Meet the Difference Makers: Dan Tran, EA

Our “Make a Difference” series is largely about how ProConnect™ tax professionals make a difference in their clients’ lives. In this article, we’re spotlighting Dan Tran, EA, a tax professional who also makes a difference on the world stage.

At the age of 25, Dan escaped from Vietnam in 1981 by boat and was rescued by the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean. After going to college and studying computer science, he went to work as an accountant. In 1990, Dan started his own business, AllTax LLC, in Arlington, Texas. At AllTax, Dan and his employees offer business analysis and consulting expertise, including payroll, bookkeeping and tax services, to small business and individual clients.

Outside of work, Dan belongs to several different organizations that he joined not only to give back to his community, but to the world:

• He was president of the National Organization of Vietnamese-American Leadership (NOVAL) for several years, and helped bring the organization to the Dallas area by co-founding a DFW chapter. This organization of leaders, business owners and professionals strives to build sustainable leadership in the Vietnamese-American community. In 2017, Dan formed the All Charitable Fund Foundation, which assists asylums and refugees in South East Asia in four different areas: shelters, food, healthcare and education.
• Dan is also a volunteer for Boat People SOS (BPSOS), a group that advocates for human rights for Vietnamese Americans in the United States and Vietnam. The group leads Vietnam Advocacy Day every year, bringing hundreds of Vietnamese leaders and advocates to D.C. to talk to Members of Congress and leaders in the State Department about the need for human rights, democratic changes in Vietnam.
• In 2016, Dan and his wife joined a dental mission trip to Svay Pak in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan says the poverty in the area “hit me and my wife straight into our hearts.” With a help of United Nation Officer, he and his wife worked with a Vietnamese pastor to rebuild his church and build a school for students. He continues to send money to the location to help keep the school in good condition and operation.
• He has also visited Bangkok to help Vietnamese refugees, organizing a group called Refugee Youth in Bangkok (RYB) and teaching Vietnamese refugee children to use computers so that they could operate a call center in the area.
• Dan collaborated with Richard Botkin, a retired major in the U.S. Marine Corps as well as author and executive producer of the movie “Ride the Thunder.” Together, they promoted the movie, which attempts to give an honest look at the Vietnam War story and the life of South Vietnamese Army Officers being tortured in the so called “re-education camps.”

In addition to his work on the national and global stage, Dan enjoys making a difference in the lives of his clients. “I feel so good when I convince new clients to do the right thing when it comes to tax and accounting.” One of his favorite things about being an accountant and advisor is encouraging his clients to do the ethical thing, even when it may end up costing them a bit more money.