If you are a person who earns a substantial amount of money, you are liable to pay tax to the government, and file returns monthly, quarterly or yearly. As a matter of fact, individuals or business firms who have a huge income as compared to their expenses, need to pay tax as per the government rules and regulations of their particular country.
Imagine when the income is in crores or lakhs, even 5% stands out to be a huge sum of money. People really loathe this type of situation that arises, but they have no choice. That’s where a tax consultant or a tax advisor comes into the picture.
A tax consultant or tax advisor may be a single person or an entity, having a thorough knowledge and understanding of the tax laws and other related financial conditions. He is hired so that:
- He can advise the client in a way to minimise the tax payer’s liability to pay tax.
- Help the client to get familiarised with different relevant financial conditions prevailing in the country.
- Explain new laws and regulations that may be formulated, thereby making it easier for laymen to fully understand them.
- File the necessary tax returns and facilitate such work so that no penalty section is attracted on the client.
To enjoy the benefits brought about by the advancement of technology, nowadays, many tax advisors choose to work for different clients at the same time, by being a tax consultant online. They are freelance tax consultants who work from the comfort of their home. This also, in turn, helps to have a direct relationship with the client, unlike when working for a firm.
Being a Tax Consultant
How to become a tax consultant? If this question has already arisen in your mind, the following points will help you gain some more knowledge:
- Schooling of 12 years has to be completed as a minimum requirement so that one can go on to get a bachelor’s degree in the field of finance.
- A bachelor’s degree in taxation, accounting or even marketing will help one.
- After acquiring a bachelor’s degree, you can become a tax consultant working for individuals without any further degree. In such a case, you need to grow on your own so that all the knowledge required is gained. Further to file the returns for various clients, a license is required which can be received quite easily when applied for after sitting for an exam.
- In order to apply in big firms and work with big clients, you have to earn a professional degree like the, CA, CS, ICWAI or even LLB. Herein the aspirants go through robust training where they are bound to learn all the things required to become a professional in this field.
- Additional, but necessary skills that will be helpful for one in the field are, analytical skills, effective communication, decision making and technical skills for the various workings of the online tax portals.
There are plenty of graduates who look for work in this field and rightfully so because as more and more people start earning money, more opportunities arise to become a proper advisor.