Tax on the Beach · Journal 036

Stay hungry, stay foolish..

Martin Beadle · 29 October 2024 · 324 words

Stay hungry, stay foolish..

At a new client pitch we’d done all the usual ‘stuff’ to help the client compare apples with pears. The objective is to provide a better outcome than the other guy

That’s easy in the accounting world, less so in tax. It’s much easier to sell ‘look what I did for you’ than it is ‘look what I gained for you’

We talked about our business: the first 10,000 hours were difficult, then it got easier, but ‘eighty per cent of success in life is showing up’ as Woody Allen said

Next, about me: I value honesty above all else, I’m surrounded by gritty subject matter experts, and I never quit. Sure, we all have failures, and mine have been spectacular but, I’ll wake up the next day, and the next, voluntarily back on the treadmill and trying again, guaranteed

Consistency over time is the key to everything. Enthusiasm is common, endurance less so, and persistence is rare

Finally, we interview the client: time and energy are limited, and we only work with clients we choose to work with

Experience suggests it’s wrong to believe clients know exactly where they’re going, or to believe that they know today what their preferences will be tomorrow

Steve Jobs’ could have been talking about tax planning when he said ‘people don’t know what they want until you provide them with it’. Options and flexibility are key

There’s always a place in the conversation for ‘my accountant’ but, people with an accounting background tend to look at everything as an accounting problem, and tax is not accounting. Tax is far more complex, and the sea gets deeper the further you go into it..

Our tax team are Chartered Tax Advisers, which is the highest tax qualification available. Book your FREE initial conversation on any property tax matter here.

Toodle pip

Important. Tax on the Beach is the personal column of Martin Beadle, Founder. It is general commentary, not advice, and reflects the rules as at the date of first publication shown above – figures and legislation may have changed since. Reth!nk.tax is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and does not provide regulated financial, investment or pension advice. All tax advice is provided, in writing, by Chartered Tax Advisers.

«Newer: When we wax technical.. Older: I made the wrong mistake..»

Important. Tax on the Beach is the personal column of Martin Beadle, Founder. It is general commentary, not advice, and reflects the rules as at the date of first publication shown above - figures and legislation change. All tax advice is provided in writing by a Chartered Tax Adviser who is a current member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

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