Tax Planning Second Opinion Before Signing a Proposal
A second opinion should test the proposal’s assumptions, eligibility, implementation burden, and total cost. It should help you decide whether the engagement fits your facts, rather than promise a larger deduction than the first provider.
The buying decision
A second opinion should test the proposal’s assumptions, eligibility, implementation burden, and total cost. It should help you decide whether the engagement fits your facts, rather than promise a larger deduction than the first provider.
What to bring
Provide the proposal, engagement terms, strategy summary, prior returns, current financial information, entity chart, and relevant transaction records. Identify what the first advisor reviewed and what remains an estimate. Avoid sharing another party’s confidential material unless you are entitled to do so.
What the reviewer should evaluate
Ask for a review of factual assumptions, services included, work excluded, deadlines, professional responsibilities, and how projected savings were calculated. Distinguish permanent savings from timing benefits and identify implementation costs. A large projected number can be unhelpful if the underlying facts were not established.
Compare value without a savings guarantee
An illustrative $10,000 engagement requires a clear explanation of what the buyer receives. That does not mean it must produce a guaranteed savings multiple. Planning may identify an unsuitable strategy, improve documentation, or prevent a bad transaction. Ask how the provider evaluates value for your circumstances and documents uncertainty.
The decision after review
You may proceed, narrow the scope, request more evidence, retain specialist help, or decline the proposal. Record unresolved issues and obtain a revised agreement if the scope changes. A second opinion is itself a defined professional service; confirm whether it includes implementation or filing.
Apply this to your AE proposal
Ask AE to identify the entities, years, deliverables, implementation support, and filing work in your proposed engagement. Review current published fees and confirm exclusions in the agreement. General website content does not establish that a strategy applies to your circumstances.
Related Reading
Talk Through Your Situation
Every situation turns on its own facts. Schedule a discovery call and we will walk through what applies to you, what it is worth, and what it would take to put it in place.