3 Ways Your Tax Consultant Holds You Accountable

When it comes to taxes, there are many strategies and plans for maximizing your tax savings and deductions. However, you should keep in mind that tax strategy is a marathon, not a sprint, and you will have to consistently work on your tax plan throughout the year to ensure you meet your specific tax goals. One of the best ways to keep yourself on track is to work with a tax consultant or strategist that can help you stay accountable for your tax savings throughout the year.

An experienced tax consultant can help by taking proactive steps to implement tax-saving strategies, by preparing and implementing a tax plan to help you remain tax-focused throughout the year, and by partnering with you to help ensure you stay on track for your goals. Accountability and a strong tax plan are great ways to ensure big savings when it comes time to file.

1. Proactive Strategies

Your tax strategist will help you work towards your tax savings goals by implementing strategies throughout the year, not just during tax season. Put simply, if you wait until tax season to start preparing, you may lose out on important tax planning opportunities.

For this reason, your tax strategist will help ensure that you are on track to meet those financial goals by assisting you year-round, not just at tax time.

Remaining proactive also means that your tax strategist may give you goals throughout the year to help make sure you’re prepared when it comes time to file. Some of these goals could mean employing your children, documenting your home office use, or turning a hobby into a side hustle to reap more tax savings. Your strategist will help you determine the best proactive plan for your finances to help customize your tax saving options and rewards.

2. Plan and Prepare

Tax planning and tax preparation may sound similar, but they involve entirely different parts of your tax strategy. While your tax consultant may use both terms regularly during your consultations, understanding the difference can help you maximize your time and savings throughout the year:

Tax Preparation: A once-a-year service that happens during tax season with the goal of using current financial information to save on taxes. This is a reactive service, meaning the preparer is reacting to your current financial situation.

Tax Planning: An on-going service that aims to use strategy to make essential changes that will help you save in the future on taxes. This is a proactive service, meaning the preparer is proactively guiding you to improve the state of your future tax filings.

Both services are essential, but tax planning can help you stay accountable throughout the year, meaning that your tax preparation will be easier when it comes time to file. Put another way, tax planning is how you can improve your taxes using strategy and customized solutions provided by your tax consultant.

If you are new to tax strategy and are curious about how much you could be saving, check out TSP Family Office’s Tax Savings Calculator. This can be a great way to get a quick insight into how a tax strategy and tax saving professional can help you stay proactive and save big. We can help you keep more of what you earn so that you can spend it doing more of what you love.

3. Partners through the Process

Working with a tax strategist is not a one-and-done kind of relationship. Your tax consultant partners with you throughout the year to determine the most advantageous actions you can take to minimize your tax bill at year-end. As your financial situation changes, your tax strategist adapts to help you stay on track for your goals.

Having a financial partner, such as a tax saving professional, can be huge in helping you stay accountable year after year. Outside of year-end taxes, an experienced tax strategist can also help you with asset protection, wealth planning, and estate planning, too.

There are numerous tax methods that may help you meet your tax savings and deductions. Working with a tax consultant or tax strategist who will help you stay accountable for your tax savings throughout the year is one of the greatest ways to keep yourself and your finances on track. Being proactive, using a tax strategy, and engaging with you are the three major ways your tax consultant will hold you accountable.

Bottom line: Tax planning is not the same as tax preparation, and it is important to remember that your tax saving goals are a marathon, not a sprint. They take proactive planning to achieve, which is why working with a tax saving professional is key to being held accountable. Contact TSP Family Office today to meet with one of our tax professionals today.