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Taxes-How many of you do your own?
jimdeere
Member, Moderator Posts: 26,155 ******
Did my own for years but when I started play farmer I had to pay. This year we had to pay $250 because of wife's self employment income. Next year mrsdeere will have one less income so I need to learn to do our taxes.
Is TurboTax a good option?
Comments
We've been using TurboTax for the last 8-9 years. So far so good. Bob
Turbo tax for the past 15-20 years. Populates last year’s data so you can compare and make sure you’re not missing anything. Plus with their e-file we tend to get our meager refund within a few weeks.
Old school here........
Have always done my own........since the late 60's........both fed and state.
Paper & pen.......and keep hard copies.
The tax boys are 0 for the last 8.......against me. 🤫
Guess what I'm up to, for the next week???😬
I have always done my own taxes. Never had anything but basic returns and hate to give someone money for something I am able to do. I had a teacher in high school that taught us how to do our own taxes, one of the best lessons I ever learned.
With two businesses I still do the Corporate and personal returns. My wife does all the booking so returns are easy with good figures. I wish we could pay the amounts listed here. Fortunately we had a good year and the balances due will be sizable.
I hire a tax accountant mainly because of my tree farm. He has saved me thousands of dollars. Used to do my own, but now too complicated for me.
After retiring I still have a CPA do ours even though it's a lot simpler minus our farm operation and our 2 commercial businesses being sold. It's sure a good feeling knowing if we're ever called in for an audit there will be someone sitting beside me with the knowledge of IRS rules and laws.
"Never do wrong to make a friend----or to keep one".....Robert E. Lee
H & R Block here. On line, not in line.
I have a complicated return
Decent size Farm
W2 from gunstore/oil business
A decent feed sales business
Part owner of the llc laser engraving we do at the gun store
4 rental houses
My wife has a business of her own and 2 rental houses.
My tax guy charges $550, it's a no brainer.
Turbo tax here also.
I did my own once several decades ago. A series of nasty letters followed. Not from me, TO me. Now, we pay a specialist.
Wished tax guys around here charged only that amount. If they did I would gladly take my taxes to them.
I've been using Turbo Tax for years. Works Great.
Our tax guy is one of the best in the area and is the prime guy in a large accounting firm. He charges us just under $300.
My wife does ours using H&R Block software that we download. It seems like our taxes double every 3 years or so. 😫
Joe
The only thing I would accomplish if I did my own taxes is, a stripped suit and long vacation at the gray bar motel!!!! Having four rentals and two businesses, I wouldn't even know where to begin. Our CPA charges us 700 a year for taxes. What sucks is, we do most of the leg work.
On another note, My dad did his for many years with turbo tax. He would claim his dogs as dependents. LMFAO.
Been using H&R Block sw even before they bought it from the other company, can't remember the previous name... tried turbo tax once back then, they were about the same imho I have 1099 income and farm it isn't hard to do, again imho.
Oakie, I agree with you on the leg work but that's probably the best $700 you can spend. When the IRS auditors see you had a CPA complete and sign your return they more than likely will look toward someone else and bypass you, there's people that can fill out tax forms very good and then there's CPA's which as a whole probably know more about taxes & deductibles than the IRS personnel auditors who don't like being embarrassed (got that info from a retired IRS agent 😊 and have found that to be true). CPA's will if needed sit with you during an audit, tax preparers I'm not so sure about them ???
"Never do wrong to make a friend----or to keep one".....Robert E. Lee
My account told me "If you get audited, I go, you stay home." He does not even want the client present during an audit.
I did my own taxes most of my adult life. I used Turbo Tax for a number of years and had no issues with it. When we retired and took over the farm, things got a little more complicated so we started using an accountant. I still rough it out, but the accountant gives me peace of mind and is helpful in planning for the next tax cycle.
I have used this for years as it puts everything where it belongs and uses the proper forms.
It is top rated, and IRS approved.
FreeTaxUSA® FREE Tax Filing, Online Return Preparation, E-file Income Taxes
Have filed my taxes myself all my life. Always figured if i have to do the leg work, I will not pay someone else to do my taxes. I have always filed a paper return. They tried to eliminate paper return a few years back in NY State and then backed off. Maybe they got sued? Next year i may hire someone to file my taxes if I sell my NY home and get out of this Socialist/Communist State. Going thru Will/Trust right now. Will let Pro-Gun lawyer advise me.---------------------------Ray
I started with an accountant when I had rental properties. With moving, buying & selling properties, we now use an accountant who moved from the same state to Va. You'd think that with being settled down, it would be a simple return, but it has more pages than a phone book. Yes, I put things together. However, they know how to decipher investment 1099s, etc. and what line on what form it goes. Worth $300
Used Turbo three years so far, no problems, already have the Fed refund in the bank. State is always slow, but it is only $43! I always print out the completed forms and save them digitally to keep in the safe.
My wife took over the tax forms after we got married and still doing them she gets a bit iratable but gets them done
You are one VERY lucky man!!
I have a heck of a time just getting my better half to just save receipts!!😬
We had a horrific run in with the treasury department several years ago.....so I had to hire a new accountant who I could give power of attorney to in order to face off with them to straighten out any misconception about what is going on here. It was a nightmare. We had to go back three years and recreate our returns to show how it all added up....and that we were not laundering money or running an illegal side business here.
It was all caused by using a lazy accountant that was not itemizing much of anything. It was ridiculous and I should have realized things were not being done as thoroughly as they should have been done all along. I don't know what kicked in to get the steamroller going....but that was something I wouldn't wish on anyone.
Was it the fact that I had a LOT of money going through my account and only claiming to make a certain amount?
Was it the guy I was dealing with who was going through a divorce, selling firearms...maybe his wife said something to someone that got them headed my direction?
Was it all the large deposits and withdrawals...that majic number that the bank has to "alert" the government to?
Who knows? I will never know.
What I do know is that we have kept that accounting firm and the agent that got us through that mess is with us for as long as I'm doing this.
It costs me around $1800 per year to do our taxes.
Okay, I will admit that I do my own.
It sucks enough to have to send checks to government for wasting my money. Paying someone to tell me how much I pay makes things worse. I do my own.
Same here.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
The Trump years were very good to us investment-wise, so we have had to pay pretty big quarterly amounts in anticipation of earnings. The Biden collapse has us still making money, but nowhere near what we predicted. So thanks to our accountant and his understanding of all the ins and outs of capital gains/losses, we are getting almost everything back of our quarterlies, plus a state refund.
I pay around $ 700.00 a year to have mine done.
For me, it is a small price to pay to ensure that I don't miss something that will cost me down the road.
Brad Steele