Deloitte vs Local CPA: Which Tax Service is Best for You?

Question

Hey everyone,

I have a question about tax services that I'm hoping to get some advice on. So, my employer is providing Deloitte tax services for me this and next year, which is pretty cool. However, I've only ever worked with local CPAs in the past, and I'm not sure how working with such a big company will be. I have this gut feeling that they may not be able to save me as much money on taxes as a good local CPA could.

What do you think? Would you recommend sticking with a local CPA, or should I give Deloitte a try? Keep in mind, I recently moved to a different state, so I'd need to find a new CPA anyways if I don't use Deloitte.

I'd appreciate any advice or insight you guys might have. Thanks!

My employer is paying for tax service from Deloitte this year. I have only worked with a local CPAs so far. How is it to work on tax with such company? From guts, I for some reason think they won't be able to offer to save much tax compared to good local CPAs. Would you recommend to work with a local CPA? I moved to a different state, so I would need to find one anyways if i were to now use Deloitte.

Jeff Nash · Answer

Deloitte is an international firm and a part of the "Big 4" accounting firms. They have a slew of resources and professionals, some in very niche and specialized areas. It sounds like they will provide the tax compliance or preparation work for you, but my hunch is they will not include planning for free which is where the real value is. I would inquire about the scope of their services and ask what and how they charge for tax planning. Normally the Big 4 focuses exclusively on the largest public corporations and private entities as well as high net worth individuals. If they are not able to help you beyond compliance then you can find a CPA/EA or other tax consultant to bridge the service gap.

Steven Hamilton II · Answer

Chances are it may not be correct anyways from Deloitte, we fix a lot of issues that come out of other firms large and small. Jeff is correct in that the planning you will get from there will be minimal. Any decent accountant is charging for tax planning. Our time and knowledge is our commodity.

There are several accountants here who can definitely help you out such as @Natalie Kolodij or @Jake Hottenrott

Michael Plaks · Answer

@Yun Han

Deloitte's specialty is International taxation of compensation for workers involved in overseas projects. They do it well, and I would let them handle it if I was, for example, a traveling O&G consultant.

On the other hand, they do not deal much with individual taxation of self-employed people and real estate investors. It's not where their expertise it, and they mess it up consistently. They cannot provide tax planning advice for investors, either - and that is super valuable, as @Steven Hamilton II pointed out.

Here is one possible solution that we use. My firm has multiple clients where we work on their real estate business portion, and then they turn our work over to one of the Big4 accounting firms like Deloitte (hired by their employers), and these firms incorporate it into the tax return along with the client's (often convoluted) job compensation.

Chris Picciurro · Answer

There is a reason the company if offering Deloitte to you. Do you have foreign income and/or investments? Is there a special situation with fringe benefits and the move that Deloitte is extremely familiar with? For many of us seasoned CPAs, a client moving to another state doesn't create a situation that is out of our scope of knowledge.

Bryan Martin · Answer

It's hard to tell. In the end, it will likely depend on the individual accountant (or accountants) that work on your return and planning and their knowledge and talent in the specific areas of taxation that are of a benefit to you.

Deloitte vs Local CPA: Which Tax Service is Best for You?

Deloitte vs Local CPA: Which Tax Service is Best for You?

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