For the longest time I was able to do my taxes on my own. This was when my husband and I both had simple jobs, and all we needed was the information on our W-2. This has changed, and I have had to go for professional tax preparation for the last few years. Though it costs me money to do so, my taxes are just too complicated for me to handle on my own. My husband doesn’t have the patience, and we both know that there are deductions that we would miss. It’s worth the fee to us, but it is not the same for everyone.
If you have very simple taxes, you can skip the professional tax preparation. You can buy inexpensive software that can help you with your taxes, or you can do it by hand. You do have to know how to read through the instructions though. If you just can’t seem to get a grip on how to figure out your deduction, you are going to have problems, and you are going to have an erroneous tax return. We all know that can lead to trouble. If you really can’t handle it, you should get professional tax preparation. However, if you can use simple software, it does all of the work for you.
I am self-employed, and that means that if I don’t get professional tax preparation, I am more likely to be audited, and I know I am going to make a mistake. I am pretty sure my mistake would be to my own detriment however, and I might never get it right. I am very likely to miss deductions, or to get the wrong amounts. There are parts of the tax law that I am sure even the smartest people could mess up, and I don’t want to have to deal with an audit or with having to re-file to fix a mistake.
When you need professional tax preparation done, you can shop around for a good price. You might be better off going with a smaller company. I have heard that H&R Block employees might not know anything more than you do, but they do have software to guide them. We found a local place that charges us half of what H&R Block has in years past, and they did a great job with finding deductions I didn’t know I could take. If you already know that you have to pay in money for your taxes, finding the best deal for quality professional tax preparation can save you money in more than one way.
