Tony Anchukaitis, CPA, focuses his tax practice on individuals, family-owned businesses, and family wealth planning. He’s a partner at King McNamara Moriarty LLP, a mid-sized, full-service tax, accounting, payroll and consulting firm based in Norwood, MA.
A frequent Tax Forum attendee, Tony sat down to talk about how the Tax Forum courses help his practice, how he still refers to prior years’ material, and how he considers the Tax Forum a Christmas gift to himself.
You’ve attended Tax Forums programming since 2011. What first drew you to the courses?
I was going to the state society courses, and most of the people there seemed uninterested in the presentation. I was looking for a more in-depth discussion, as I have a passion for these topics. A lawyer I know told me about Tax Forums.
He said that at Tax Forums they’re not going to give you one-sentence answers. They’re going to show you a situation, a Code section, or a regulation and tell you how it was developed and what you can do with it. He even told me not to take notes, just focus, since I will learn so much more that way. And that’s what I did from the first year onwards.
What do you enjoy about Tax Forum programming?
Michael and Chuck have a unique talent to take a complicated situation and simplify it into an example that’s easy to understand. A lot of people can’t do that, and I feel lucky that I get to witness that talent.
They mentor people on the issues. Everyone wants to hear what they have to say. When I look around the room, everyone is engaged and attentive. Nobody is chit-chatting. There’s a reason people come back every year, because the tax code is so fluid that even if they cover the same subjects, you’re going to get an updated answer each year which reflects those changes.
You’ve taken both the Tax Planning Forum and the Fundamentals of Flow-Through programs.
Just because you know the basics doesn’t mean you remember it all, so sometimes I go back to the Fundamentals of Flow-Through program for a good reminder of the basics. For the Tax Planning Forum — it helps me plan with my clients. It’s like putting a puzzle together. Both of them help me be a better advisor, and it helps me envision what the end result will be for my clients.
How else do you use what you’ve learned at the Forum?
The eight years of material I have accumulated has served as valuable references. I have highlights, sticky notes, and reminders of various techniques covered at the forum.
I also try to emulate what Micheal and Chuck do. Michael said he gets up on Saturday mornings and reads an article when his mind is fresh. So now I do that, too. I can say that doing this has helped me serve my clients better.
Do you prefer to attend virtually or in person?
I used to go in person, and now I do more virtual, since I can do it at home. But when I go in person, I enjoy seeing people and having conversations. I’m amazed at how smart the attendees are.
I missed a couple years, then once I started going again, and I felt restored. So, the way I look at the Forum is that it’s my Christmas. I can go and I enjoy the conversation and the questions. It’s my gift to me. So, Christmas comes every year at the Forum.