<p>Well, first understand that there are MANY, MANY more audit jobs than tax jobs. Every major government agency has auditors. Audit is the backbone of accountants.</p>
<p>Secondly, although all areas of law and accounting change, nothing seems to change as much as tax. It requires a large amount of continuing education.</p>
<p>Third,Auditors can get a LOT more in fees than tax work;however, they also have a LOT more liability exposure....think Author Andersen et al.</p>
<p>Forth: Accounting firms, for the most part, have a very structured way of training auditors. They don't just throw them into an engagement and say "go." You have training, audit checklist, prior audit reports and seniors on the engagement to direct the engagement. In tax, you are basically thrown into a situation and told to do it.... There is a LOT more independance in tax than in audit,which is why more accounting firms want folks who have already taken a number of tax courses before they get hired. </p>
<p>Fifth, tax folks are in less demand then they were twenty years ago due to the proliferation of tax software that folks are using. Moreover, few people are willing to pay for tax planning. They might pay a lot if they get into trouble,but they don't normally pay for planning. Obviously there are exceptions,but this is the general rule.</p>
<p>Sixth: tax involves more legal research while auditing, especially at the lower levels, is dictated by the audit manual and check list which is usually standardized in the firm. This is done to minimize liability and to assure as much as possible compliance with statement of auditing standards. They also must understand statistical software use for choosing items to audit.</p>
<p>Seventh: Auditors need to understand the Statement of Auditing Standards and accounting theory. Tax folks need to understand the Internal Revenue Code, regulations and pronoucements and learn to use tax preparation sofware.</p>
<p>Eighth: Audit is a much better preparation for learning the material for the CPA exam. There is very little tax on the CPA.</p>
<p>Ninth: Although there are exceptions, tax people rarely travel. Audits can do a lot of travel.</p>
<p>Before I went into tax, I was an auditor. I can tell you that nothing was more enjoyable and fullfilling than when I uncovered a fraud during the audit. It was a hoot. However, this is relatively rare.
Personally, I think tax work, overall, is more fun, but I am sure that there are plenty of audit folks who would disagree.</p>