For what do you actually pay Tax Consultants, what is the content of their fee

The current society is by services and goods choosing strongly orientated towards just one indicator, the lowest price. Tax consultants and their services are on top of that considered as a consumer of client’s hard earned money, sometimes even as necessary evil and enemy, not as a partner staying on client’s side. For golf trainer, new clothes or hair dresser are people able to spend considerably bigger amount of money that what costs for first-rate tax consultant are, even in recalculation to hourly rate. The reason is the emotional side of these costs. The costs mentioned above are connected by one thing – by satisfying of those needs consumers experience feeling of happiness, delight, joy – generally think positively. In comparison to this by taking the help of tax consultants (in general any specialist) the majority of people thinks negatively, which is mistake of course. The reason is the fact that they do not realise what advantages the cooperation with tax consultants provides and most probably do not know for what they can use them.
The advantages of using tax consultant services are in more detail described in related article - Why to use services of a tax consultant?

What determines costs of tax consulting and fees

The determination of costs for an operation or of the hourly rate is not an easy thing to do. Tax consulting belongs to the group of so called liberal professions, as well as e.g. lawyers, notaries, auditors or authorized engineers. Typical for these professions that they are not bound to trade licence (the Business Act), but to another licence given based on a special law. While other professions, e.g. lawyer or notaries, have their fees based on legislation (mostly in the form of regulations), in the Czech Republic there is no legal act for tax consultants. The price is so arranged only on contract basis.

The fees regulation and in general tax consulting regulation is very variable worldwide. The Czech tax consulting scheme resembles the most the scheme used in Germany. The German legislation adjusts remuneration of tax consultants by a special law - Steuerberatervergütungsverordnung (StBVV), which follows the basic principles of the determination of costs for consulting.
Costs of tax consulting are always based on two basic categories, namely risk and difficulty. Tax consultants are liable for their business by their whole property. Therefore is the risk, which is assumed by tax consultants, significant element of client’s risk management and of the final costs. They are also influenced by difficulty and unusualness of the given operation or activity. Costs should reflect also other factors than only risk and difficulty!

Rate differences and variability of tax consulting costs

In what actually lay diverse service costs, mostly given by hourly rate?

Like in every other profession tax consultants are considered to have various skills, education and quality. Passing of so-called qualifications exams is the condition of tax consulting performance. These exams can be passed by people with at least bachelor’s degree, regardless of the field of study. Nonexistence of any other condition determines the variability among tax consultants themselves. Qualifications exams are only compulsory condition for job performance, but they do not guarantee anything at all. Following continual education after exams passing in the form of courses or trainings can neither be considered as guaranty nor replace purposefulness, interest in profession and resolution for work, praxis, honest and dutiful self-study, natural ability for analytical thinking.
Price has above all information function. Pricing information should express different information which creates the final costs.
Education, and not only in the tax field but also complete knowledge of business environment, horizons and coherence within law scheme of the Czech Republic, European Union, or legislations of states, which come under the interest of tax consultant, experience, language skills and prestige itself, demand for tax consultant services respectively, are another parameters considerably influencing tax consulting costs.

Just as by other self-employed workers pricing information should include calculation of continuing education costs, time for constant self-study of new legislation, leave etc.

Price setting for tax consulting, accounting and other consulting

The information provided by clients, publicly available information respectively, represent by price setting key parameters for provisional price setting. Based on those tax consultants should be able to form a view about difficulty and risk phrase of given activity. This gross price is further adjusted by other mentioned factors.

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