In the past we discussed how to hire a tax professional as well as what you should look at before doing this. But guess what? There are a lot of things that are more important than actually hiring a tax professional. More specifically, the way that they treat you and your tax situation is essential. To ensure that you and your tax professional are on the same page, make sure that the lines of communication are always kept open.

One of the biggest mistakes that you can make is thinking that your tax professional can read your mind. Although they are probably good at what they do (or you wouldn’t have hired them), you need to remember that your tax professional sees a lot of people every year. This means that you need to give them clear, concise, and accurate information on your situation.

Communicating with your tax professional will be much easier if you take the time to stay organized throughout the year. A tax professional’s worse nightmare is a client who shows up unprepared, yet expects a quick job and a big return. Simply put, this is not possible. You need to stay organized year round, and then use this to your advantage when sitting down with your tax professional.

Finally, communication is a two way street. Why did you hire a tax professional? You more than likely did this because you wanted some professional advice and assistance. For this reason, you should take what you are told and put it to good use.

All in all, effective communication with your tax professional will help you to seamlessly move through the process with little effort and stress. 

In recent weeks, many at the Federal Reserve and in the government have gone from insisting that the subprime lending crisis is under control to acknowledging that it is very much out of control. As the Fed tries to boost confidence in the credit market, turning up rather ineffectual measures, the government has decided that it’s time to step in.

The news that President Bush is planning to join the Federal Reserve in trying to relieve the mortgage market is sending a measure of relief through credit and stock markets today. Bush has announced that he has a plan to help some homeowners facing foreclosure, and some who have seen increases in their payments due to teaser mortgage interest rates transforming into hefty variable rates.

President Bush offers the FHA as a solution

President Bush’s plan is to offer FHA insurance to some homeowners. This insurance would help cover them if they have missed mortgage payments. The idea is to avoid foreclosure if possible. This is expected not only to help homeowners, but also to aid the mortgage market and stem some of the fallout from the subprime lending crisis. The Wall Street Journal has more on the plan offered by President Bush.

MarketWatch also reports on the FHA insurance plan, and mentions that Bush’s remarks will be given later this morning:

President Bush is due to speak at 11:10 a.m. Eastern on “homeownership financing,” according to the White House.

The Bush plan would allow about 80,000 homeowners to refinance their mortgage, official said. Some groups have estimated that as many as 2 million homeowners are at risk of foreclosure.

No one knows the exact impact that this move will have on those facing foreclosure, or whether it will really help abate the subprime lending crisis. But the stock market is up this morning, and the news has momentarily arrested the dollar’s decline on the foreign exchange market.

So we have discussed the pros and cons of giving teens credit. Soon we will discuss the joys and potential pitfalls of business owners relying on credit. For now, here is a list of credit cards for business owners.

This list includes my personal favorite, the Advanta Platinum MasterCard. This power-packed card, recommended by SmartMoney magazine, offers 0% APR for 16 months and 7.99% fixed APR thereafter on balance transfers, 7.99% variable APR on purchases, $0 fraud liability, your choice of 5% cash back or travel rewards and no limit on rewards earned.
Business credit cards are truly better than consumer cards in so many areas, so take advantage of them if at all possible.

Also in the meantime, here’s something to cheer about.