User:Taxjoy

From TaxAlmanac

Hi I'm Taxjoy, I am an EA, I've passed 3 of the 4 sections of the CPA exam, I graduated from a cheap law school in CA (Western State School of Law, Fullerton , CA which was only regionally approved when I went there free--because I took the LSAT after starting there at night and got a full scholarship)and passed the CA Bar( one of the toughest BAR exams if not the hardest --ask the NY guys which is tougher)----but nobody wants a lawyer from a cheap law school but they will pay a lot for an MBA in accounting EA who also is a USTCA so I'm gona do it even though I don't have to. For the following reasons, I'm helping/sponsoring two other tax practitioners who work for me through the CA BAR(yes, you can become a lawyer in CA, NY and a few other states by just in office study no law school--discussion of this on one the Tax Court Exam sites here)...and we are beginning to get some heavy cases and I'm sick of referring them out to other attorneys who know the tax court, better than me......I think an attorney who didn't study how to do it or get apprenticed into the tax court should be up be the Ethics committee all too soon. And I have the same opinion about some of the people teaching the TAX BAR courses because I have heard them make some outrageous mistakes in lectures showing that they know nothing about law----just tax, and that they do very little real tax resolution work. If the instructor says you should go to IRS for a CDP hearing and "get to know" the Settlement Officer by personal appearance----then that instructor doesn't really know resolution tax work in volume! doesn't do REAL RESOLUTION WORK, because if you are really working you are handling many, many, many CDP hearings a week and the IRS knows your reputation---and the settlement officers do not want to waste their time meeting you unless it is at a conference with a drink in their hands..and you have a good new joke to tell. Also, the more CDP hearings you do---the more the issues become something you can just cut and paste into the brief covering letters which I write like preliminary briefs (something NOT MENTIONED BY MANY INSTRUCTORS FOR TAX BAR COURSES---by putting the winning legal arguement in covering letter with the 433-A or $33-B documents you are telling the settlement officer that you know what is legally possible before you get on the phone. Presenting law days before the hearing allows the settlement officer to research the cases before the hearing, shows you are well prepared and cuts the time of the hearing down to bare minimium--------I get real mad when clients don't send me necessary hearing material with time to spare before CPD hearing---if that happens I still send my covering letter with legal reference to what I hope to do if the client ever gets their act together-----most Settlement Officers really like that, because it puts you on their side working with them. Since I do a lot of current disabled veterans --I'm really beginning to know some settlement officers and they are getting used to my pre hearing semi-briefs and my complete medical evaluation of clients with complete perscription print out described so that I can get the penalties and interest removed for post traumatic stree---work on veterans not on normal peopleTaxjoy Thank you!

Taxjoy