First time out ...

Blogs? TaxBlogs? Are you kidding me?


This is the maiden post of TaxBlog, part of a developing tax collection education and sharing site called TaxCollectorNetwork.com (TCN for short). Check it out but remember, tax collection is not for the squeamish or the easily bored.


I'm writing this from my hotel room in Yerevan, Armenia. No, I don't think there's another Yerevan, I just wanted to be clear. This is going to be my last overseas assignment as a consultant in the field of tax arrears collection reform in developing countries. No, really, there is such a field. I'm tired of being away from home so I'm getting out.


We'll also link to another site called TheStrommeGroup (without so much as a nod to modesty). TheStrommeGroup (TSG) is mostly a discussion forum about well, you know, the stuff in italics above. Plus (drum roll) I'm writing a book that I'm going to shout about there. The target market is smaller than, say, that of a Michael Connelly mystery, but the need is real ... and often urgent. There, I said it and I believe it. Deal with it.


But that's TSG. TaxCollectorNetwork is for tax collectors and staff, private-side practitioners and even for taxpayers who find themselves with the short stick. It's for learning and sharing in an obscure field -- but it's my field and I like it and I've been working in it exclusively for 33 years now. It's time to pass some along.


It's odds-on that we're not going to draw a significant readership, that no one will care about what we're doing. That's just the way things go. But we're going to do our best to write and blog and answer questions and offer participation in a way that you'll find interesting and educational and even entertaining.


We think that if we offer good content presented fairly, and if we can convince our readers that we really do need their input and give them a professional forum for it, then we will gain an audience that will turn this into a worthwhile endeavor. We hope so, anyway. Stick around. There's no charge and you might learn something. That's the point.


Chuck S.