There are three levels of individuals preparing taxes as a profession. A Certified Public Accountant has a bachelors degree and in some states a masters degree is required. This is the best choice. Residents in the area can use Austin Texas Tax Preparation for tax services.
The accountant with a CPA has earned a bachelors degree, in some states a masters degree, and passed a rigorous exam. He or she is licensed in the state he works in. The requirements vary somewhat from state to state. However, this is the highest level an accountant can aspire to.
An individual might be categorized as a Registered Tax Return Preparer. As of January 2013, one does not have to be registered this way to file federal income taxes as a profession. There is no required competency testing for this group of accountants. Conversely, the Certified Public Accountant has passed the exam mentioned previously and is licensed to practice in the state he or she works in.
The same code of ethics once applied to CPAs exclusively is now applied to all tax preparers. Often less educated preparers will work under the supervision of CPAs. All who do this filing must pass a tax compliance check and follow specific standards set forth in Treasury Department Circular 230.
The state license must be maintained by taking a certain number of continuing education credits. When a company is being investigated for tax fraud, an auditor is sent in to inspect the records. It is the auditor who spends a significant amount of time going through all the tax records to check for errors.
An auditor goes through all tax records, payroll records and determine if they have done anything illegal. This can be intentional or unintentional. All receipts must be made available to the auditor. All documents and records that go back to previous years will be checked for errors. Every detail is carefully reviewed to check for errors.
The accountant with a CPA has earned a bachelors degree, in some states a masters degree, and passed a rigorous exam. He or she is licensed in the state he works in. The requirements vary somewhat from state to state. However, this is the highest level an accountant can aspire to.
An individual might be categorized as a Registered Tax Return Preparer. As of January 2013, one does not have to be registered this way to file federal income taxes as a profession. There is no required competency testing for this group of accountants. Conversely, the Certified Public Accountant has passed the exam mentioned previously and is licensed to practice in the state he or she works in.
The same code of ethics once applied to CPAs exclusively is now applied to all tax preparers. Often less educated preparers will work under the supervision of CPAs. All who do this filing must pass a tax compliance check and follow specific standards set forth in Treasury Department Circular 230.
The state license must be maintained by taking a certain number of continuing education credits. When a company is being investigated for tax fraud, an auditor is sent in to inspect the records. It is the auditor who spends a significant amount of time going through all the tax records to check for errors.
An auditor goes through all tax records, payroll records and determine if they have done anything illegal. This can be intentional or unintentional. All receipts must be made available to the auditor. All documents and records that go back to previous years will be checked for errors. Every detail is carefully reviewed to check for errors.
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