For truly quick questions, we add the following disclaimer:
Legal Notice and Disclaimer: This response is not written tax advice. Any accounting, business, or tax advice contained in this communication, including attachments and enclosures, is not intended as a thorough, in-depth analysis of specific issues, nor a substitute for a formal opinion, nor is it sufficient to avoid additional tax or tax-related penalties and interest. Information provided herein may be general in nature or based on previous communication, so it may not be applicable to the recipient's specific circumstances. If the client would like official written tax advice or planning services, please let us know as this would require a more in-depth analysis of tax issues involved and a separate written engagement.
This question in your post is not a quick question, of course. So we would respond with:
Thanks for your questions. Unfortunately, the answer to your question depends on many factors and for several reasons (listed below, if you are interested) we can’t provide this type of advice via email.
Please call the office at XXX-XXX-XXXX and we will be more than happy to provide guidance by phone or in person with an appointment.
Thanks for your understanding,
Reasons we can’t give tax advice via email:
• Errors or misunderstandings might not be covered by our professional liability policy.
• We likely need more information to answer which likely requires several rounds of lengthy back and forth questioning.
• We would have to write an email that is several pages for each email to cover all bases which would result in a large increase in our fees for your production.
• Misunderstandings are common in email communication.
• Issues caused by misunderstandings could result in an inaccuracy or understatement of tax liability which could lead to penalties, interest, time costs, other fees, liens, levies, audits, and credit issues.
Also, in my experience, when a client must commit to actually making an appointment or picking up the phone, suddenly 90% of their questions just go away completely and I am left mostly responding to the one's that are actually important.