be required to do this. If you are an accountant (CPA) you’re exempt from this requirement, as are many others along that line. As a tax preparer some of the worst returns I’ve had to amend for people have come from these CPA’s. They do not know tax laws - they understand accounting and bookkeeping but that doesn’t make them knowledgeable about taxes.
As a preparer I believe something like this is needed, but I think that ALL people who do taxes should be required to be tested, not just preparers. In many firms one person prepares the taxes but since they aren’t signing them, the CPA is, they will not be required to pass a test, so a large group will still not be required to show any knowledge of tax law or current tax rules.”
Right on!
TTFN
