1bassoon Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Am I abnormal or something?? I've done our taxes every year using TurboTax. And every year, they get more complicated - I run 2-3 small businesses, 2 kids in college, hubby with income from 2 states, etc etc etc. Last year, I SWORE that I wouldn't do them again. We have a good friend who is a CPA - a very skilled CPA - who will do them for us. So WHY am I wanting to buy Turbo and do it myself? :huh: Somebody smack me??? (It's part control freak and part getting all the documents ready, I think.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I won't smack but I will say... Go ahead and have your CPA friend do your taxes. You've had a lot going on. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 can I give you a gentle tap? This is the sort of situation for which CPAs were made. This is what they love to do. I know you want control of the situation, but your time is soooo much better spent doing other things. It will be ok. My mom started getting her taxes done when it got complicated. She says it was one of the best things she ever did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I use TaxACT for my U.S. tax return (Federal) which makes it very simple, but I pay people who are truly "experts" with the Colombian tax code, to prepare my Colombian tax return. It has to do with not only income, but with one's estate. No TurboTax or TaxACT for that and my return here is about 18 pages long. If you do turn this over to a C.P.A. (or, an I.R.S. Enrolled Agent) present it to them as organized as you possibly can. They will then use a program like TaxACT or TurboTax (Software for professionals) to prepare your return(s). It can be overwhelming. Be prepared to pay $$$$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikin' Mama Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I spent 2.5 days just getting stuff ready to take to my accountant for our personal and business taxes. Part of that time was also spent doing the FAFSA and 1099's. My brain was fried. Be nice to yourself.Take them to the CPA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I always do turbotax because it has always been straight forward and easy for me even though I run my own business. This year is a whole new ball game because I pulled money out of my ROTH IRA that should be penalty free but turbotax is being no help in that department. So I'm just going to take all our stuff to my mom's tax guy she's used for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Let a CPA do it, but I wouldn't use a good friend. The prep cost is deductible (especially so for businesses!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Use a CPA. It's liberating. And worth every penny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 We happily switched to a CPA about five years ago and we have never looked back. Our situation isn't even as complicated as yours, but we have investments, college kids and inheritance issues. I love having my taxes done by someone else! I still go over them with a sharp eyeball to look for things that might have been overlooked, but not dealing with the tax laws has made me SOOOOO happy! Let it Go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I do my taxes not because I like it, but because I'm too cheap to pay someone else to do it. I hate doing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I use TaxAct and still don't mind it at all. We own a home, have a rental, I'm self-employed, we have six deductible kids and we probably can itemize. I found TaxAct to be more user-friendly than TT the one year I used that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 Ha, I love you guys. I need a smack!Some of it is the challenge - I get this serious rush when I tackle something hard and succeed. But I have a TON of paperwork to get organized, so I think the rush will have to come from there. And yeah, I know the CPA fee would be deductible - but we don't have it at the moment. So free wins! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 {whispering} I don't always get the "It's tax deductible" argument. You still have to pay the $200 -- or whatever it is. It's only whatever your tax rate is times that amount that you might get back (so in many instances, $30). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Nyssa Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Honestly, once I get all the documents ready and everything counted up-- I might as well just plug that info into TT instead of paying someone else to do it. I do our taxes every year-- the only year we had a big mistake was the year I took them to someone else and paid. At times TT is infuriating, but really it's ok. I get it cheaper through our credit union. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawyer&Mom Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Our taxes were a complete mess last year. A staggered move, with income in two community property states. Half of what DH earned in the new state was allocated back to me in old state, while half of what I earned in old state was allocated to DH in new state... Plus DH had capital losses in new state and I had capital gains in old state, and should those be offset on the old state return? (New state has no income tax.) And I had a five month old who wasn't yet sleeping through the night. But I whipped out TurboTax and did the whole thing while nursing. Because I was too bloody tired to explain the whole situation to somebody else. Caveat. I'm a tax attorney. Which mostly means I'm a control freak, not that I knew what I was doing. But the real point is I totally understand the urge to do it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 You're not so bad...when I read your title, I think that of myself, because EVERY YEAR since we have been self employed we do not pay enough in taxes and have a giant tax bill and penalties. Every year. I am a BOOKKEEPER for three companies for goodness sake! I am an extremely ocd person who has never been late on a bill a day in my life and am usually quite obsessive and self-disciplined with money. I know how to do this. I just don't seem to have the self-discipline when it comes to this one area. My husband's work is mostly seasonal. So we have several dry months followed by the months of plenty. So when the money starts coming, it seems like we need every cent and I just CANNOT put that tax money away. I know. This makes no logical sense whatsoever. So... Taxes -what is WRONG with me??!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Honestly, once I get all the documents ready and everything counted up-- I might as well just plug that info into TT instead of paying someone else to do it. I do our taxes every year-- the only year we had a big mistake was the year I took them to someone else and paid. At times TT is infuriating, but really it's ok. I get it cheaper through our credit union.n This is exactly why I do my own taxes. We own 8 rental properties. By the time I have organize and enter all the receipts and expenses in my spreadsheet, I might as well enter it into turbotax. The hard work is organizing all the paperwork. It is really not that much to go step by step through the program. Plus, I start entering it as soon as TT is released. That way I can see how much property tax I should pay by the end of the year and what I should hold over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Same here. We had a CPA when we both were working long hours and had no kids. There were some complicated issues I didn't want to deal with, and the price didn't make us blink. We continued to use him for a few years after our firstborn arrived because I was worn out. And then I discovered that he had made a significant mistake two years in a row. I called him and resent him the documentation that he had not taken into account. He admitted that he was going through a rough divorce and was distracted, and filed an amended returns for no charge. Then the next year we used him again, and guess what? He made the same mistake for the third year in a row. Once again he filed the amended return for free, but that was the end of using him. So I did the taxes myself for quite awhile. Then I found myself in a tough situation because an executor had failed to properly handle an IRA that I was the beneficiary of, and the tax penalties for me were ugly. And there was a retirement balance distribution that I didn't quite know how to handle. I researched it myself, and hired a CPA just to check my thinking. I provided her with copies of the returns and documentation. She confirmed my thinking and actually told me to continue filing my own taxes unless I wanted her name on it instead of mine. She said it would be $1000+ for her to do what I needed, and she would do it exactly the way I had done it. So I've always done it myself since then. I can foresee some situations in the future when that might change, but not at present. At this point I can't see that a CPA is worth what I'd have to pay. At this point handling the business and college parts isn't hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 {whispering} I don't always get the "It's tax deductible" argument. You still have to pay the $200 -- or whatever it is. It's only whatever your tax rate is times that amount that you might get back (so in many instances, $30). The HR Block commercials make me angry. First they make it seem like most people are too stupid to do their own taxes (not true IMO). Second they act like they do something magical to get you more money. What they don't brag about is how much money they are making on it. Granted, I do understand someone needing and wanting help with a complicated return, but I think many people are capable of doing their own taxes. Especially now that there is so much step by step software out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Well I had to do a lot of dumb IRS research to figure out why turbo tax was messing up my Roth IRA stuff but I figured it out in about 2 hours and filed last night. I refuse to pay someone to do them because I'm too cheap and I also enjoy the rush of figuring out a complicated issue when it arises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magic Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 One of my closest friends is a CPA and she always does our taxes even though I could do them myself. It is a great excuse for us to get together. We "have" to get together for lunch so I can give her our paperwork and we "have" to get together after she has finished our taxes for us to go over them. Both of us are busy but it really does force us to make the time to see each other. My husband is a plumber and usually we swap her tax preparation for a little plumbing work. It is a win-win for all of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Its because the worst part of taxes is getting all the documents and paperwork together. You have to do that either way. Entering it into the tax software is the easy part. So I do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 {whispering} I don't always get the "It's tax deductible" argument. You still have to pay the $200 -- or whatever it is. It's only whatever your tax rate is times that amount that you might get back (so in many instances, $30).I know, but it's like having a coupon or something. I can make pizza at home, but it's better from the pizza place and oh look, $5 off! ;) We have an S-corp and have to file quarterly and do personal taxes. I could probably figure it out myself, but it would take a loooong time. I like the extra layer of accountability/protection too. Sort of like insurance? Plus when you get the letter from the IRS that says there was an error and you owe $62,000 and they're going to put a lien on your bank accounts in 72 hours, you can call the CPA to fix it once you wake up from the dead faint. (The IRS credited our payments to my SSN instead of DH's, so I had an overpayment and he had a debit. Easy fix once it was figured out, but holy moly that was a long weekend. The CPA called us on Saturday morning and calmed us down somewhat, but ugh! TurboTax would not have been sufficient for that freak out. :) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 I know, but it's like having a coupon or something. I can make pizza at home, but it's better from the pizza place and oh look, $5 off! ;) We have an S-corp and have to file quarterly and do personal taxes. I could probably figure it out myself, but it would take a loooong time. I like the extra layer of accountability/protection too. Sort of like insurance? Plus when you get the letter from the IRS that says there was an error and you owe $62,000 and they're going to put a lien on your bank accounts in 72 hours, you can call the CPA to fix it once you wake up from the dead faint. (The IRS credited our payments to my SSN instead of DH's, so I had an overpayment and he had a debit. Easy fix once it was figured out, but holy moly that was a long weekend. The CPA called us on Saturday morning and calmed us down somewhat, but ugh! TurboTax would not have been sufficient for that freak out. :) ) OK, this nails it for me. I feel like I've been dodging a bullet the past few years, with our small business. I need - cover. Y'know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 I know, but it's like having a coupon or something. I can make pizza at home, but it's better from the pizza place and oh look, $5 off! ;) We have an S-corp and have to file quarterly and do personal taxes. I could probably figure it out myself, but it would take a loooong time. I like the extra layer of accountability/protection too. Sort of like insurance? Plus when you get the letter from the IRS that says there was an error and you owe $62,000 and they're going to put a lien on your bank accounts in 72 hours, you can call the CPA to fix it once you wake up from the dead faint. (The IRS credited our payments to my SSN instead of DH's, so I had an overpayment and he had a debit. Easy fix once it was figured out, but holy moly that was a long weekend. The CPA called us on Saturday morning and calmed us down somewhat, but ugh! TurboTax would not have been sufficient for that freak out. :) ) Yes, in that situation a CPA is a lifesaver. My sole-proprietor income as an independent contractor adds little to the complexity of our taxes. Just a few 1099's and a handful of expenses although I keep hoping that my major customer will bite the bullet and make me an employee so I don't have to pay self-employment taxes. Not likely though, and my business accounting and taxes are easy as it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Nyssa Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Zoobie, the Cpa we had for one year made that exact mistake -- having us pay& file under my name, while we had been paying estimated quarterly taxes under DH's name, so we got a scary letter from the IRS like you did. But I solved it by calling the IRS and they figured it out in about 1 minute, so that was a huge relief. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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