Accountants often have the experience and knowledge to design complex tax strategies. Consultants often have the ability to design basic tax strategies, but have broader skills in financial planning and investment. An accountant and a tax advisor provide specific financial guidance, and they are certainly not the same thing. You should choose one of them or perhaps both based on your financial needs.
Tax preparers focus on tax issues, but they don't necessarily have the same extensive academic background as an accountant. The quality of tax preparers can vary widely, so it's helpful to consider different categories of preparers. That's why it's especially suitable for people seeking complex tax advice for personal or more complicated business-related tax issues. Which tax professional is right for you and your situation depends on your particular needs and your level of comfort with your taxes.
In most cases, having accountants and tax advisors on your team is a wise option, so you can have access to both specialists under one roof and both the accountant and the tax advisor can work together to better meet your needs. Tax advisors help companies and individuals develop strategies to address tax issues and prepare for their future in the market. Tax specialists often take their first step in their career as accountants, but eventually move on to develop specialized tax skills, earning a professional tax qualification. They spend a significant amount of their time keeping up with the latest tax regulations to come up with an excellent strategy to help reduce the tax bill.
Tax advisors have a level of specialization in tax matters that will exceed the specialization that an accountant can offer. Tax laws cover a huge and complex area and it's almost impossible for an accountant to have such in-depth knowledge of taxes. If you're comfortable browsing tax software, looking for questions on the HMRC website, and the idea of having to correct any problem or error can't terrify you, you're probably more comfortable doing your own taxes. However, many CPAs specialize in areas other than taxes and, therefore, those accountants may not be as capable of handling their tax problems as someone who is not a CPA but who does focus on taxes.
Chartered Institute of Taxation's chartered tax advisors are the most common qualification carried out by most tax advisors. Therefore, it is quite evident that your knowledge of taxes can never exceed the in-depth knowledge of a tax specialist.
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