Anybody familiar with this tax advisor advertising for doctors/dentists?

[sallazar]

I recently found a tax consultant online whom I have met with in several video conferences who analyzed my last years return for free. I am a W2 employed physician who does not own a business.  He claimed he could save my 30,000 on next year's taxes by implementing some strategies that few high income professionals know about.  His services cost about 4700 dollars for the year and he makes you pay the amount up front for the first year.  In addition, he will review the last 3 years tax returns to look for savings and will be available for consultation in other financial areas.  His name is Jay Malick, his website is JayMalick.com.  I was considering working with him but I am apprehensive about paying that much up front if things don't work out.  Has anyone else had any experience with this guy?  He has several testimonials on his website but would not agree to allow me to contact references of doctors he has worked with for fear that they may give away his secrets to tax reductions while cutting him out of the loop.

[Peds]

sounds like a scam. or at least being falsely advertised. and not contacting clients? please.

 

30K in taxes is a ton dont get me wrong, but at a 40% marginal rate (for me at least), that means its equivalent to earning 75K more per year and not having to pay anything on it.....seems off.

[jfoxcpacfp]

He is only an ENROLLED AGENT, for goodness sake. Nothing wrong with that, but for an EA to make you pay $4,700 up front and claim he can save you $30k with only a W2 and not allow you to speak to past clients because they might give away his secrets is very concerning. I am not saying this because I want your business, please believe me. This whole schtick screams shyster to me. I hope somebody else has experience with him and will chime in.

Edited to add: Maybe you should read the 3 1-star reviews this book got.

[sallazar]

Good points, - thanks for the info.

[The White Coat Investor]

Wow! Brutal reviews. Kind of makes me want to read and review it.

[The White Coat Investor]

And a W-2 doc without a business? That's not a very complicated tax return. If you're paying $30K too much in taxes you have really, really screwed things up.

[Zaphod]

Just the presentation sounds like a straight up scam. No one in their right mind would guarantee savings without knowing the full situation.

[sallazar]

Wow - that's a little harsh- I guess I really "screwed things up" by being a successful surgeon in a competitive high paying field. I am probably paying more than the average doctor due to being an employed physician with no house yet. I do max out my 401k my wife's 401k's, and contribute a decent amount to a tax deferred Top Hat. Other than that I don't know if a lot of options for employed physicians to take advantage of. We will be buying a house soon which will help. I am open to any suggestions. My hospital does not offer HSA, so I can't utilize that either. I am in a highest tax bracket - last year in 2015 even with about 80k going to 401k/TopHat tax deferred, I paid about 29-30% of total income in taxes. I am open to suggestions - that is why I explored working with the Malik in the first place. However, I agree the whole thing with his deal seems fishy.

[RDB]

I think he meant you really screwed things up IF you overpaid on your taxes by 30k, which I am sure you did not.

[Zaphod]

sallazar wrote:

Wow – that’s a little harsh- I guess I really “screwed things up” by being a successful surgeon in a competitive high paying field. I am probably paying more than the average doctor due to being an employed physician with no house yet. I do max out my 401k my wife’s 401k’s, and contribute a decent amount to a tax deferred Top Hat. Other than that I don’t know if a lot of options for employed physicians to take advantage of. We will be buying a house soon which will help. I am open to any suggestions. My hospital does not offer HSA, so I can’t utilize that either. I am in a highest tax bracket – last year in 2015 even with about 80k going to 401k/TopHat tax deferred, I paid about 29-30% of total income in taxes. I am open to suggestions – that is why I explored working with the Malik in the first place. However, I agree the whole thing with his deal seems fishy.

Click to expand...

The point was its pretty much impossible for you to have done so, not that you actually did. It was meant to expose how outlandish the sales  pitch was, not your filing ability.

Youre right, you probably dont have many options to reduce your taxes beyond where they are now. Your effective rate seems about right to me, and I am self employed with a lot of things to write off and thats where I land as well, but am also in California.

[The White Coat Investor]

Zaphod wrote:

sallazar wrote:

Wow – that’s a little harsh- I guess I really “screwed things up” by being a successful surgeon in a competitive high paying field. I am probably paying more than the average doctor due to being an employed physician with no house yet. I do max out my 401k my wife’s 401k’s, and contribute a decent amount to a tax deferred Top Hat. Other than that I don’t know if a lot of options for employed physicians to take advantage of. We will be buying a house soon which will help. I am open to any suggestions. My hospital does not offer HSA, so I can’t utilize that either. I am in a highest tax bracket – last year in 2015 even with about 80k going to 401k/TopHat tax deferred, I paid about 29-30% of total income in taxes. I am open to suggestions – that is why I explored working with the Malik in the first place. However, I agree the whole thing with his deal seems fishy.

Click to expand…

The point was its pretty much impossible for you to have done so, not that you actually did. It was meant to expose how outlandish the sales  pitch was, not your filing ability.

Youre right, you probably dont have many options to reduce your taxes beyond where they are now. Your effective rate seems about right to me, and I am self employed with a lot of things to write off and thats where I land as well, but am also in California.

Click to expand...

That's right. Sorry if I communicated poorly. I agree your effective tax rate sounds about right. I highly doubt there is a legal $30K tax savings that can be accomplished solely by preparing your taxes differently. Now, living your financial life differently? Sure. I could knock off $30K in a hurry. Just donate $70K to charity.

[Lithium]

I'm also a W2 employee.  I have about $24,000 of itemized deductions (limited somewhat by AMT).  Even if I were to do about the dumbest thing possible and not bother to itemize, taking the standard deduction, this would only cost me about $4300 in additional taxes.  Which is less than what this guy is charging you.

[DMFA]

How in the world is he going to save a W-2 employee that much? That's reducing the taxable income by at least $75,000 (assuming you're in the highest bracket; that's $120,000 if you're just in 25%). To make $4,700 worth it to me, for instance, he'd have to find over an additional $14,000 of deductions. I have a very hard time believing that's possible just by filing creatively or claiming a few business expenses.

Seems dubious, imo.