Most Helpful Customer Reviews
148 of 151 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting book with a very different approach, March 23, 2003
This review is from: Lower Your Taxes - Big Time! : Wealth-Building, Tax Reduction Secrets from an IRS Insider (Paperback)
I would have given it 4 and 1/2 stars but that wasn't an option. The only reason that I didn't give it 5 stars was that the book deals with small and home bases business issues and for real estate owners and investors. I am retired and thus, could only benefit from the real estate discussion.However, I did have a business before retirement. I got this book after reading a great review in the Orlando Sentinal.This book would have saved me a bundle had I known about this information many years ago. It is cleverly written and has a lot of good information that I myself never heard from my accountant. I especially liked all the examples and tips that I found really useful in understanding the tax planning sections I also liked the elaborations, which provided some nice insights into why Congress passed various laws or on what to do about certain laws,with a great deal of clarity and specificity. One very unsual feature that I found in this book that I never read in any other book was all the information that was provided on how to "audit proof" each and every tax planning strategy. I have used the J.K. Lasser guide in preparing my taxes, and I have never seen as much specific information on how to IRS bullet proof each deduction as Mr. Botkin provides. Many financial books I read are rather shallow and lack a lot of the details necessary to implement what they are suggesting. Also, there seems to be a trend in financial and real estate books to serve as a giant advertisement for consulting services or for other books. This was NOT the problem in this book,which was frankly very refreshing. Even as a retired person, I did, however, find the real estate section to be very useful. It will save me a bundle on some real estate mistakes that I didn't know about all these years. Some reviewer noted that this book doesn't show you how to plan for the various tax laws. He must not have read the same book that I read because this book has a lot of specificity on what to do with each applicable law. In short: I have given a copy of this book to my son and daughter. That should tell you what I think of the book.
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83 of 86 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, December 18, 2003
This review is from: Lower Your Taxes - Big Time! : Wealth-Building, Tax Reduction Secrets from an IRS Insider (Paperback)
The main idea behind all books like this is that you MUST start some kind of business (part time, at home, whatever) to take advantage of some amazing tax laws. Making that first move is probably the hardest step for most people. Don't expect a motivational pep talk here. Think of it like this: What would you give for a 10% raise? 20%? 30%? You can save that much in taxes if you take the small step of creating a business. Once you are ready to take that step, this book is wonderful. Other books talk about the same stuff, but this one is easy to read, well organized, and best of all, the author cites everything to the IRS code or case law. That is important since many financial gurus (think Rich Dad series) give advice that is plainly wrong or sometimes even illegal. This book is 100% legit. I was concerned when I heard the author was associated with Tony Robbins, but Mr. Botkin makes no attempt to sell or promote any product in this book. Read this book, save lots of money. Good luck.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clearly the best tax book around for the lowest price, February 23, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Lower Your Taxes - Big Time! : Wealth-Building, Tax Reduction Secrets from an IRS Insider (Paperback)
When I think about taxes, I certainly want to save taxes,but didn't know how important tax planning would be till I read this book. I always felt that tax books would be boring or complicated. I never thought that I would find a book that would be so compelling that I didn't want to put it down! I actually got this book because of the fabulous review that I saw in our Dayton newspaper. I figured "anything with this good a review,I had to see," and they were very right. It is loaded with great information that I didn't know nor did my accountant ever tell me. In fact, Mr, Botkin was right when he said that the biggest financial myth is "my accountant takes care of my taxes." He was also very right when he noted that I should take the money saved from the ideas in this book and use it to both hire an accountant to do my tax return and pay off my debts early. His premise that "people can get rich on the money that they are already making" seems very plausible now that I have read the book and starting using his strategies. The book is remarkably well written (and this is from someone who previously taught History in high school), clear and full of great anecdotes and examples. In fact, it almost reads like a novel, and, as I said, I couldn't put it down. It also is quite humorous, and this is no small feat for a tax book. Although, I will say that Mr. Botkin's humor is a bit corny at times. I loved Mr. Botkin's method of using an introduction for each chapter discussing what will be discussed and then summarizing the strategies, not to mention all the flow charts used to illustrate each strategy. I also loved the fact that every statement that he makes is backed up by the appropriate case or IRS regulations. Most books that I read sound good at first but don't have the detailed information necessary to implement what they teach. Sandy leads the reader through every strategy simply and step-by-step. I was, in fact, amazed at the clarity of this book, and that it's about taxes! He probably has the best section on the pros and cons of incorporating that I have ever seen, and has the most comprehensive section on business fringe benefits that I have also ever seen. I loved his discussion on some of the benefits given to the top CEOs of major companies such as Enron and why they were given to these executives. I also was fascinated with his discussion on why Enron and other companies usually incorporate in places like Nevada and outside the US. I will give you a hint: it wasn't for tax purposes. I also loved his real estate discussion. Although this book is designed for the person who has some type of small or home based business, he has one chapter on the top overlooked real estate deductions that is a real gold mine. I missed three out of the four top deductions that he cited, and I will bet many of my friends missed the same things. Considering this book is the least expensive tax planning book on Amazon, this one becomes a real steal... These reviewers are very right to give this book a 5 star rating. It is definitely a hidden gem. It is one of the few business and investment books that I have seen that really deserves this rating. If you have a pulse, this is a must read.
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