"My experience is that professionals like yourself are paid for the actual work they do for their clients and not for dispensing advice"

"My experience is that professionals like yourself are paid for the actual work they do for their clients and not for dispensing advice that will eventually turn into billable hours for themselves resulting from the advice they dispense."

This is what a potential client wrote to me after I told him my rates for a complex tax planning consultation. Do you agree with this? I was astonished.

While I don't charge for consultations to discuss a tax return which needs to be prepared, or basic tax planning which comes up as a part of that conversation, complex planning definitely comes with a fee.