Tax return or tax filing is an exercise that every earning individual undergoes in India. The method to go about this or the process is tricky and elaborate. With a little help from people who specialize in this field, the exercise can be smooth. A tax consultant is one such career where people study the subject in great depth so that they can advise others on how to file tax returns and, also answer other tax queries people might have.
How to Become a Tax Consultant?
Since it involves understanding lot of intricate details about the legal aspects surrounding the taxes we have to pay (direct or indirect), especially the financial aspect, anyone aspiring to pursue becoming a tax consultant has to have first and foremost higher level of formal educational qualification. Anyone who has specialized in commerce as a subject will be at an advantage over his other counterparts. The higher professional degree you posses, the better are your chances of becoming a good tax consultant. However, there are certain courses/degrees that are specific to the learning of being a tax consultant, e.g. chartered accountancy (CA), ICWA or an MBA in this field or a tax consultancy course.
Besides the formal course, aspirants who wish to make a career as a tax consultant should posses skills like:
- Knowledge of accounting, finance, commerce: An overview of the financial procedures prevalent in India will aid in your work as a tax consultant.
- Knowledge of taxation laws: Taxation being very complex and being governed by many laws, both central and state, to have a thorough knowledge of them will go a long way in helping you put the client’s case in the right perspective.
- Able to think logically: Your ability to use your knowledge and applying it in a methodical manner will help you tackle different situations in a much more effective manner than if you go about your job mechanically. You will have to scrutinize a lot of data to come out with the best possible situation for your client to save him a lot of money.
- Knowledge of computers: Both during your study period and when you start working, efficiency in handling computers and taxation-related software will be immensely helpful. Analyzing data can be made easier when using computers than if you had to do it manually.
- Good communication ability: This aspect cannot be taught by learning, but needs to be inculcated with experience. Good interpersonal skills will help you understand the clients’ tax needs and place you comfortably in answering all the queries.
Online income tax consultant
In today’s world where almost anything can be found and done online, tax advice also can be sought online. To achieve this efficiently, a tax consultant should have good knowledge of working with computers. To be able to achieve perfect justice to its clients, tax consultants need to take into account every detail of the assessment. Online tax consultants use industry-based softwares that aid them in gathering all the necessary information needed pertaining to an individual and give a fitting advice based on the data provided by the client. Also, given that taxation is very complex and changes from time to time and state to state, the online tax consultants, whose clients may be from any state, have to have their softwares every updated to be able to meet this requirement.
In India today, the role of a tax consultant has become increasingly important with the changes that have taken place recently, be it demonetization, to GST and other tax-related rules both at the centre as well as the states. The need for a tax consultant is more than ever before and so tax consultant as a career seems the need of the hour.