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Dear Potential Client:

Of course you don't like taxes, but you have to live with them in your business and personal life. Since there is really no way to escape taxes, it behooves you to make the best of the situation.

Taxes CAN be minimized. The amount you pay is not "fixed" ... not the same for everyone who receives the same amount of income.

The WAY to save is simple to state: Use the laws, regulations, the court decisions and the rulings that are issued for your guidance. All legal ways ... accepted, even recommended... to help you pay your share, but not more than your share. Even the government does not want that.

Remember... federal, state & local governments are partners of yours, whether you like it or not. They dip into your income and set the rules for doing so. What you can do is take advantage of the legitimate outs and relieves. Many are deliberately designed to ease the tax load on you. Others are the result of new interpretations of laws ... always changing.

This is where tax planning is handy... in your personal affairs and in your business. You can set plans so that you pay more in taxes or less. It's the same as most other expenses ...adjustable up or down.

Whether you are self-employed, a corporate manager or professional or a salaried executive, you do have to take the tax aspects into account whenever you make a financial decision involving your company or yourself. Frequently, the success or failure of your business could hinge on taxes. We know of cases where marginal transactions have turned into bonanzas because advance thinking was given to achieving the best tax outcome.

There are lots of tax experts available... to guide and counsel. But many people cannot afford full-time advice... must get it on-and-off, as situations arise. Meanwhile, they must make their own decisions.

You can get more good out of your advisers, whether you use them full time or part time, by developing your own working knowledge of taxes. You need not be familiar with all the technical sides of the tax laws ... but it would be helpful to be able to evaluate the advice you do receive.

Remember, too, that YOUR finances are of most concern to you. It's your responsibility to be alert to all the aspects, including taxes.

As for small businesses, they are the ones that most need guidance in order to take advantage of the rules and avoid overpaying their taxes. They cannot afford high-priced experts or elaborate accounting facilities. Tax planning becomes a do-it-yourself proposition for small businesses.

The head of a small firm always can know more than he or she does about how to run things, to make the right decisions and keep taxes down. And know enough to be able to decide when to call in experts and when not to.

So our advice to these businesses is to bone up on your taxes within your own time limits ... and try to keep up with the major changes.