Comments on: Four Money Saving Do-it-Yourself Jobs

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:31:32 +0000

Woah – that’s bad!! As I said, I’m going to be doing it again this year, and I’ll keep in mind the tip about taking the old return and filling in this year’s values. One fear about doing that, though, is that I’ve heard that some of the credits and deductions expire this year or next, so I don’t want to screw that up. So while our job situation may be precisely the same, I’m not sure our “tax situation” (thanks to the **wonderful** federal government and their convoluted rules! {sarcasm!}) will be the same. Sometimes I wonder if accountants secretly like and encourage the confusing and ever-changing rules, because it gives us a reason to need them…
Kathy´s last blog ..Oh, WOW!

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:19:12 +0000

Kathy,
What you did is actually exactly what I suggest (though not in this post). Have a professional do your taxes and you should also do it. Then compare the results.

We actually had the exact opposite experience with a tax accountant. His refund was $1,500 less than it should have been and he cost 3x as much as Turbo Tax.

As long as your tax situation is consistent most people should be able to do the taxes on their own.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:46:07 +0000

One caveat about DIY taxes (even with a computer program) is that you might be missing out on some savings you didn’t know about. A couple of years ago, my husband did OTR trucking and was self-employed, so we hired an accountant to do the taxes to make sure we didn’t screw anything up. Although he began teaching the next year and didn’t have any weird taxes, he insisted on hiring an accountant again. I thought it was a waste of money ($180, I think), so when a TurboTax or similar program was mailed free to our house (I think you have to pay to print it out or something — not sure what the catch was), I secretly filled out the information to see how much refund we’d be getting, to compare it to the amount the accountant got. I saw that we’d be getting in the neighborhood of $1700 back by going through TurboTax, and I smugly waited for the accountant to finish the taxes, expecting a similar refund, so I could tell my husband — “Aha! that’s exactly what *I* figured out for *much less* than what the accountant charged!!” Instead, my jaw about dropped when the accountant figured that we’d be getting about $3500 back.

I don’t know if the computer tax program screwed up or it was my error, but we’ll be using the accountant again this year. Although I will admit, that I will be phantom-filling out the taxes again, to make sure that it is actually cost-effective to use the accountant every year.
Kathy´s last blog ..Oh, WOW!