I am often surprised by friends who say something like "My CPA says I'm getting a refund this year." I see zero reason for the average person to pay a CPA to do their taxes. Turbo tax is VERY simple and will get you all the deductions you can legally take. Unless you have a complex business don't waste your time on a CPA. Just get Turbo tax and do it yourself. So easy even >>>>>> could do it.

Turbo Tax will also represent you if you are audited. They charge an additional $59 for that and you never need to meet with the IRS. Bottom line is no matter if TT or CPA, the odds of an audit for those making less than $200,000 per year are very small. And if you are not trying to cheat and complete the forms as TT instructs there will not be any audit findings to sweat.

Farm, rental, and a small business. Sold and bought two houses in 20 years. Turbo Tax is fairly easy. Been doing it for as long as it has been out.

Some things changed for my family this past tax year; baby, multiple employers, spouses work changed, pretty significant medical expenses, and a unique housing situation where my employer forces me to live in their housing and deducts my rent post tax from each pay check.

A family member is a partner at an accounting firm. Peace of mind to make sure everything is taken care of the right way. We get a good deal, so it's just easier to hand him a box of paperwork and say, " thanks, see ya at the family get together" and be done.

I've always done my own, but this year, I just didn't want to deal with it.

Twitch,

You just described why a guy should use a CPA. Sometimes things are just too complicated for the software.

It takes me a week just to get the information together to take to my accountant. If the info is not in his office by March, it's extension time. And that gets expensive. Being self employed has its rewards, but this time of the year (25 years) is the most stressful and depressing part of my life!

That's the best yet!

A really good private CPA can be worth their weight in gold. Mine is simply wonderful and I can call him anytime of the year for free advice / guidance / education. He's also ex-special forces (Nam) and an amazing trophy hunter and he always has a great story or picture to share from some far-off amazing place he just went. I'd rather pay a little extra for service like that and a dude like that than some chitty SW company. But that's just me - Turbo Tax is probably the way to go for most people. RUN from H&R Blockheads....

ive been trying to do mine on turbo tax...I will see if that's how I finish...we tore down our house and built a new one and shop last year..spent almost 30K in sales tax...paid a lot of cash for stuff...its been difficult trying to figure it out...this is the year I might find a CPA... even saved my gas recipts...I went through 1256 gallons of gas....that's crazy

As you work your way through TT at one point they cover sales tax. They ask what major purchases you made and then calculate the effect. Too easy.

As for the gas - I assume some was for business use? TT will ask if you want to use actual cost or the Govt mileage rate. One great thing is you can do it both ways in minutes - assuming you have receipts, which the CPA will require too - and see which is best for you.

Turbo Tax--- so easy even a republican can do it. Took me 1/2 hour this year. Use it every year and Turbo Tax will use last years return to ask the right questions for this years return.

If I could do it in a half and hour I would do TT.

I can't so I use a CPA. I recommend finding a CPA that you like, and can establish a relationship with. My guy I can call or text anytime to get advice all year long, but he is also a bud. I'm not up to date on tax or money stuff so having someone to bounce ideas off of is convenient.

If you are doing something different this year, like claiming sales taxes for a remodel or other activity that will stick out from your normal tax returns. You might want to use a CPA. The IRS looks for anomalies to decide who they will audit. If you normally get $2k back and this year you get $10k back, the money would be well spent.

I got audited once for something like that and I had the time to respond to the auditor and the process. It went fine, and I ended up getting an additional $21, but the stress on my wife was enough to cause me to use a CPA from then on.

RR


TT does, for a small fee, handle all audits for you. No need for you to ever speak with an agent.

There are many fine CPAs out there, but very few people need them for taxes. Claiming sales tax on a remodel is VERY unlikely to cause an audit and TT makes it very easy.

I just hate to see folks waste money when they can get as good, or often better, result from easy to use tax software.

My key is record keeping. As long as I keep my receipts organized on an excel spreadsheet, it goes pretty quickly.

I used TT for years. FP notwithstanding, TT is just more convenient than using my own pencil and calculator, plus electronic filing, makes it worth the $29 or so. My wife decided to use a CPA this year because we're renting the condo and have a bunch of out of the ordinary expenses. I think we could still do it with TT, it's her decision, and her $250, so I won't argue.

FP is largely correct about the people who are auditing you. They are by and large idiots, and you know a lot more about your situation than they do. When we were getting audited my wife was freaking out, and while I could show her straight away how I was right and they were wrong she still freaked out about it. Because "they" were the IRS.

After sending crap back and forth with them for a few months unwilling to compromise, we finally got our phone hearing or whatever they called it. Within about 20 seconds of the beginning of the phone conference I realized that I was smarter and more prepared than the person on the other end, and easily showed them their errors, and where it appeared to them that I messed up. To the sweet tune of $21. After hours, days and months of time spent writing back and forth we cleared up the issue in 5 minutes.

However, my argument about hiring a CPA still stands. It is your time, put a value on it and then decide. I also agree there are a lot of CPAs out there who are very bad, and overly conservative. I just get organized according to my guy's checklist and then hand the stuff over.

It is like this for everything in our lives isn't it though? I can change my own brake pads and save $100, but I could also spend that time on the river, ocean, or with my family.

im still trying to do it myself...but I always feel like im not getting jack back...I know I don't have kids and this year I didn't have a lot of intrest for the home as it was intrest on what we put on the loan...paid cash for most of the work till the end...but I always feel like its so screwed up cause my sister always gets back thousands while ill be lucky to get back 1200...I always feel like maybe there is something im missing...but I have paid to have H and R do it before and they could care less about my write offs...prob didn't have enough...but im pretty dam sure we have just about every receipt...except maybe a couple food receipts my hubby didn't want me to see
not that it would have mattered

Unless you have major home interest expenses, or big medical bills I suspect you will have to just take the standard exemption. If so no receipts will help. Look at the return H&R Block did for you to see if they itimized or used the standard exemption. TurboTax will walk you through it and will let you know which is best for you.


If you are not getting a big refund it simply means that you didn't overpay much during the year. Folks who get big refunds are doing a poor job of managing their money

Well...not always Dave. Things change in any given year. This year, for the first time - I will get to claim the home office deduction and all that comes with it - so I should get a nice refund. BTW - Home office deductions are like the #1 audit triggering deduction. The more you know...

what a thrilling topic! 5 stars pls