Taxation is neither tough nor easy. Most people tend to hire a professional to do their taxes. It is because tax laws and codes are dynamic and complicated. Besides, having a professional person by your side makes it easy to take care of the taxes. They know the tax laws and codes better than anyone. But what if the tax agent in Liverpool you are hiring is not the right one? Well, it happens when you overlook important parts at the time of hiring. Even though you hire someone to do your tax, you will still be responsible for the information they submit to the ATO (Australian Taxation Office). And, a slight mistake can get you an ATO audit, which is more stressful. This is why you cannot trust a random person with your financial affairs. You have to make sure that the person you are welcoming on board is knowledgeable, experienced and expert in their roles. But how will you do that? Well, here are the top 4 mistakes that you must avoid making while hiring an agent for your taxation work:
1../ Do not fall for bigger promises:
One of the beneficial reasons to hire a tax agent is because they can help you get more refunds than doing tax by yourself. But that does not mean that your accountant can magically increase the tax refund. They will inspect everything in your financial affairs along with every small detail that you may have missed and evaluate if any point is there that can get you a refund. And thus, you should stay away from the tax agents who promise to offer larger refunds than other agents. It is a red flag, and falling for these false promises can get you ATO audits or cost you a fortune.
2../ Avoid hiring accountants without a fixed base fee:
Before you move forward with a tax accountant, ask them what are their base fees. If the CPA firm cannot be upfront about their charges before knowing about your financial matters and the percentage of your tax refund, they are more likely to be a bad firm. Despite how many people have endorsed or recommended them, hiring them will be a mistake. Since they will charge you based on your tax refund, the service fee will fluctuate, and you may end up paying more.
3../ Do not sign a blank tax form:
No matter what, never sign a blank form. Even if the CPA guarantees they will handle everything, you should not do it. Always read the complete agreement before signing it. Check if everything is in order and if the amount is correct. Also, ensure that you have understood it completely and then sign it. If you see something on the form that is too complicated to understand, ask the CPA right away. Being experienced and highly skilled in tax laws and codes, a good CPA must help you understand everything.
4../ Do not overlook the customer testimonials:
Even if your known ones have recommended the CPA firm, do not hire the team without checking the customer testimonials. Most CPA firms usually display their clients’ reviews on their websites. Check that to see if their former clients were satisfied with their services or not. Apart from that, you can also consider checking other review-giving sites, such as Google.
Bottom line,
Doing tax work is hard. But hiring a good tax agent in Liverpool is the hardest. Without checking everything, you may welcome the wrong person on board. And thus, you should always look for the red flags before hiring a CPA. How? Well, we hope this blog post will be of help.
