Is a tax preparer worth it?

[StitchesGr8Fan]

To those of you who have used both turbo tax and an accountant in the past for itemized returns - did the accountant help you get a bigger return? Is it worth the couple hundred dollar cost?

 

[runsandjumps]

A good accountant saves me not only time, but money. I have filed both ways before and I wish I would have used a CPA from the onset. He lets us know what to bring, what we may have missed and what we should keep in mind for next year.

 

[JessB320]

Yup!! Will never go back to turbo tax. We saved $$$$$ one year and now go in every year to the same gal. The $125 up front gets us thousands more back each year .

 

[minnie1928]

I think it depends on the complexity of your situation, but for most people I would say that it's not worth the additional expense. I've done my taxes myself every year except one, and that's the one that the IRS has chosen to audit. I've gotten very little benefit from the $500 I paid this guy to do my return and ultimately I'll be representing myself at the IRS meeting. My refund wasn't really any larger than the one that I calculated, but because of one time complexities I didn't feel confident in my work. I should've just stuck to what I had done, I'd be $500 richer right now.

FWIW- I use Tax Cut or whatever H&R Block is calling their software.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

This answer may be a bit prejudiced.

But when I was accepting new clients I would always ask to see the prior year return and would review it in detail. Very often I would find sufficient errors that it would be very worthwhile (even after my fees) to amend the prior year (and possibly even a year or two earlier) to get net amended refunds in excess of $500 per year.

One year I was doing a couple that had gotten married the previous year and one of them had been resident of a different state for half the year. Since both states returns were based on the Federal, I told them I would also have to do the Federal. Once I was done they told me that the way I did the Federal lowered their tax by more than the fee that I charged them for the Federal and both states.

Mike (CPA, retired but still doing taxes professionally)

 

[clintswifeymomof4]

It is definitely worth using an accountant. I only pay $125 total for federal and state filings but I would pay more (shhhh don't tell)!

Only an accountant is up to date on current tax law. That in and of itself is worth the expense.

In addition, it is a time saver. An accountant is a college educated certified professional. We itemize and it is such an easy process! I just bring in my stuff (I've used him for years and our work/home/children situation hasn't changed much so I know what to bring). He does his thing, explains everything, efiles it and gives us an expected date to receive our direct deposit (been right on the nose for the last 5 years!). He keeps a record and gives us a "package" of the same which I file in our safe.

The whole process takes me about 15-20 minutes and I have never been audited. Even if I was, I am confident in his work as he is legit and we have all the records to back the filing. Win-win!

 

[Jenny3]

Absolutely, worth every dime. I'm an independent contractor, so my taxes can get a bit complicated with the deductions and write-offs, nothing I would want to figure out on my own. He's fantastic

 

[Ginny Favers]

Yes! For me it's a must now because my taxes are very complicated (I'm an independent contractor too), but even when our returns were simpler, we found it saved us money and quite a bit of time. Plus, if we are ever audited, he will represent us at any hearing. That's worth a lot to me.

 

[mjkacmom]

Not for us, but DH is a CFP, and thinks turbotax is really easy (he is also up to date on new tax laws). He says that even I can do it, but I think his career makes him a little biased.

 

[DawnM]

I was pretty good at doing my own taxes prior to getting married. I would probably still do them (and do gather up all the info and plug in numbers before handing them to my accountant) but my accountant is my husband, so I let him do the last bit to make sure it is all accurate.

Dawn

 

[DawnM]

My husband rarely does work on the side anymore as he has no time, but he sometimes found the opposite to be true. Errors on the side of thinking they could write off just about anything, even though they weren't supposed to.

We had one friend who used my husband and when he looked at their prior several years' returns he couldn't believe what that CPA had signed off on.

He did their taxes but said he would NOT sign off on something they wanted but couldn't have. He is a rule follower and wants to keep his license.

They never used him again.

This answer may be a bit prejudiced.

But when I was accepting new clients I would always ask to see the prior year return and would review it in detail. Very often I would find sufficient errors that it would be very worthwhile (even after my fees) to amend the prior year (and possibly even a year or two earlier) to get net amended refunds in excess of $500 per year.

One year I was doing a couple that had gotten married the previous year and one of them had been resident of a different state for half the year. Since both states returns were based on the Federal, I told them I would also have to do the Federal. Once I was done they told me that the way I did the Federal lowered their tax by more than the fee that I charged them for the Federal and both states.

Mike (CPA, retired but still doing taxes professionally)

 

[wiigirl]

Absolutely, worth every dime. I'm an independent contractor, so my taxes can get a bit complicated with the deductions and write-offs, nothing I would want to figure out on my own. He's fantastic

Agreed....if you have a 1099 I would always go with an accountant.

 

[Gigi22]

To me having my tax return done by an accountant is 'worth it' in terms other than money. My accountant charges me about the same as H&R Block, and provides me with more service--and I don't have to sit there while the forms are filled out. Well worth it in terms of my stress level too.

 

[Diegosmom]

My husband rarely does work on the side anymore as he has no time, but he sometimes found the opposite to be true. Errors on the side of thinking they could write off just about anything, even though they weren't supposed to.

We had one friend who used my husband and when he looked at their prior several years' returns he couldn't believe what that CPA had signed off on.

He did their taxes but said he would NOT sign off on something they wanted but couldn't have. He is a rule follower and wants to keep his license.

They never used him again.

This happened to us. I always did my own taxes and the year before DH and I were married I did DH (he is self employed). Next year decided to have an accountant do (just to see if we could get more) and he looked at previous year taxes...I had never paid social security for DH...oppps...but I also had not claimed any business deduction so it worked out fine in the end but still...

Now we use a CPA every year and it is just easier. He sends a packet everyyear showing last year numbers and then I plug in this year...fax it to him and in a day its done and efiled...this year they have it all set up on the computer so no hand writing on the form...

To me it is worth the $200 we pay to have a professional do it.

 

[sweetdana]

yes, I pay 125$ best 125$ I pay a yr.. I would still use my CPA even if he double his price.

we are not Self employ, we don't have many dedic.. but i know it is done right.

 

[ManyMinnie]

Our accountant is well worth the $100 fee he charges for taxes. It saves us time, stress and money.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I have done mine with TurboTax since 1989.
2) So, my opinion is tainted.

3) Among other volunteering, I volunteer income tax service to elderly.
4) Our annual training is done by the IRS, and then give us a written test.
5) Not a consultant, but the actual IRS.
6) And, they give us TurboTax for our laptops for the program!

7) So, unless you are extremely complicated, save the accountant fees.
8) Now, you might want the pro if
. . . you have lots of stock transactions (these can get tricky)
. . . other investments (profit/loss and associated costs)
. . . a home business (some people miss little deductions that add up)

 

[Halbleib1]

I wouldn't pay for it unless I owned a business than I possibly would. If you can read and follow the instructions in the tax book it is pretty easy to do your own. For any unique tax situations you can look it up at irs.gov. I was nervous the first year we itemized as I thought it was going to be difficult. But it turned out to be easier than I thought. I have run into some unique situations over the years but have always found the answers either in the book or at irs.gov. Last year I efiled for the first time and used the free turbotax. I did my taxes by hand first and than used turbotax. I wanted to make sure that turbotax nor I didn't miss anything. The result was the same. I can not see paying someone to do what I can do for myself. If I did pay someone to do them I would be going over everything anyway to be sure it was correct. If you are getting back 1000's or even 100's more than when you did them yourself I would be very cautious. I would be looking into how that was possible. The first thing I do before starting is to read about any changes. Those are listed in the front of the instruction book every year.

 

[disykat]

I wouldn't pay for it unless I owned a business than I possibly would. If you can read and follow the instructions in the tax book it is pretty easy to do your own. For any unique tax situations you can look it up at irs.gov. I was nervous the first year we itemized as I thought it was going to be difficult. But it turned out to be easier than I thought. I have run into some unique situations over the years but have always found the answers either in the book or at irs.gov. Last year I efiled for the first time and used the free turbotax. I did my taxes by hand first and than used turbotax. I wanted to make sure that turbotax nor I didn't miss anything. The result was the same. I can not see paying someone to do what I can do for myself. If I did pay someone to do them I would be going over everything anyway to be sure it was correct. If you are getting back 1000's or even 100's more than when you did them yourself I would be very cautious. I would be looking into how that was possible. The first thing I do before starting is to read about any changes. Those are listed in the front of the instruction book every year.

This is what I keep thinking. How could it be so different? We read all the instructions and do it ourselves. What could they catch that we aren't catching? We also do it ourselves and then through the online process. It seems pretty straightforward even with a house, a college student, some investments, etc..

 

[TrueLove's1stKiss]

1) I have done mine with TurboTax since 1989.
2) So, my opinion is tainted.

3) Among other volunteering, I volunteer income tax service to elderly.
4) Our annual training is done by the IRS, and then give us a written test.
5) Not a consultant, but the actual IRS.
6) And, they give us TurboTax for our laptops for the program!

7) So, unless you are extremely complicated, save the accountant fees.
8) Now, you might want the pro if
. . . you have lots of stock transactions (these can get tricky)
. . . other investments (profit/loss and associated costs)
. . . a home business (some people miss little deductions that add up)

I think that this is solid advice! I have been doing our taxes for years. The year that we bought our house DH insisted we have them prepared by a professional. We did & our return was really no different, other than the greater expense.