Our tax practice started in 1979 as Hoyer Consulting, founded by Lowry Hoyer, LTC. Within a few years, the firm had three employees: Lowry, as supervising Licensed Tax Consultant; Lowry's wife, Marlene Hoyer as a Licensed Tax Preparer, and their daughter Lani Hoyer as clerk.
In 2000, with the goal of retiring, Lowry successfully persuaded daughter Lani and her husband, Sean, to study for Oregon's tax license. They both took the required 80-hour tax class and in December of 2000, both passed the difficult Oregon exam qualifying them as Licensed Tax Preparers and have been preparing taxes ever since. Sean and Lani both work full-time jobs outside of their tax business -- Overland Consulting work is mainly done on evenings and weekends.
Our team:
Lani Akers, LTCLani obtained her Oregon license as a Tax Preparer in 2000 and earned her Consultant's license in 2008. Since 2007, she has worked full-time as a Fiscal Analyst for the State of Oregon, in the Department of Environmental Quality.
Sean Akers, LTP
Sean earned his Oregon Tax Preparer license in 2000 and has been preparing taxes since then. Sean is employed full-time at Banfield Pet Hospital as a Regulatory Compliance Specialist in their Health, Environment and Safety section.
Adjunct Team Members:
Lowry Hoyer, LTCHoyer Consulting
Lowry maintains a very small client list and consults with Lani and Sean on various complex tax issues.
Marlene Hoyer, LTP
Marlene continues to assist Lowry with his tax business.
About Oregon's Requirements for Tax Practitioners
Oregon is the only state in the union that requires paid tax practioners to be qualified, tested and credentialed. However, keep in mind that in some tax offices, unlicensed personnel do the bulk of the work, and their supervising credentialed practioner signs the return -- but may or may not play an active part in reviewing or consulting on your return.
All persons in Oregon who prepare, advise or assist in the preparation of personal income tax returns for a fee, or represent that they do so, must be licensed. If one is not a CPA or an Attorney, a tax practioner in Oregon must be either a Licensed Tax Preparer (LTP) or Licensed Tax Consultant (LTC). To become a licensed practioner, one must complete and pass an 80-hour basic tax course covering state and federal tax laws (the tax course must include a 2-hour midterm exam and a 5-hour final exam). After passing the course, one must pass a rigorous 5-hour state licensing examination. An applicant must answer 75% of the questions correctly to become licensed.All of this is administered by the Oregon State Board of Tax Practitioners which was created by the 1973 Legislative Assembly for the purpose of protecting the consumer by ensuring that Oregon tax professionals are competent and ethical in their professional activities. The Tax Board is funded solely from fees derived from the licensees and other miscellaneous services.
The Tax Board issues two types of licenses:
- The Licensed Tax Preparer is an apprenticeship license
that
enables a person to lawfully prepare personal income tax
returns in
Oregon under the supervision of a Licensed Tax
Consultant.
Historically, the LTP exam has a pass rate of
approximately 55-65%.
- The Licensed Tax Consultant is a higher competency
license
obtained through testing and experience to the point
that a licensee
may prepare taxes as a self-employed, independent or
supervising tax
practitioner. One must perform as an LTP for at least
two years before
sitting for the LTC exam. The LTC exam is much more
difficult than the
LTP exam; it has a historical pass rate of approximately
25-30%.
More information: Oregon's State Board of Tax Practitioners
Oregon licenses 27184C
& 27183P