Doing your own taxes

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So this year I did my taxes with freetaxusa. Free federal filing and 15$ per state which becomes 13.5$ when you use the 10% off coupon. Took me about 2-3 hours because I had to input everything myself instead of having it being imported like with turbotax. I liked it and recommend it for people with simple tax returns.
I do my grown kids' taxes using Freetaxusa. The returns are simple and free for me (I live in a no tax state). For my personal return, I use a CPA who charged me $500.00. Since I do 1099 work from multiple employers and W-2 work I think the $500 was well worth it. In addition, my investments, dividends, stock trades, deductions, etc are all handled by my CPA.

I highly recommend a CPA for those who can afford one; that typically means attending level income above 40th% MGMA. But, if you have no other income besides W-2, minimal investments, no side-business, don't trade much then the online software is just fine. If you are a resident or first year attending then most of you don't need a CPA.

These days the online software for almost everything is so good you can even issue your own 1099 to others for less than $5.00.

For those with 1099 income or a side-business the cost of a CPA is tax deductible as well making the decision a fairly easy one.
 
I do my grown kids' taxes using Freetaxusa. The returns are simple and free for me (I live in a no tax state). For my personal return, I use a CPA who charged me $500.00. Since I do 1099 work from multiple employers and W-2 work I think the $500 was well worth it. In addition, my investments, dividends, stock trades, deductions, etc are all handled by my CPA.

I highly recommend a CPA for those who can afford one; that typically means attending level income above 40th% MGMA. But, if you have no other income besides W-2, minimal investments, no side-business, don't trade much then the online software is just fine. If you are a resident or first year attending then most of you don't need a CPA.

These days the online software for almost everything is so good you can even issue your own 1099 to others for less than $5.00.

For those with 1099 income or a side-business the cost of a CPA is tax deductible as well making the decision a fairly easy one.
I did my own takes for my entire life till last year when I used a CPA, which was around $400 for me. I have one W2 job and pretty easy taxes compared to many. But she was able to guide me through some of the reasonable business expenses in a way more aggressive way than I’d do myself, plus she’ll be available in the event I got audited. I think it was well worth the money to get better deductions/expenses plus peace of mind.
 
I did my own takes for my entire life till last year when I used a CPA, which was around $400 for me. I have one W2 job and pretty easy taxes compared to many. But she was able to guide me through some of the reasonable business expenses in a way more aggressive way than I’d do myself, plus she’ll be available in the event I got audited. I think it was well worth the money to get better deductions/expenses plus peace of mind.


Any examples of stuff you did differently based on her advice?
 
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I do my grown kids' taxes using Freetaxusa. The returns are simple and free for me (I live in a no tax state). For my personal return, I use a CPA who charged me $500.00. Since I do 1099 work from multiple employers and W-2 work I think the $500 was well worth it. In addition, my investments, dividends, stock trades, deductions, etc are all handled by my CPA.

I highly recommend a CPA for those who can afford one; that typically means attending level income above 40th% MGMA. But, if you have no other income besides W-2, minimal investments, no side-business, don't trade much then the online software is just fine. If you are a resident or first year attending then most of you don't need a CPA.

These days the online software for almost everything is so good you can even issue your own 1099 to others for less than $5.00.

For those with 1099 income or a side-business the cost of a CPA is tax deductible as well making the decision a fairly easy one.
500$? Mine charges 2500$, claiming that he has extensive experiences with IRS.

For those of you who have S-corp, how much do you pay a CPA?
 
FYI for those with a fidelity account if you click the link within the fidelity account page for TurboTax they pay the entire state/federal file fee for their “premier” level service. Good enough for people that trade stocks/get paid via w2 but probably not for people with S-corps, complicated 1099 situations, etc
 
500$? Mine charges 2500$, claiming that he has extensive experiences with IRS.

For those of you who have S-corp, how much do you pay a CPA?
Unless you have multiple illegal offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands, you’re getting ripped.
 
Any examples of stuff you did differently based on her advice?
Yes deducting stuff like portions of my house, internet, cell phone, etc. I suppose I could have figured out that stuff on my own, but I prefer to have the CPA guide me through what's reasonable and in line with other similar clients. I would be worried to make as much business related deductions on my own because I'm not sure what might raise a red flag or be too aggressive.
 
i did my taxes last year and messed up backdoor roth conversion. i didnt realize i had to enter it (haha) because everything was already post tax. this year i havent done taxes yet but i'll have to correct that mistake from last year...
 
500$? Mine charges 2500$, claiming that he has extensive experiences with IRS.

For those of you who have S-corp, how much do you pay a CPA?
My guess would be $800-$1,000 for an S-Corp as a typical CPA fee. My CPA fees go up with each "employee" my company has on its payroll. The $500 was just me on the payroll. I paid more when I had an employee in the range of $850.
 
My tax tale of woe this year is that not one but TWO hospital where I did PRN work in 2021 auto-enrolled me in their 403(b) plans after I specifically opted out of the signup paperwork. They made contributions before I could tell payroll to stop. Since I'd already maxed my TSP (military 401k), I ended up overcontributing for the year. Unfixable in 2021 - had to wait for W2s from all parties, and then had to file return of excess contribution forms with the employers and the brokerage firms. So now I'm getting 1099-R forms for this year and presumably some kind of penalty for last year.

All over a $153 contribution and a $1706 contribution I told the wankers not to make in the first place.
 
My tax tale of woe this year is that not one but TWO hospital where I did PRN work in 2021 auto-enrolled me in their 403(b) plans after I specifically opted out of the signup paperwork. They made contributions before I could tell payroll to stop. Since I'd already maxed my TSP (military 401k), I ended up overcontributing for the year. Unfixable in 2021 - had to wait for W2s from all parties, and then had to file return of excess contribution forms with the employers and the brokerage firms. So now I'm getting 1099-R forms for this year and presumably some kind of penalty for last year.

All over a $153 contribution and a $1706 contribution I told the wankers not to make in the first place.
This happened to me before med school in an old job. I sent an email and specifically spoke to the plan administrator in person and it still happened. Reading this made me clinch my first.
 
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