[Anonymous]

Kafka and Rube Goldberg together couldn’t have come up with anything nearly as absurd as the US tax code. I’ll live on the street in a cardboard box before I do tax for a living.

But you actually like it, don’t you? For God’s sake, explain why.

[Anonymous]

Thats an easy question. Money.

[rspencer2121]

That's so funny!!! I love tax because I find it interesting. I do a lot of corporate tax and I feel like I'm learning something new with each client. I have always wanted to give auditing a try though. The pay is a great motivator too! haha

AUD Passed!! 7/2012
BEC Passed!! 10/2012
REG Passed!! 10/2013
FAR Passed!! 12/2013

[samdiegoCPA]

Umm….. I kinda like it. It's very confusing right off the bat but once you understand it, it's kinda neat to try to find the best possible way to get tax savings. Maybe I like it cus I'm obsessed with coupon codes/find the best deals during my online shopping. Haaa.

AUD: 84
REG: 84
BEC: 79
FAR: 83

[MintsRGood]

@rspencer2121, I love tax and I find it to be interesting, challenging, and every day brings something different! I also work in Corporate and Estate/Trust taxation, as well as individual.

My firm is a small boutique firm (read:expensive) and I am fortunate in that I am afforded the opportunity to do a large amount of tax consulting…which is my favorite part! I love having the opportunity to work with clients to help them make smart decisions and stay ahead of the game to avoid 4/15 surprises!

The pay isn't too shabby either! 😉

REG: 75 DONE 🙂
AUD: 61, 71, 68, 92 DONE 🙂
BEC: 76 DONE 🙂
FAR: 72, 74, 79 DONE 🙂
Licensed Michigan CPA 🙂
-Some people dream of success...others wake up and work hard for it!!!
-The cowards never start and the weak die along the way!
-You better work, b***h!
-Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-JFK

[Noct]

In addition to the aforementioned reasons, I like tax because it is somewhat relatable to the average person. Afterall, nearly everyone has to file a tax return. As such, it makes for more interesting conversation than audit or corporate acccounting. I've even found it makes me more popular at parties. Since the tax code is as convoluted as you say, people really value someone who can provide them some clarification.

FAR - 79 - 07/2012
AUD - 65, 78 - 11/2012
BEC - 76 - 11/2012
REG - 78 - 01/2013
ETH - 98 - 01/2013

Material: Wiley books

[supervisor]

Dislike only because I am stuck in the office all year round. Dont think I would make it. I use to not like Audit but I was a newby at the time. Now that I am running jobs and know the ins and outs, I actually reallly enjoy it.

BEC 10/13 PASSED 77
AUD 04/12 PASSED 83
FAR 08/12 PASSED 76
REG 02/13 PASSED 76

Licensed in PA on 12/23/13. Yea boy!!

[HustlinHustlin]

I'm in audit right now and I can tell you I think I would enjoy tax much more.

No travel, much more definitive, no waiting months and months for people to send you what you need to work (in most cases), and no smart-assed CFOS trying to tell you how to do your job.

I also feel like it is way more useful to have tax experience.

B 71 - 79 EXPIRED
A 69 - 75 EXPIRED
R 65 - 48 - 45
F 56 - 61 - 65 - 64

Becker, Wiley Test Bank, Wiley Text and Ninja Notes

"The fish who keeps on swimming is the first to chill upstream" -311

Experience - Done, like WAAAY done.
Still need 30 more credits, in basket weaving (gotta love new CA requirements)

[taxdiva]

I love tax. I think tax is much harder right off the bat than audit and can be kind of intimidating; however, tax professionals have the opportunity to become their client's closest allies. Oddly enough, I've grown to understand financial accounting more as a tax professional vs. when I was in audit. Tax professionals have to understand book to tax differences to even properly prep a return.

I really think tax has a bad reputation, but it can be just as fun and interesting as audit. 🙂

REG(10/23/12)- Passed. Life happended and lost credit - 18 month expiration)(Retake soon)
FAR - Passed. Used Becker.
AUD - Passed. Used CPAExcel (now Wiley)
BEC- Plan to take October-ish.

Just give me a 75!

[Anonymous]

I don't even do my own taxes! My boss does them. I hate taxes and EVERYTHING connected with them. I'm an auditor at heart.

[Anonymous]

I like tax because we make equal/more money than auditors, we don't live out of suitcases, and we work less hellish hours. And we're not a constant bother to the client, as much as auditors have to be.

Oh, and you can open up your own shop with a tax background. Can't really do that with audit

[Jobless2CPA]

I have heard that tax professionals / accountants mostly work in solitude. (as compared to an auditor who is constantly travelling to meet with clients) If that's really the case then I think I am a tax guy.

What mentality / personality do you need to have as a tax accountant?

[Harrydavid]

yes i like..

[Anonymous]

I used to think I was weird that I liked taxes more than any other part of accounting. Reading your guys posts, I can see you guys feel the same as I do about taxes. Even tho I do not have any real tax experience, beside doing my own personal and business tax.

I thought auditors got paid more than tax accountants?

[jaebberwock]

I had a lot of trouble with Federal Taxation, motivation wise. I wouldn't go so far as to say a lot of it is useless but I really hated the fact that I was expending all this effort to learn stuff that would no longer be valid in 6 months. There is no such thing as “Taxation Principles”or some kind of overarching guideline. You have random exemptions and credits if you happen to be <5 ft tall and deaf in one ear and blind in one eye. But only for 2012. Or you are a farmer, But not just any farmer, a cotton picking farmer.

Married people get more deductions than single people. Except if you are blind. One blind person gets more than married blind people. Did a committee chair have a single blind parent and resent the people who were fortunate enough to have 2 blind parents?

Oh, we can claim mortgage interest expense on not one, but two homes? Oh, that second home can be an RV or a boat? Doesn't feel very fair to allow deducting interest on a boat but lowly apartment dwellers get zero.

Bleh, confusing, regressive, and very evidently written by committee. I was very surprised at how apolitical the Codificaiton is by comparison. Different strokes for different folks.

[Anonymous]

I feel like corporate taxes would be extremely interesting and a different challenge each day. I don't believe I will go that route, but I would probably enjoy it for the most part if i did

[Author]

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