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Don't do it yourself
Q:
Subject: TaxesHi Kerry,My fiancee and I are thinking about attempting to do our own taxes with tax software. Have you had any experience with it? I am worried about things like how to show the house and interest from our joint checking account. Also, I switched jobs last year and was on unemployment for a couple months... not to mention I received financial aide and paid some tuition. Do you think we should just go get them done or attempt it on our own with the tax software.Thanks for your help. I'm sure you're really busy with tax season. Hope things are going well for you guys.
A:
Nowhere is the term GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) more relevant than with tax prep software. This applies as much to consumer programs like TurboTax as it does to the very powerful and expensive programs we tax pros use.
You absolutely need to work with an experienced tax pro who can locate all of your tax deductions, including the many that are right on the settlement statement for your home purchase. It can also get tricky when you split the house payments and the bank's 1098 only has one of your SSNs on it. An experienced tax pro will know how to show the deductions on both owners' tax returns without creating a problem with IRS's document matching system.
A good tax pro should have no problem saving you much more than his/her fee; to say nothing of the peace of mind in not having to worry about screwing things up and having problems down the road from IRS; which would almost definitely happen if you try to prepare your own tax returns.
This means you need to work with a tax pro who will spend the time necessary to properly understand your situation and not just do your return as fast as possible, as is the case with the big assembly line franchise operations (H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, Liberty Tax, etc).
Besides the fact that I am still too back-logged to accept any new clients at all, we learned a number of years ago not to mix business with family and friends; so I don't want to get too specific with tax tips for you. If you haven't already done so, you should check out my tips on how to select the right tax preparer for you.
Good luck.
Kerry
- posted by Kerry M. Kerstetter, MBA~CPA~ATP~ATA @ 2/22/2007 08:57:00 PM Send this post:
