How much does a tax consultant cost? What mode of remuneration?
The tax adviser accompanies individuals, from all professional backgrounds, who have accumulated assets of various origins and existing in different forms. It will give them the means to optimize it, to pay less tax, but also to direct investments according to their needs and expectations. When looking to invest and get help for this, asking the question of the cost of the tax advisor is therefore very important.
The importance of the tax advisor
Before even asking yourself what a tax adviser costs, it is essential to understand its importance in any process of tax optimization, investment, management of your estate.
The skills of the tax advisor
By the very nature of his activity, the tax adviser is a jack-of-all-trades. Finance, insurance, real estate, law, he has several strings to his bow (he or his firm) so that he can advise you in many directions. His work generally begins with the establishment of a heritage balance sheet. It makes it possible to define the property in possession of the person, whether it is real estate, miscellaneous assets, shares or interest-bearing accounts. These assets are to be compared with a strategy of asset organization, the recognition of assets having no specific purpose.
Why hire a tax advisor
Even before knowing its cost, the tax adviser must be seen not as an expense, but as an investment. Its objective is to provide you with personalized solutions. Based on your asset balance sheet and your project, a study is carried out to help you achieve your objectives. It is often a question of saving money, especially in terms of taxes, but it can also be a question of other goals. Shelter loved ones, acquire new property, prepare for retirement, diversify one’s assets or professional heritage, go around the world, the projects are numerous and very diverse. This is why each study is personalized to meet your exact needs, and according to your own possessions. If each study is unique, you can also call on your tax advisor throughout life, further strengthening this bond between a client and his advisor. For a marriage or a divorce, the birth of children or the financing of studies, he is close to you to advise you on the implications of important events that require a financial investment.
The cost of a tax advisor
When to call an advisor?
We have the image of the tax advisor as a specialist in numbers, one who only associates with those who have succeeded, for whom money is no longer a problem. The reality on the ground is far from the images of Epinal and the tax adviser can exercise his activity with a wide variety of savers. In absolute terms, there are no minimums for using these services. In practice, all the same, classic savings books do not fall under the prerogatives of a tax adviser. On the other hand, house, shares or bonds, profitable savings, here are some assets which can justify the use of an adviser to optimize them.
The remuneration of the tax advisor
In general, the tax advisor has two methods of remuneration:
1 – Hourly price
The first is based on an hourly price applied to the study of an optimization file, to the constitution of a heritage balance sheet. In this case, the hourly average in France is estimated at 200 euros. For example, the wealth assessment costs between 400 and 1000 euros in the majority of cases. The more complex it is, the more expensive it is and situations that include many goods or complicated assemblies can raise the bill to several thousand euros.
2 – Commissions
The second is based on a system of commissions paid from the profitability of the financial products offered by the tax advisor. Let’s say that the latter directs you to an investment whose return is xx%. You invest a sum that will bring you back annually. Of this sum, a small part is devoted to the remuneration of the adviser who supported you. This system can also be based not on a recurring commission, but on the contrary on a commission for the subscription of the financial product. But the basic idea remains the same. However, this solution can leave the client with the impression that the advisor serves his own interests before his own.
This compensation system applies to CGPIs, ie Independent Wealth Management Advisors. When the tax advice is given to a bank, for example, the adviser is an employee of the establishment, it is therefore the bank that receives these commissions or fees.
Free advice and low cost offers
All work induces remuneration. However, you will be tempted to let yourself be carried away by offers of free tax advice. Know that one way or another, this is not the solution. Or, the information provided is worthless, and therefore the advice is not necessary. Either, the tax adviser will be remunerated with offers that he will encourage you to take. And there will be no doubts about the fact that he serves his interests in priority over yours.
However, it is still possible to play on the price of the fees by putting the different offers into competition. While some tax advisers are independent, others benefit from the status of tax lawyer while some are employees of a bank or a consulting firm. This gives you so many opportunities to find someone who will listen to your project and your situation.