I woke up this morning determined to go for a run… until I saw that the temps, according to Accuweather, “felt like 5 degrees.” The wimp in me won over. In fact, it’s cold across most of the nation this morning which makes it a pretty good day to grab a cup of coffee and open up the taxgirl mailbag:
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Taxpayer asks:
Hello Tax Girl,
I looked through the job postings on your web site and noticed that almost all of them required the successful candidate have a bachelor’s or masters in accounting and/or a CPA designation.
I am considering getting my LLM in taxation so I can go into tax law. (I am already a licensed attorney.) I do not have any education or work experience in accounting. Will I be able to have a career in tax law?
Thank you,
taxgirl says:
Tax law is a tough market these days. Heck, most of the law is a tough market. Law firms are increasingly reticent to spend a lot of money training new attorneys (gone are the days where grads could practically name their price right out of law school) so you need something that makes you stand out. An LLM might be that something – but not necessarily so. As I’ve posted before, getting your LLM will be an additional expense and requires more time. Whether it will pay off is kind of hard to judge.
I worked my way through law school. By the time I was getting my LLM in Taxation, I was working at a boutique estates firm and I had completed an internship at the IRS. That meant that by the time I had my degree, I had a little experience until my belt. This worked out well for me.
If I had to do it all over again, I’d do pretty much the same thing… only with better hair.
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Taxpayer asks:
I follow your emails every morning when I wake up. Love em!
Can you tell me how I can subscribe to IRS notices [that you reference]?
taxgirl says:
Thanks for the nice words. Can’t get enough tax, eh?
The IRS has a lot of subscription options, depending on who you are and what you’re looking for…
Tax professionals can subscribe to a practice oriented IRS newsletter here.
Tax pros can also sign up for alerts.
Tax geeks and number crunchers like me can find out the latest tax stat news here.
You can subscribe to the IRS Newswire here.
The IRS also offers the opportunity to sign up for other alerts and newsletters from partner organizations (like TIGTA): you’ll be asked about that when you sign up for IRS news. Be aware that all of these alerts can fill your inbox pretty quickly.
Don’t forget that you can also follow IRS on twitter.
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Taxpayer asks:
Are there specific reasons why or laws against employers providing tax advice to employees regarding filling out W4 forms?
taxgirl says:
I haven’t seen anything that would legally bar an employer from providing tax advice to employees regarding filling out W4 forms (or any other forms for that matter) but why would you? The potential risks probably outweigh the benefits. And by risks, I mean lawsuits.
Tax law is so fact and circumstance specific. Even if you know the rules, there can be a lot of additional information that affects the way those rules can and will be applied. You’ll see that in the dialogue on the blog a lot – my colleagues will often add a line or two in the comments that says “but if the taxpayer does this instead…” There’s a reason that much speculation goes on and a reason why it can be dangerous to offer advice in a vacuum.
I’ll be self-serving and say that this is exactly the kind of situation when you’d want a good tax pro, like say, a tax attorney, to help out. Either the taxpayer needs (and should seek out) direct legal assistance or the employer could make tax counsel available for employees, either as a seminar or a consult. Check with your HR person to see what options might be available.
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Taxpayer asks:
I sent you a tax question three weeks ago. When are you going to answer it?
taxgirl says:
Whoa, Nellie! This time of year, my inbox is chock full. My “ask the taxgirl” mailbox alone has, as of this morning, more than 2000 emails.
I try to answer questions most relevant to my readers as quickly as I can. Here are some things to remember.
- I’m busy now through November. I get a lot of emails and I read every single one. I’m not ignoring you but you’re also not the only email I’ll get today. So please be patient.
- I consider a lot of factors when I choose an “ask the taxgirl” question to post. If I notice a similar bunch of questions (for example, about how to calculate the Making Work Pay Credit), I’ll try to answer those first. I also think about the timeliness: if something is making headlines now or affects your filing, I’m likely to post that before a more general question. Finally, I also think about my readers and whether they’ll get anything out of it.
- Your question may be too broad or too specific. I do get questions like “Should I file Married Filing Jointly Married Filing Separately?” without another word. In contrast, I’ve gotten questions that include absolutely every detail, down to a diary of phone calls to IRS. Fill me in on the details and state your question plainly without giving me too much information. I don’t need your shoe size or your mother’s maiden name. And hey, I’m a chatty girl. I *get* that you might fear that you’re leaving something out but don’t worry – if it’s just a little piece of info and I think I’ll need it, I’ll ask you.
- Don’t send a note asking for favors: I won’t call the IRS and find out where your rebate checks are, why your refunds isn’t what you expected or why your return wasn’t accepted as filed. Notwithstanding that I can’t do those things anyway without a Power of Attorney which authorizes me to, I’m not your tax attorney unless you have a representation letter from me. So please don’t ask. And don’t send me your personal information like your Social Security number out of the blue. Honestly, I’m a good person. But you shouldn’t take such risks. It’s scary.
- I rarely answer specific state or local tax questions. I just can’t. As much as I’d love to help – and I would – I just don’t know the specific property tax laws in Petaluma or the sales tax rules in Peoria.
- I have a spam filter. I have to. Mostly because of, well, you know, evil spammers. My spam filter will almost always dump your email into spam if your email doesn’t have a subject. Try including a word or two in the subject to tell me what your question is about, like “educational expenses” or “Making Work Pay Credit question” – it will help make sure that the emails end up where they need to be. Make sure that you send it to the right address (askthetaxgirl (at) taxgirl (dot) com), too. You can also post on Facebook or via twitter but remember that your information will be visible to others so don’t post anything too personal.
- If you’re actually sitting in an audit or jail, I can’t stress enough how much you need to put down the computer and find yourself a good tax professional right now. Run, do not walk, to the phones and call someone to help you.
I love answering your questions. I really do. It’s why I do it. But I’m a lawyer, not a miracle worker (H/T to @obxlaw), so be patient. Check by my “ask the taxgirl” page often for updates and more information.
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Try to stay warm this week, it’s brutal out there. And for all of my southern friends getting hit with the snow, enjoy it! You don’t get it all that often and trust me, your kids think it’s really cool. Besides, there are just 21 days until Catchers and Pitchers report for training… that means spring is just around the corner.
Thanks for reading.
Hey TaxGirl–
I wanted to add something to the writer’s question about getting an LL.M. Well, actually I wanted to refer the writer to something I saw on the TaxProf blog this morning. Well, two things, actually…two SSRN links regarding tax LL.M.’s. Here they are:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1577966
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1597337
Both links focus on Loyola L.A.’s tax LL.M. program (where, by way of disclosure, I have taught), but they might be useful to the writer nonetheless.
Cheers,
Rob