Tax filing question

sheetal · Feb 26, 2006

Is there any reason why we should use a CPA to file our taxes? Is there any risk in doing our own taxes and saving the CPA fees?

Vandhana · Feb 26, 2006

Re Taxes

Hi Sheetal,

There is no reason why you cannot do the taxes yourself if you are confident enough. If your taxes are straight forward that is( you do not have to do any itemized deductions, or your stock transactions are not more than 10,000 dollars) then you can use one of the tax calculating softwares and do your taxes on your own.

The advantage of using a tax guy to do the taxes are he will be able to tell you what you can do to maximise your return the next year.

All the best with your taxes. It is a fun exercise to do. I used to do it about 6 years back , but now we use a Tax consusltant.

Vandhana

Nila · Mar 20, 2006

You can file your taxes online

Hi,

You can file your taxes online, if they are straight forward. It is simple, easy and works out cheaper.

We have used TaxBrain.com.

It is easy to organize, prepare and e-file taxes at TaxBrain Online Tax Centre. Try this!

Good luck with your taxes,
Nila.

saritaji · Mar 29, 2009

There is no reason you cannot do it yourself. For more than a decade now, we have been doing it using TurboTax. It is very easy to use, they guide you every step of the way.

You just go screen by screen and enter the information asked for. In the end, either E-File or print and mail it. Its that simple.

tashidelek2002 · Mar 29, 2009

Warning:
I used a free tax filing web software several years back and it was inaccurate and I ended up getting audited and it took me two years to straighten out. Buy a software like TurboTax when you do your taxes don't use a free web one.

Anyone with simple earnings can easily do the taxes. If you have a business or more complicated investments, best to go to an accountant as they will better handle items like basis, depreciation, amortization, etc.

manjulats · Mar 29, 2009

We used H&R block online service till 2 years back.Then we switched to taxslayer.com.

If your wages are straight forward,you can use anything to pay the taxes,just enter the values and see if the returns/payment is equal.

tashidelek2002 · Mar 29, 2009

Problem with those web based programs is that you don't know if you have trouble for 2-3 years and then the fun begins. If you are going to chance it, then for sure use a big tax program site like Turbotax or H&R but I was burned so badly that I will never do that again. As my lawyer said over this, you get what you pay for. (Note that a lawyer had to be involved!!!!)