However, many people I encounter report having one or more negative experiences with them, and therefore often express reactions ranging from mild dislike to vehement loathing.  Comments I hear are often along the following lines:

• "Very high fees relative to the value of the services provided"
• "My file was delegated to someone relatively junior and inexperienced"
• "I have found that each of these firms has two or three people in their tax group who are really sharp, but once you go below that, the level of ability drops off precipitously-most of the people below are quite mediocre!"
• "We had to incur the costs and inefficiencies of having to deal with several people who confined their advice to narrow tax subspecialties (real estate, international, estate planning, corporate)-there was nobody that seemed to be able to 'put it all together' and give us an integrated solution"
• "These are the same kind of firms that have been involved in monumental auditing screw-ups! I do not exactly feel great about relying on them for anything!"
• "When I have dealt with them it seemed that the major emphasis was on the process, which consisted largely of steps designed so that they shield themselves from risk, as opposed to giving me a product in the form of a valuable tax plan".

If that has been your experience, and you are looking for a superior alternative, I am confident that I can provide it. In particular:

• I provide services of real value and charge fees that are commensurate with the value of such services
• You will always deal with me personally-no delegation to juniors
• I am widely considered one of the leading tax practitioners in Canada, and
• I have specialized knowledge and experience in a wide range of domestic and international tax issues, and certainly know how to "put it all together"
• I am not involved in auditing-I only do tax consulting.
• With me the process is very simple-I get all the relevant facts, consider them in light of the objectives, and then I devise the best plan or solution that I can.

Most of my practice consists of high-level tax consulting services to accounting and law firms. They call on me when they need specialized tax advice.

However, I am also happy to provide direct tax consulting services to anyone who can benefit from my services-I hate to see anyone miss out on tax savings opportunities or get into trouble with the tax authorities by getting tripped-up by pitfalls.

My services can be provided with the full knowledge and assistance of your current accountant or lawyer, or they can be left out of the picture-that is totally up to you.

In terms of the legal documentation for any plans needed to implement my recommendation, that can either by supplied by your current law firm, or I can direct you to competent lawyers with whom I work on a regular basis-again that is up to you.

If you were a fellow Canadian Chartered Accountant in public practice or a tax lawyer, the chances are that you would have already heard of me. I am fairly well known by people in those fields, even if they are not my clients, because I have written three leading books and loads of articles, and I have given dozens of live presentations. If you are interested in my professional background, you can just visit the "About" section of this website. 

What drives me more than anything is the desire to create innovative solutions to complex, high-dollar, tax problems. In fact, recently, a tax lawyer in Toronto described me as being "the most talented and creative tax accountant in Canada"!  Who am I to argue?

My ability to provide valuable advice has been sharply honed by the fact that I have spent the past 30+ years of my career focused on nothing but tax planning in connection with a wide range of domestic and international tax issues. You see, unlike the vast majority of accountants in public practice, I have the luxury of not having to worry about preparing tax returns and dealing with day to day tax issues. Therefore, I can focus entirely on dealing with tax issues from a planning perspective in a creative and authoritative way that is not generally found in traditional accounting or law firms.

If you want to get a feel for the types of things I do, click on "Nine Days In The Life of A Tax Accountant!".

Since that time, I have been able to provide valuable assistance in connection with high-value and interesting situations to scores of people in all parts of the world who have located me in this way.  

I am always happy to hear from anyone, whether by phone or e-mail,  who benefit from my services-you can always contact me on a preliminary basis without charge! Generally, I will be able to quickly determine if I can help you and give you some idea both of what I can do for you and what my fee would be.

Feel free to phone me (416-860-9175 during normal business hours, or 416-949-7111 at other times up to 10PM EST) or e-mail me at matlas@taxca.com at any time! I always have my Blackberry with me, and will certainly get your e-mail. If you phone and I am not available, please leave a message on my voicemail, and I will be happy to phone you back as soon as I can.