Hello and welcome to our new blog “Brass Tax”. My name is Dana Roe and I am going to be the author of this blog with the help of some very special colleagues here at Gorfine, Schiller & Gardyn, P.A. This is my first post here in the world of blogging. I decided to start writing this blog with the ultimate goal of sharing information and, as the title of the blog suggests, tax will be the main subject.
First a little of my background, I have a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Baltimore and started working in the field of accounting as a bookkeeper when I was in high school. I won’t bother telling you how many years ago that was! I started working in public accounting specializing in tax more than 20 years ago. On the personal side I am married and have two children. My son who is six thinks I just play on a computer all day and asks if he can play my computer games. Cute – but I keep telling him that the tax game is not an appropriate game for kids.
The focus of this blog will be on business and tax issues that small and middle market business owners and other executives deal with everyday. Large businesses and publicly traded corporations have a wealth of experts at their disposal. Small and middle market companies, for the most part, do not have that luxury and must seek out help with the challenges and opportunities they face. Small and middle market companies make up the majority of businesses in this country and are the driving force of our economy. To me, they are the most fascinating and diverse companies to work with.
My goal with this blog is to provide small and middle market businesses with a source of business and tax information in a realistic way that is “easy” to understand. “Easy” is subjective when talking about taxes considering the volume of the current tax code! I also want to provide a forum for discussion and questions. I hope to provide this with thoughtfulness and hopefully a little humor.
Why tax you ask. Well why not? I can’t think of another topic (except politics) that gets people worked up more than taxes. Most people are so intimidated by the IRS they never attempt to prepare their own tax returns. Some out there are so against the IRS they spend enormous amounts of time and energy trying to beat the IRS. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying “The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax.” That being true then I like a challenge. I don’t know of anyone who thinks that Congress will ever do anything to simplify the tax code. Most states are in financial trouble and are looking for more and more ways to create and increase revenues. Unfortunately, many of us out there must keep up with all of the constant change.
My answer to why tax is simple – I like a challenge. I don’t know of any other profession that encounters as much change as tax. Congress continually attaches tax provisions to all types of legislation. I view the constant change as a challenge to keep up-to-date but I also see it as an opportunity. The opportunity to help people with their finances and to educate clients and younger members of the profession.
I hope you will check back frequently and feel free to post comments and questions.
