Tax Specialist Career Guide and Counseling

Question: TAX SPECIALIST: Does anyone know where I can find info to become a tax specialist in California? any websites that will inform me of the procedure? Please help. thanks.

Answer: Call H & R Block -they run a Free Course - prior to tax time - they give you the job - if you want it - with them - but I believe you can "pay" for this course, and then call yourself a Tax Specialist. I wouldn't go to you, unless you were also a Chartered Accountant.

Question: Where can I find a GREAT tax specialist attorney? How would I go about finding the best? And what would I be looking at in terms of hourly rate? I'm from the Seattle area.

Answer: The word great and attorney are not compatible! However you would be paying between $250 and $650 an hour for a knowledgeable attorney.

Question: What do I need to do to become a tax specialist in Australia?

Answer: The structured education program from the Taxation Institute of Australia would be a good place to start I think. Other than that - a few univiersities have a Bachelor of Taxation degree (sounds riveting, eh?) - including UNSW.

Question: Seeking the help of a tax specialist - business expense related question!? I was the owner of a small business that just recently went under. I had $12,000 put aside for taxes this year on my business. I want to know what my options are so that I can use these funds and not have to pay the taxes on my business this year. Meaning, can I spend this put aside tax money to try another start up business and because those expenses are tax deductible, I I won't have to pay taxes this year on my last business (becomes a wash)?

Answer: since you did not say want kind of taxes these dollars were ear marked for it is really an impossible question to answer -- sorry.

Question: Question for tax specialist Accountants? Does taxes allocated to value increases of curent inventories such as Golds , Precious Stones and Foreign Currencies ? example if we deposited Euro 1000 which we bought at the begining of the year for USD 1100 and at the end of the fiscal year the value of this Euro 1000 rises to USD 1300 ; does this increase / the extra USD 200 should be considered taxable ? THIS CURRENCY IS STILL IN OUR DEPOSIT ACCOUNT . IT IS STILL IN OUR INVENTORY . IT NOT SOLD .

Answer: If you are on the accrual method, the gain is taxable now. If on the cash method, it's taxable when realized, i.e. cashed out.

Question: Is this a good career move - Tax Accountant Specialist? I currently work as a staff accountant and perform bank reconciliations. There is currently an opening in our tax department which deals with US, state, federal, foreign income tax compliance and analysis. I don't have any tax experience but I do have strong analysis skills and a B.S. in Economics. The salary for this position is higher than my current job as well. However, is this a good career move? If I were to stay in Finance / Accounting, would this make it harder for me to move on to other finance positions?

Answer: Take the job. If you are successful, you will be "in demand" by big corporations who will need your help..

Question: What kind of Tax Specialist is a Taxidermist....?

Answer: the kind that robs your insides

Question: If you are working in the war zone and have filed tax exempt can you wait until you finish the tour to file? I'm a contractor in Afghanistan. I've completed over a year and will probably be here another year. I filed exempt and did go to a tax specialist and I owe for the first year. Since I'm going do another year could I wait until I'm completely finished to file and take care of the IRS or is it best to pay what I owe now and take care of next year when it comes?

Answer: No you should not wait another year because all that interest is building up monthly. I think it's about 80-90 bucks a month!!! I was in the same situation and I wrote a letter to IRS asking if I could just let them take it out come next tax time and they replied back with yes but gave me high interest rates. So to avoid paying extra plus what I already owed, I just paid them off at once. If you have problems paying all at once then ask them about installments, they'll work with you as long as you work with them but it has to be payed back before next tax season if not they'll hit you with even higher interest rates :)

Question: tax question by a tax specialist please? i am married and want to file jointly with my husband i did a paper route for a couple months and not sure if i will be able to file taxes this year i only made $1356.96 will i be able to do anything with that or is this a waste of time

Answer: You have two choices, and only two choices by law, in regards to filing status. MFJ is usually the most beneficial way to file for a couple. Filing separately disqualifies you from all tax credits except for the child tax credit.......You are most likely better off to file jointly-unless your husband has liens against his future income... If you were paid on a 1099-Misc, you must report that income on a schedule C. If you received a W-2, your tax prep will be much easier for you if you are doing it yourself. If you were hired as an independent contractor, you can deduct most reasonable and necessary expenses you incurred to produce that income, such as vehicle milage. [Don't bother to try to claim meals for this one-you will probably be audited}....anyway..... You can either use the standard milage rate or use the actual expenses method. I recommend in taking standard milage for most people. It is MUCH simpler and cheaper if you are paying someone to do your taxes. Also, standard milage usually offers the greatest deduction. You are required to report this income.

Question: Better to use a tax firm or software? I have very simple taxes ($30k income, few if any deductibles, not self-employed, etc) and have gone to H&R Block in the past. However, the software to do tax returns has gotten cheaper than my bill with them. Would it be advised for me to do my own taxes with the software or just go to a tax specialist? If software is better, is there a better software? I'm leaning towards H&R Block, but I see Turbotax is free from the gov. (though this makes me nervous).

Answer: You could go http://www.irs.gov and find sites that offer free e-file. (Turbo tax is one of them I believe) They usually will charge anywhere from 7.95 to 18.95 for your state to be filed.