Business of Tax: Pros Go to #TaxTwitter for Advice and a Shoulder to Cry On

By: Caitlin Mullaney

Stuck working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, many tax practitioners from small firms around the country have been afforded big networking opportunities and professional support through Twitter.

“Being able to connect with others in the industry that aren’t close to you regionally helps immensely, especially when you’re a smaller firm,” according to Albert J. Campo of AJC Accounting Services, one of the most followed contributors to #TaxTwitter.

Campo, an active member of #TaxTwitter since February 2020, told Tax Notes that the relationships he has established through the platform have helped with think-tank-style discussions of technical tax items — something that has been particularly useful when advising clients on the IRS’s COVID-19 relief guidance.

“Prior to the pandemic, I really didn’t have anybody, let alone a whole network of tax professionals to network, er, commiserate with,” said Adam Markowitz of Howard L Markowitz PA CPA.

The #TaxTwitter community saw an increase in popularity, thanks in part to the onset of the pandemic. Markowitz said he started following it after a colleague made a post with the hashtag, sending him down a “rabbit hole of tax professionals.”

“It’s hard to understand from outside the tax space just how overwhelming it can be when you’re in the tax space. We’re loners by nature and generally aren’t ‘people people,’ and this group of professionals understands that and can all help each other,” Markowitz said.

Markowitz pointed out the numerous opportunities for collaboration that have been created for him through his use of #TaxTwitter, such as building relationships with experts in specific tax areas and with media professionals. He noted one situation in which he was able to better assist a Florida-based client with a business in Hawaii after connecting with a tax professional who practiced in Hawaii.

“I also find it unbelievably valuable to have people who just get what we’re going through,” Markowitz said.

#TaxTwitter may have been brought into the spotlight in 2020, but it has been around for years, with users such as Joe Kristan of Eide Bailly LLP saying he has been “posting and responding to tax tweets at least as far back as 2015, probably longer.”

Kristan said he uses the platform to keep up with breaking news and the insight it provides into the state of mind of return preparers. He said it also gives preparers a window into academia and think tanks.

“But #TaxTwitter isn't necessarily a representative sample of the tax world,” Kristan added.

The Downside

Despite the praise for it, #TaxTwitter isn't immune to the negative effects that come with social media platforms. Markowitz said it can be a waste of time.

Kristan explained that some people may not be the best contributors and that they seem to have an abundance of time to tweet.

“While #TaxTwitter is a much nicer neighborhood than a lot of Twitter, it still shares in its pathologies,” Kristan said. “Twitter can amplify self-confidence and aggressiveness at the expense of thoughtfulness and humility. Sometimes ad hominem crowds out engagement.”

Kristan added that he sees a lot of stories online about unreasonable demands and ignorance about clients or would-be clients, and that even though “they can be hilarious,” they make him uncomfortable.

“I wouldn’t want to have my clients go on Twitter to see me mocking other clients, or worse, them, but that’s just me,” Kristan said.

But Abraham Young of Magister Tax LLC sees the benefit of allowing “these rare voices to connect and share ideas, thoughts, and ask questions” when they may not have the opportunity to do so while being affiliated with larger firms.

“I see it as a group of people that most were looking to work for a great firm and never found it. People in #TaxTwitter want to build a great firm, the type of place they would have wanted to have worked,” Young added. “This is the punk rock of tax professionals.”

Going Offline

Now that the pandemic is waning, some tax professionals are able to transfer their virtual connections to in-person interactions.

Markowitz recently attended a Florida gathering with several other professionals he met on the platform. Campo has had two in-person meetings with his online connections and has plans for future meetings.

Kristan used #TaxTwitter to connect with a member of his own firm who was based in another location — at least until they spoke in person.

“I met Blake Crow, our office partner in charge, on #TaxTwitter, and eventually we were able to persuade him to move here to take over our office,” Kristan said. “I have met some other remarkable #TaxTwitter folks, and I hope to meet more.”

#TaxTinder

Some of the camaraderie of the #TaxTwitter community has moved past virtual networking to virtual watercooler discussions. One example is the popularization of the TaxTinder hashtag, where some contributors share their dating app adventures.

“It has been a fun way to relate to other Twitter users and tax professionals about what it is like to date as a busy working professional, and we get to share that insight with our partnered tax professional friends as well,” Sabrina Cook of Sabrina P. Cook CPA said.

The hashtag started in June when Cook shared some of her Tinder dating stories with #TaxTwitter, prompting a fellow contributor, Joylyn Ankeney of Aldrich Advisors, to create #TaxTinder for the stories to be shared by the tax community.

Young said that #TaxTinder provides an opportunity to see the funny side of tax professionals.

“People post funny dating stuff, and it is nice to know that these other tax pros are real people outside of our conversations about clients, firms, hopes, and dreams that we all have for our tax practices,” Young said.