Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I used to have a CPA do my taxes and spend 250-300. If you have simple returns (ie 1 or 2 w-2's, int income, 1 or 2 1099's) which I had/have, I just looked at the returns and see what was done....nothing special really (at least on mine). That's when I decided to use TT and save the $200.....
I'm not saying that would be the case for everyone, just my particular situation...
CPA's are useful for a heck of lot more than tax preparation. For people that have the ability to schedule future event in terms of income / loses the advice of a skilled tax adviser / CPA can be invaluable.
If you know how taxes work yourself, you can do this much more effectively yourself. The vast majority of folks have rather simple tax situations.
I can understand getting an accountant for a business, but incidentally from what I've noticed most accounts are horrible at business taxes (above and beyond, a basic sole proprietorship).
Anyhow, good accountants are hard to find and they charge a arm and a leg. Learning how to do it yourself is great thing you can do for yourself financially.
If you know how taxes work yourself, you can do this much more effectively yourself. The vast majority of folks have rather simple tax situations.
I can understand getting an accountant for a business, but incidentally from what I've noticed most accounts are horrible at business taxes (above and beyond, a basic sole proprietorship).
Anyhow, good accountants are hard to find and they charge a arm and a leg. Learning how to do it yourself is great thing you can do for yourself financially.
Great post. I would add as an example, for instance most people have no clue about how many exemptions to claim on their w-4 for federal and state. Claim too many and you owe $$, claiming 0 for certain people might be overkill and giving Govco an interest free loan w/your money. This would be a great time of year to start to think about that for '09....
i have a question.... i usually go to H&R block, my husband and i were in the army, so we probably didn't need to do that. last year was the first year i didn't earn any money and it was our first year out of the military. we got to claim a little one this time : ) and we went to H&R again. this year, my husband is still working and i was a contractor (photographer). i bought a camera, lens and flash (2k+), made a little over 5k through my work and maybe 1k on the side... mostly cash. should i still go to H&R or go the turbotax route? PM if you'd like.
If one is willing to take some time and read the instructions, most returns can be done by yourself with TaxCut etc (FYI TaxCut is made by H&R Block). If there is more than W2s and interest (1099s) then going the H&R block way can save you more (while you will pay more).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
