If the IRS was abolished how much danger are accountants in?

Question

I'm going to school to be an accountant, But I'm also supporting Ron Paul (You know, beacuse I care about America and Freedom)

But if He started working to abolish the IRS and succeeded, Well I heard jokes about how accountants would go out of business.

But I was planning on being more of a Financial adviser type. Am I in danger if the IRS was abolished.

When I told my dad I wanted to go to school to be an accountant he said that If I got a CPA I would be a made man, without income tax is this true.

If it is then what should I do to make the Big Bucks.

Answer 1

There is a tremendous shortage of CPAs and the situation is getting worse as most are older and retiring. First, they won't eliminate the income tax system because the government uses it to control the economy in a small way via tax credits and deductions. Second, there are many other uses for accountants. All companies prepare financial statements to raise money, etc. Most business owners need good accountants to help them make better financial decisions and evaluate sale opportunities, etc.

Making the big bucks comes through taking care of the clients. The surest way is to do very well in school and get a job with a larger firm. However, the hours and conditions there are much harder than the smaller firms. Second avenue is working up the ladder in an accounting department for a major company. CFOs make large salaries at most companies. I know many making hugh salaries that aren't that good. You must separate yourself from other employees through hard work, and a willingness to learn throughout your career.

I hope this helps.

Answer 2

The above responses which state that accountants will be necessary because we will have some tax system are correct. However you stated you are interested in being a financial advisor. That is what I do. I am a CPA and a CFP and I primarily help people with their retirement and investments. The CPA path is a good background to have for that kind of work.

Here is the really good news. We are at an unprecedented time in history. The first baby boomer turns 62 at the beginning of 2008. Three years from now, probably close to when you may be graduating and entering the work force, the first baby boomer will turn 65 on January 1, 2011. For the next 18 years, a baby boomer will turn 65 every 8 seconds. All of those baby boomers will need to be planning for their retirement. As far as opportunity, there is no better occupation to get in right now (and may never be an occupation with as much opportunity for financial reward). The baby boomers have significantly affected every other industry they have ever touched from baby food in the late 40s and 50s to housing in the 70s. It will be like a python swallowing a pig when the baby boomers get swallowed up by the financial services industry and about all you will have time for is to say "next."

Good luck.

Jim Kirby, CPA/PFS, CFP, CFS
www.kirbywealthmanagement.com

PS Many accountants offer financial services to their clients. After you get experience, it will be a "buyers market" if you look around to buy an accounting practice from retiring baby boomer accountants. There may be two or three sellers for every buyer.

Answer 3

Even if Ron Paul is elected, the IRS will not be abolished. It would take decades and a huge sway in American public opinion to make that happen.

I am a big Ron Paul supporter. I am studying to be a CPA. I currently do work for a small CPA firm. I can tell you that a lot of the work done is with taxes, but there is a bigger demand for CPAs who can keep track of the books and other financials. Many small and medium sized companies need to hire a firm to manage their finances because they need to spend their time managing their own company. Big companies need CPAs because there is so much to keep track of.

There is also a big demand for auditing. Not IRS auditing, but a 3rd party looking at the books to make sure that nobody is stealing and that the money is spent as it should.

Fraud is a huge problem in businesses. It exsists at every level, in every sized company, and at every level employee. I have seen good companies go under because of dishonest employees and/or partners were skimming money off of the top for too long.

I know some people who own a business where their bookkeeper stole almost $500,000 over the course of 10 years. The bookkeeper got a slap on the wrist sentence (less than a year) and was ordered to return the money. The bookkeeper recently moved to the Carribean without paying back one dime. Despite being caught, he still got away with it. A small investment of hiring a CPA to audit the books would have saved this company $500,000.

Even if Ron Paul gets elected and re-elected, there will still be a good market for CPAs.

Answer 4

To address the different points of your question:

The IRS, or a similar agency with a different name. will always be there. No matter what kind of tax system is in place, some governmental agency has to be in charge of tax collection and enforcement. The IRS was in existence long before the 16th amendment, and if the income tax was replaced would still exist.

Demand for accountants would certainly decline among the general public if the income tax was replaced with something else. Publicly traded companies, however, would still need to be audited by outside accountants, and all companies would still need accounting staffs.

I'm afraid the only job you will find as a made man without income tax is that of a gangster. A college degree is not needed for that, although those who fail at that profession will be cared for by the government for about 10 to 25 years.

Answer 5

Get real. If you abolish the IRS it would have to be replaced with another agency with the same power. It would probably be manned by the same friendly folks at the current IRS since they are the subject matter experts to begin with. A sugar-coated name won't change anything.

And forget about Mr Paul and his support for the so-called "Fair Tax." He marginalized himself when he started spewing that tripe. There is ZERO chance that that would ever become law. Not even the worst die-hard far right winger would ever give a tax break like that to the wealthy. And getting enough of them in Congress to even get it out of committee, let alone to the White House for signature will never happen.

FYI, although many CPAs do taxation, far more do not. The meat and potatoes of most CPAs' practices is in audits and due dilligence, not taxation. So even if you could magically wipe out all taxes and the need to compute and collect them, there would be PLENTY of work for every current and budding CPA.

Answer 6

Just my two cents on this: Even if the IRS were abolished, not only will CPA's still have jobs afterwards, but so will Tax Preparers! Why, you ask? Because if the IRS were to be abolished, it would simply be replaced by a similar engine with a different name. The only change is that we preparers would need to learn some new laws.

Answer 7

The IRS will never be abolished.

There is no way that Ron Paul, even if elected (which he won't be) would be able to eliminate the IRS.

And even if that happened, accountants will always be in demand in both the private and public sectors

Answer 8

The government's funding would have to come from somewhere, and it would need to be accounted for at both the source and destination.

If you don't want taxes, you don't really want a government. And if you don't want government, you don't really want to live in a nation of any sort. Your best bet is to keep that money you're planning to give to Paul and save up for a private island somewhere.

Answer 9

First, abolishing the income tax has a zero chance of succeeding.

Secondly, even if it were, acountants would have to do as much as more as they do now.

Thitd, the entire financial world would collapse and accountants would have to keep track of barter exchanges.

Don't worry!

Answer 10

I've been surfing more than four hours today looking for answers to the same question, but I haven't found a more interesting debate like this. It is pretty worth enough for me.