A Turning Point

I got into the tax business as a means to an end—a way to make decent money without working all year, frankly.

My dad and uncle owned and operated a multilocation tax preparation business in the Los Angeles area: Pronto Income Tax. My grandfather had started Pronto way back in 1965, one of the first financial companies to focus on serving the Latino (Hispanic) community.

I always admired what my dad, my uncle, and the other Pronto teammates had built. I loved how they served an underserved community and treated every client with respect, no matter how much money he or she did or did not make.

Furthermore, the September 11 attacks (9/11) had just happened, I had lost my job, the economy was in shambles, and I had no other employment prospects.

My dad and I spoke and decided I would do a tax season or two and go from there.

My plan was to work taxes during tax season, then spend the rest of the year becoming a professional screenwriter/novelist.

My dad put me in our Monrovia office location, about a mile away from the Santa Anita racetrack.

As you know, the tax business has its rough days, for sure, but it was a good job, overall, as jobs go.

The Monrovia office had—still does have—an amazing view of the San Gabriel mountains. I was fortunate to have a terrific mentor within the office, Casimiro J. Peña, aka “Jesse,” one of the best tax preparers to ever do it. My dad was a great boss, easy to work with, kind, strong, and steady.

Our client database was full of incredible, hardworking, salt-of-the-earth people.

I quickly achieved my main goal of earning enough money during tax season to not need to work a “regular job” the rest of the year, so that I could focus on my writing.

I had zero interest in becoming an enrolled agent (EA), because I knew that EAs were the team members who had to be available year-round, in case any of our clients had issues with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the Franchise Tax Board of California.

Seven years later, I somehow had not been recognized as one of the best screenwriters/novelists of all time.

I was recognized, however, as an excellent tax preparer, knocking out around 1,000 tax returns per tax season and earning about $60,000 in the process.

One night, after an absolutely grueling tax season day, I went to a diner in Marina Del Rey with my aunt and uncle. There was this drop-dead gorgeous waitress that worked there and she was our server that night. I was sporting the infamous “tax season beard” and more or less looked (and felt) like I had been run over by a truck. I did not think speaking to her on this particular night would be to my best advantage.

I left her a note telling her I did not want to bother her during work and…could she call me?

I told you my writing would pay off someday.

Jamie and I got married in April 2008, after tax season, and we promptly moved from Los Angeles to New York City.

My wife got a job in Midtown Manhattan, in the Fashion District, making $32,000 per year.

I sat alone every day in our charming Brooklyn brownstone apartment and tried to write as much as I could, as best as I could. Several months passed by and I still had no job, still was not making money with my writing, and my wife would come home and swear she smelled rum on my breath. My best friend from college passed away that summer, I was missing my family back in California, and my writing career was going nowhere.

As a way to advance my “plan B” career, and keep my wife and other family members from thinking I was a total degenerate, I took up studying for the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE).

I passed Part I easily because I knew Form 1040 tax work inside and out. Part III was more challenging but I passed that, too. Part II, the business section, was extremely challenging for me, since we had always worked exclusively with Form 1040 returns at Pronto.

The morning of the Part II test, I woke up at 4:00 A.M, to take a few more final, desperate “spins” on the Wise Guides practice tests. I was scoring 40 percent, not even close to passing.

I went into the real test that morning and passed—barely, I am sure.

Suddenly, the global financial system crashed in September 2008, and now I really had no job. I scoured the internet for tax-related jobs. The only jobs that looked even halfway decent required either a certified public accountant (CPA) or EA credential.

I ended up getting a job offer to join a prosperous and respected tax firm that had been in business even longer than my dad’s company, since 1955. They were going to pay me a base of $55,000 for the tax season with an opportunity for a bonus.

Having my EA credential paid off immediately, you could say.

I wondered why I would work for their family business, though, when I could work for my own. My dad offered me a co-leadership position within the business and we moved back to Los Angeles just in time for tax season.

Now that I was a leader in our family business, I became more serious about my tax career and learned how to be an EA who helps a lot of people and makes a lot of money by studying under Michael Rozbruch, Eva Rosenberg, and Jassen Bowman.

We quadrupled our business revenues within six years. My wife and I bought our first home in the Culver City area. God blessed us with our first child, a son, Isaac.

We started our own tax education company, Pronto Tax School, and part of what we do now with Pronto Tax School is…help other tax professionals become enrolled agents.

In retrospect, I see that becoming an EA was a turning point in my life. It is a credential that opens doors to many new opportunities, and best of all, it is a powerful way to help clients—people—who truly need help. I am grateful to be part of the club.