Tax lawyer salaries are mouthwatering, making it a very lucrative career option. This article contains a person’s skill and education to become a good tax lawyer.
It also covers becoming a tax lawyer, the duration, and fine points regarding the credentials, licensing, and education credits.
This article closes with a list of career and professional resources for striving and conventional tax lawyers.
SEE ALSO: How To Become A Journalist Without A Degree
Skills You Need To Become A Tax Lawyer
To become a tax lawyer, you must possess the following basic skills.
1. You must have a full-scale intelligence of the federal tax code and other tax laws.
2. You must also fathom a business and financial approach. School of law covers enough of this topic, basically for students who have their attention in tax and business law.
Other Skills A Person Needs To Successfully Practice Tax Law
Tax lawyers must be conversant with tax laws to correctly direct clients on how to take dominance of tax credits, communicate in favor of clients with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and practice in tax court.
Some tax lawyers work in planning estates, whereby they advise clients on how to design wills and trusts for paramount tax support.
School of law teaches students to think like lawyers, amalgamate complicated laws, and verbalize themselves adequately orally and in writing.
Tax lawyers who brag about the following skills can see themselves going far in their careers:
1. Math and Accounting Skills
Students acquire this knowledge before entering law school through undergraduate classes in math or accounting. Tax lawyers must have a concrete knowledge and understanding of both.
2. Good Communication Skills
Despite the tax code being complicated, lawyers must comprehend how to clarify it to their clients in simple words and comprehendible vocabulary to assist them in making decisions.
Tax lawyers must sharpen their writing and communicating skills.
3. Critical-thinking and Analysis Skills
Tax lawyers need analysis skills to read statutes and case law and meticulously examine and apply these laws to their scenarios.
4. Research skills
The tax code consistently changes, so lawyers need strong inquiry skills to supply current advice to their clients.
How Long Does it Take To Become A Tax Lawyer?
The route to becoming a tax lawyer generally consists of the following steps:
Step 1:
To Become a tax lawyer, one needs to have a bachelor’s degree, preferably in accounting, business, or mathematics. This generally amounts to four years.
Step 2:
Examine thoroughly and take the law school admissions test, a standardized exam accessing systematic argument, sanity, and reading comprehension.
Consider a few weeks of studying and consider a test preparation course.
SEE ALSO: How to Respond to a Craigslist Job Post
Step 3:
Inquire about law schools accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and apply.
Time duration can be up to a year to round up this step, which demands research, visiting schools, and outright applications.
Ensure you consider the cost, financial aid, graduation and engagement amount, venue and school population, and culture when choosing where to apply and attend.
In general, private schools charge bigger price tags than public schools. However, financial aid or scholarships are given to most students who aspire to law school.
Step 4:
Earn your Juris Doctor Degree, which will take you up to three years.
Step 5:
Companies and firms communicate with law students in their last year, and these students are taken based on their performance in the bar examination.
Tax lawyers often pick a centralized part, like business tax, corporate tax, estate and gift taxation, and successions.
Step 6:
Study for and take a state bar exam, which entails 2-3 days of testing. Multiple-choice and essay portions may be included.
Two months or more should be used when studying and dedicating your free time to test preparation, including multiple-choice and essay portions.
Also, consider taking a prep course, such as Kaplan.
Educational Qualifications Needed To Become A Tax Lawyer
Getting a job as a tax lawyer can be very difficult and competitive, and having a degree in law doesn’t even guarantee employment.
However, undergraduate studies like accounting, business, or math are courses that any student who decides to become a tax lawyer should choose.
Moreso, a JD degree program starts with a wide-based curriculum that oversees general topics in law like torts, contracts, civil procedure, constitutional law, legal research, and writing.
Towards the second and third years, the students can take elective courses depending on their areas of interest.
Some tax lawyers’ class choices often include introducing the federal tax, taxation of corporations and shareholders, tax practice and procedure, and international taxation.
Some schools may offer JDs in taxation, but most feature JD/LLM joint degrees. Students, such as JD-MBA, can pick concurrent degree programs.
For bar exams to be taken,bar associations require candidates to hold a degree from ABA-accredited law schools.
JD degree holders without a taxation designation can still become tax attorneys, but they should complete significant coursework covering tax and business topics.
Most state bar associations require candidates to hold degrees from ABA-accredited law schools to take the bar exam and obtain a license.
Also, graduates from ABA-accredited law schools are hired by most law firms.
SEE ALSO: How to Be a Criminal Defense Lawyer
Conclusion
A practicing tax lawyer must have a license bestowed by a state bar association. Requirements for admission to the bar may vary by jurisdiction.