A tax lawyer learns about new court decisions, new regulations, new revenue rulings and new legislation. An accountant is skilled in the practice of accounting which is a system of recording, reporting, and analysis of financial transactions of a business. Different skills although they do overlap. --------- For marketing "The differences, obviously, derive from the unique professional skills and services offered by each profession, by the different issues and needs of the clientele, and by the way each service is performed. Within each profession, there are differences in specialties, in firm size, in firm philosophies, and in the different target markets served by different firms in the same profession. Many of the differences are subtle, many are profound. But differences there are, and they seriously affect the thrust of a sound marketing program. Moreover, as veteran consultant Terry Lloyd, a CPA and financial analyst, points out, “Even though the lines continue to blur between the services, there are still differences in the way CPAs and lawyers are perceived.” http://www.marcusletter.com/Law-accounting%20differences.htm

Just to add to Alatea's answer... Tax Lawyers went to law school, got a law degree, and passed the bar exam. Accountants are someone who got a bachelors degree (usually in business, but not always) and took, and passed, the CPA exam. They are only required to know as much law as they need to pass the CPA exam... although the better ones will keep their knowledge up to date and know a bit more than the minimum required. The Tax Lawyer may have no idea how to prepare your tax return, and they may not help you out much with tax planning, but if you had a question about tax law, they would be the one to ask.

It should be noted that just as lawyers have specialties in tax (law), so do accountants. There exist masters degrees in taxation and several other disciplines in accounting. Doctoral degrees, like many other disciplines, are primarily degrees seen in academics, though a few in practice do hold them (more often, full or part-time academics run a part time practice on the side). Some doctoral degrees are specialized in a specific discipline, such as taxation. Tax accountants are typically versed on many of the very same issues as a lawyer. Both are qualified to file tax returns on behalf of a client. Many lawyers and tax-specialized accountants alike understand niche issues in tax such as corporate taxation, or estate and trust taxation. Generally, a lot of tax filings are made by tax accountants. A lot of the higher-end structural work, such as incorporating companies, organizing trusts and estates and defending clients in tax court, is done by tax lawyers. In the middle you have tax advice and planning. There is near 100% overlap in these categories, and significant overlap in the rest. Because of the uniqueness of the Tax Court system, a CPA is qualified to represent a client there, and many often do. As an accountant by training, I favor my side, but I see value in tax lawyers, as filing long briefs and the legality of complex business structure can be left to them, thank you very much. But tax lawyers must be knowledgeable about so many issues they can often not see the forest through the trees. That's where I see the accountant having an edge for the client, as they tend to be familiar with more specific tax situations and provide as much, if not more, service to the client. We also tend to charge much less, and are generally more fun to be around. :-P

Well, when your accountant saves you a bunch of money but gets you into a crap-load of trouble doing it your tax lawyer is the one who gets you out of it (hopefully)

Basically, a tax accountant tracks and records tax liability and assists in the preparation and filing of paperwork with revenue agencies while a tax attorney is a specialist in the law of taxation and uses this specialization to address tax issues in the drafting of contracts, negotiation and structuring of complex transactions, mergers and acquisitions, business entity creation/planning, the creation of trusts, estate planning/administration, bankruptcies, etc. Being a tax attorney means addressing tax issues involved in legal problems thus requiring legal expertise while being a tax accountant is a more limited function. Tax attorneys don't have a "busy season" like tax accountants because tax attorneys generally aren't involved in the preparation and filing of forms. . . Generally, tax attorneys are "more qualified" -- a tax attorney has an undergrad degree, law degree, and advanced law degree (LL.M.) while a tax accountant usually only has an undergrad degree and "specialist" accountants might have an MBA or M.Acc. These specialist accountants might engage in planning functions but the scope of that planning is limited. So, there is some overlap but you wouldn't hire a tax accountant to do what tax lawyers do and vice versa. . .

Basically, a tax accountant tracks and records tax liability and assists in the preparation and filing of paperwork with revenue agencies while a tax attorney is a specialist in the law of taxation and uses this specialization to address tax issues in the drafting of contracts, negotiation and structuring of complex transactions, mergers and acquisitions, business entity creation/planning, the creation of trusts, estate planning/administration, bankruptcies, etc. Being a tax attorney means addressing tax issues involved in legal problems thus requiring legal expertise while being a tax accountant is a more limited function. Tax attorneys don't have a "busy season" like tax accountants because tax attorneys generally aren't involved in the preparation and filing of forms. . . Generally, tax attorneys are "more qualified" -- a tax attorney has an undergrad degree, law degree, and advanced law degree (LL.M.) while a tax accountant usually only has an undergrad degree and "specialist" accountants might have an MBA or M.Acc. These specialist accountants might engage in planning functions but the scope of that planning is limited. So, there is some overlap but you wouldn't hire a tax accountant to do what tax lawyers do and vice versa. . .

Alex Keaton's answer was by far the more thoughtful and practical answer/truthful answer. I would add however that you should definitely choose a tax lawyer over a tax accountant if you intend on taking a very aggressive (read "shady") tax position, as you will have instant access to the attorney-client priviledge. In my experience, because the accountant cannot rely on this (read "hide behind this"), the accountant's planning tends to be the more conservative and technically correct position.