Moving Words – Taxing
Written by Timothy Brady.
“The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.” – Will Rogers
With all those media “Tax Experts” providing their assessments and opinion of what’s in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, what does your next move need to be? In all honesty, the answer is patience.
To make the best tax plan for your moving company, you need to give the real experts time to ascertain how this tax law is going to impact your business and how you need to plan into the future. Until the IRS regulation writers have interpreted the intent of Congress, there is no sense in jumping the gun.
Is the IRS going to do as they have in the past and make the new law retroactive to January 2017 or will it all begin as of January 1, 2018?
How much of your 2017 tax planning is still viable for your tax return preparation for that tax year and what changes need to be made for 2018 and beyond?
The answer: This is when your tax advisor becomes your most important business ally. And while it may take a couple of months for him/her to get up to speed by completing their tax updating courses, he or she will be that one person who becomes a treasure trove of tax and financial knowledge necessary to move your company forward.
It’s going to be necessary to revamp both a short-term (12 months) and a long-term (3-5 years) plan developed by a professional tax planner. A superior tax advisor will save you much more than his fee – which of course is tax-deductible.
What’s the difference between a ‘tax preparer’ and a ‘tax advisor’ or expert?
- A ‘tax preparer’ receives payment for professionally preparing income tax returns. Anyone can become a ‘tax preparer’ by taking a course and passing a test. This type of ‘tax preparer’ is not qualified to interpret the tax code.
- There are three types of professional tax advisors: CPAs, Enrolled Agents, and Tax Attorneys. As a professional mover, it’s very important for you to locate an expert in moving and trucking business tax issues and regulations.
What to look for in a sharp Tax Expert:
- Experience – How long has he worked with movers? What’s his background in accounting and taxes?
- Full-Time – Does she have a 12-month practice? You need advice all year from the person who’s going to prepare your tax returns.
- Audit Experience – How often does he represent a client before the IRS, and does he back up the returns he’s prepared? When was the last audit in which he represented a client?
- Creativity – Does she understand the tax code so she can push the envelope, but not create a tax penalty risk for her clients?
- Aggressiveness – Is he willing to argue his interpretations of the tax code before an Auditor?
- Continuing Education – Does she take several hours of tax-code classes annually to be sure she understands all changes made that year?
- Stability – Where is he working from? How many clients does he have? How many long-term clients are movers? Does he have a Dunn and Bradstreet® rating?
It’s not just the letters that follow a tax advisor’s name that qualify him to be your tax expert; it’s his knowledge of the moving industry and how it relates to the tax code. Finally, you can have the most qualified moving industry tax expert in the country; but unless you provide him with complete expense and income records, no talent, knowledge and skill can produce the results you need.
“I’m proud to pay taxes in the United States; the only thing is I could be just as proud for half the money.” – Arthur Godfrey
