who retired a short time ago.
by Garrick Moritz, Garretson Gazette
Tim Ness has been working with the US tax code for almost all of his working life. After taking an aptitude test, he was recruited to be a tax auditor for the Internal Revenue Service.
“They gave me the choice of Aberdeen or Sioux Falls South Dakota,” he said. “I couldn’t go shop around for a place to live or get a feel for the place first, I had to choose more or less on the spot. I asked which place was more like my hometown of Fargo, and they said Sioux Falls. I did my training in Aberdeen and really liked it there, and wondered if I’d made the right decision, but when I started in Sioux Falls I knew I’d made the right choice.”
He worked for several years as a tax auditor for the IRS, and is proud of his work there.
“People would often comment that I seemed too nice to be a tax auditor,” he said. “I spent 8 years as a tax auditor and got my MBA at the University of South Dakota in the meantime. In 1999 I decided to switch sides, or rather, to help people in such a way that they didn’t need a tax auditor. After all, if taxes are done right the first time, everyone is happy. And I’m also proud to be self-employed, helping people with their lives and businesses.”
