Tax Update Blog: Permalink

« Previous · Tax Update Blog Home · Next »

WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' LAW DEGREES!

July 28, 2006

Dr. Maule notes approvingly that a new IRS requirement for additional coursework for new agents has been upheld. I agree with this conclusion, but then he adds:

Of course, I would prefer that all revenue agents, and all tax practitioners, earn a law degree, because the thinking process that is acquired or polished while studying law has become a sina qua non for tax analysis. Tax is more than running numbers. I've previously posted on why having an accounting degree or background is not a prerequisite for being a good tax practitioner and how it is not even a guarantee that one would be a good tax practitioner. Yes, it helps, but it is far from essential.

I object! Of course an accounting degree is not a prerequisite to being an effective tax practitioner, nor sufficient preparation by itself for a tax career. But a law degree isn't either.

WHAT IS TAX PRACTICE?

Is tax practice working with "the law?" Of course it is. This makes some folks - attorneys all - think that only lawyers should get to practice tax. That is, of course, arrant nonsense. There are any number of lawyers, including some that style themselves tax practitioners, that I wouldn't let within a mile of my tax return. There are also, of course, many fine tax practioners who have taken the holy orders of the legal profession, but any churchgoer knows that ordination doesn't a good preacher make.

Accountants have been involved in tax pracatice since the earliest days of the income tax. I think that by itself is strong evidence that we CPAs have a place in tax practice. Not all accountants are strong tax practitioners by any means, but many are. Accountants have a different role in the tax process. On a day-to-day basis, accountants can certainly do ordinary tax compliance more effectively than attorneys; this involvement, and an understanding of the underlying numbers, makes a good tax accountant a valuable advisor.

I think tax practice is best viewed as a different animal that combines elements of lawyering and accountancy. Different aspects of tax practice use different skills, but either law or accounting are a good start. And don't slight Enrolled Agents, whose training in some ways approaches an ideal synthesis of law and accounting.

I do think graduate tax courses are valuable to anybody pursuing a tax profession, but ultimately success in tax practice is a result of hard work, experience and good judgment - whether or not you have a CPA, a law degree, or an EA certificate.

      Bookmark: del.icio.us • Digg • reddit