A 'Tax Guy' vs TurboTax

Goign with cPA this year. No longer trust TurboTax

 

I meant to be referencing the OP for the need of a CPA. In your situation, you probably don't need one. If you can find one for $250-300/year, I'd consider it (my typical fee, but I am on the cheaper side among CPAs in my area). After deducting the prep fee on schedule C (and I would do the full fee because that is the only reason you are seeing a professional), the cost isn't that much.

The client will always be doing the real leg work because they have to track income and expenses, or pay us significant fees doing it. Your value in a CPA will only be returned if you discuss with them what you could be doing better. For simple tax situations some people just want the peace of mind.

I'll say this though, I've seen some butchered TurboTax returns before. The biggest one I ever had to fix was $40K the client had overpaid. We have one client who does it in TurboTax every year and still brings it in. Of course he almost never prepares it correctly. The most common mistakes I see though are leaving off depreciation, missing things that didn't roll over, and taking deductions for things you aren't really allowed to. The guy that mentioned Garbage In Garbage Out has it right. If you misinterpret questions in TT, or make a typo, you may not notice it.

 

It depends on the situation. If you are starting a business (or have an existing) and are looking to save taxes, the earlier the better. Most individuals? I'd just assume call when they are ready to file taxes.

 

I don't know.

Thats why I have a tax guy do my taxes.

 

Anyone has any experience or true stories about those
SAVE YOU FROM THE IRS people on the Radio?

I often wonder how you can owe the IRS 100 000 but only pay them Tree Fiddy
and everything is fine

Rocket River

 

Bumping this... Anyone got a CPA inside the loop they'd recommend? Also, any experience using an EA instead of a CPA?

 

I figure they basically ask the IRS to drop the penalties. Some people just can't understand that they have to pay taxes in this country. Sudo libertarians.

 

This.

I know a couple of fairly well off guys that insist on using the software or doing it on their own and are get massive tax returns. One year they used our mutual friend who is a CPA and got 75% less. The next year they went back to doing it on their own. We figured out that they are risking it and claiming massive deductions that no CPA would agree to. They have made a small fortune doing it, and may never be audited but it is playing with fire.

 

I'm always amazed at what people get away with. Once saw a return deducting $28K in Home Repairs on Schedule A as misc itemized deduction not subject to 2% limitation. Home repairs are not deductible, and yet it said it directly on the form. If an actual person saw the return, they'd immediately know they had an easy audit, but of course it went unaudited. Audit risk is so low.