Hugh H. Sprunt is a Certified Public Accountant who has been providing tax consulting services to individuals and businesses for over sixteen years. He was a Tax Partner with a large international accounting firm for six years, concentrating in individual income tax and estate planning. His expert tax knowledge and presentation skills have made him a speaker of choice at financial planning seminars for fellow tax partners and a leader of tax workshops for other tax professionals as well as the general public. Hugh's most recent presentation to nonprofessionals was entitled, "How To Get The Best Service From Your Tax Advisor." He is also one of only some 900 CPAs nationwide certified as Personal Financial Specialists (PFS) by the American Institute of CPAs.
Hugh has devised and implemented successful multi-year tax strategies involving Fortune 500 corporations and does tax planning for individual clients, some with a net worth exceeding $100 million and single-year personal tax liabilities over $10 million. An IRS private ruling request he drafted for a client used a previously unexploited generation-skipping transfer tax "opportunity" Hugh discovered that reduced the taxes on a $14 million intrafamily gift by over $1 million. Hugh has also been the first to inform the IRS of substantive errors in the government's favor on various IRS tax forms, including Schedule K-1 (The IRS acknowledged its errors and corrected the official forms and instructions the following year).
Hugh is the lead author of a two-volume 750-page tax reference work, first published for CPAs, tax attorneys, and other tax professionals in late 1992. The fourth edition will be released in December 1995. Hugh has also written on technical tax subjects in The Journal of Taxation. Since 1991, he has supplemented his traditional tax consulting practice as the owner of Advantax - Your Tax Advantage, a live nationwide "900" tax planning and tax return advice line (900-933-3004, $3 Per Minute) carried by AT&T's MultiQuest* Express900 service.
Advantax is known for the customized "call memo" available to each customer at no additional charge and has been covered by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Smart Money, and NEWSWEEK. No one who has ever called the 900 number for tax advice has been dissatisfied with the service and failed to pay the 900 charges, an extraordinary record for any 900 number, let alone one in its fourth year of operation. Callers also use Advantax to obtain a quick "second opinion" or when they need real-time tax help with return preparation or tax planning software, especially after hours when they are "stuck" and need help now!
Hugh received an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a JD from Stanford Law School in 1979 through the GI Bill. Before joining the service, he obtained BS and MS degrees from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was elected to two national honorary societies. After working abroad for twelve months, he volunteered as a commissioned officer and saw service aboard deep-ocean Federal research vessels in the early 1970's, serving as Chief Ship's Diver and Senior Watch Officer.
His viewpoints have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and The Dallas Morning News. He is the author of the "Citizen's Independent Report" on the death of Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster and has written extensively on various aspects of the Foster case. Hugh and his wife of twenty-two years live quietly with their son and daughter on Rawhide Creek. His favorite aphorism was written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world. . . Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho' We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are. . . To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. And, lest we forget: Tell you what -- It's gonna be a gunfight, but I came here to bomb. -- Unknown Navy Attack Pilot, ca. 1970.