DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Do I need an accountant? (advice)

Hey folks, I'm asking for advice here

So normally I do TurboTax every year, and don't have a problem with that. I like to consider myself pretty smart with that kind of stuff and it doesn't take a genius to work TurboTax.

But this year, I bought a new home, got married (and there's a big difference in income between us), and sold/bought a few stocks. I've got union dues as well which I paid amounting to like 500$. We made a total of 115k$

Anyway, I'm only 30, so a lot of this stuff is new to me. My parents say I should just TurboTax it.

I don't even know where to look for an accountant. I go back to work around Feb 15th, and I want taxes done before I go back (I work on boats for a month at a time).


If I was going to get an accountant, those of you that have them, how did you find one? How much do they cost?

I think you'll be fine with Turbo Tax. People do all that stuff you are doing every year.

Up until last year I did my own taxes BY HAND. You know paper and pencil lol. Last year I was dealing with chemo, and my second stroke which caused me to not be able to write. so I had somebody else do them. I have done my own using the long form and itemizing deductions, as well as when I had rental property. What I am saying is if a old redneck/hillbilly like me can do them by hand I am sure you can do them with turbo tax online.

BTW Unless your deductions for Business expenses are over $2875 bucks you are not going to be able to deduct the union dues. The are limited to anything over 2.5 percent of your income.

If your not comfy doing it yourself, just look up taxes in your yellow pages opps showing my age. Just look up tax service online for the area that you live in

I've never used turbo tax, so I can't comment much on that other than to say I'm pretty sure it's good. (other wise, they'd be out of business, right?)

I use an accountant. I'm self employed, so I keep all the records for the year, turn them over to him - and he does his thing. Last year the bill from him was $325.

He pretty much just dumps the numbers into some computer and it calculates. Married/jointly - married, filing single - all that stuff.

They take car of everything - other than writing the check. I get quarterly reminders, along with the forms, for my quarterly taxes.

For me, it's much preferred to say "here it is" and be done with it. Plus, in the event of an audit, more than likely I wouldn't have to even show up - he'd be my spokesperson.

I don't screw with taxes as the IRS is a powerful organization that can basically fry you with frozen bank accounts, fines, penalties, etc.

I have to kind of agree with Arch...You dont have enough going on to waste the money on an accountant...I didnt start dealing with one until it got a little more involved.

And not to be a smart ass man but your situation is not involved its pretty basic.

I think GM is right also...

My tax situation was a mess in 2013. I had all kinds of stuff going on with insurance, disability, COBRA, medical expenses, and all sorts of stuff like that. I out everything together as best I could, and took it to an accountant a friend of mine recommended.

For $125, I got back far more than I would have found on my own. I also had the assurance that I would not have to go to the IRS on my own if there were any questions on my return. As it turned out, the IRS did have questions regarding my tax situation, which I never had to worry about. The accountant warned me that they usually flagged returns with my particular situation, and so I wasn't concerned.

That said, if you have a fairly normal tax situation, then Turbo Tax is probably fine. If you got married, had a huge difference in incomes, and so forth, then it probably wouldn't hurt to have a tax pro go over things, or at least go in for a free evaluation, which many offer.

Peace of mind and a lighter wallet is all he will get out of it...there is nothing he listed that would need an accountant...but I'm just some idiot on the internet...do what feels best...if its the cpa route go ahead but man unless there is more then you listed its pretty damn basic.

Hope your doing well today Y-town.

Don't pay your taxes, get appointed to a cabinet position, make $200K a year with a tremendous pension... problem solved.

Might be. I'm not the expert on married, union taxes. lol Other than that one year, I have always done my own taxes.

Hope you're doing well too.

I have ups and downs. I just hope that I don't ever need 14 doctor visits in a single month ever again, as I did in January. I saw waiting rooms more than I saw anything else (outside of my house) last month.

I went to the grocery store yesterday, and I wonder what people thought. I had the toes on my left foot feel like the inside toes were turned inside out and pulled over the outside toes. I had my shoe and sock off, hopping around on one foot, trying to avoid falling over, and probably with a few tears running down my face, because it hurt so bad. Then it stopped, just like that. I am sure that some people were looking for a hidden camera. lol

[quote]For me, it's much preferred to say "here it is" and be done with it. Plus, in the event of an audit, more than likely I wouldn't have to even show up - he'd be my spokesperson.

I don't screw with taxes as the IRS is a powerful organization that can basically fry you with frozen bank accounts, fines, penalties, etc.[quote]

Bro I was audited twice over the years. Once they said I owed them money. After the audit (which I handled myself) They changed their tune and agreed with me. The other audit they claimed I owed them a wad of cash. After the audit was done they owed me, and paid me money as I found some medical reciepts that I had not claimed. ALWAYS fight the IRS if you knoe your right. Otherwise they will run all over you and get money from you that you don't even owe.

I guess I'm not as courageous as you. The IRS scares me. I don't cheat - hence, giving all my reports to my ("my") accountant. (MY accountant seems somewhat snobbish to me - he's an accountant that works for hundreds of people and companies - not just me).

The numbers I give him ARE the correct numbers.

Oh This is hard for me to say to you since I know you stand up for what you feel is right. If you know your right then tell the IRS to kiss your ass. I have, but if I was ever wrong I would also have no problem fessing up and paying their fine.

I am a CPA and I used to work in public accounting up until the end of 2014... From the situation you described... I definitely wouldn't pay someone else to do your tax return.

Your tax return sounds really easy. Turbo Tax will definitely do the trick.

Sounds like you just have some normal income.. W-2s, and some investment income you will put on Schedule B or Schedule D. Put your deductions on Schedule A for your house. It's really pretty simple.

If you bought/sold stocks there is a good chance you won't even have your 1099s from your stock activity by February 15 so don't count on having your tax return done that fast.

I work from home and will be itemizing everything from my utilities to home repairs that impact my business as well as itemizing mortgage interest, depreciating my home as an asset etc.

I will be doing this via TurboTax. I have used TurboTax for years and feel more than comfortable paying the few bucks to make it simple. I've done taxes by hand before but honestly when you're dealing with depreciating assets and whatnot it's a few bucks to also pay for peace of mind IMO.

Petey, I’m a tax preparer with Liberty Tax. I do many returns similar to what you describe above. For me it’s easy (repetition).

I disagree with many of the posts on this thread. I don’t think it would be that easy for you to do your own tax return and minimize your total 2015 income taxes in the process.

For instance, with your Itemized Deductions, (which you will most certainly want to do) you will be deducting mortgage interest, other interest, various state taxes (income, sales), contributions and various other (miscellaneous) deductions. And there’s some “play” (variability) in some of those (ie, contributions) . (I’m assuming/hoping that medical expenses are not a major issue for you and your family)

There’s also some planning you and your wife should consider regarding IRAs.

Of course my boss (the Liberty Tax franchise owner) will charge ~ $500+ for a return like the one you described above: Married filing jointly, dependents, schedules A, B and D.

Hey, my schedule is tight from now until April 15th. But if you file an extension, come up to central Connecticut this summer, and buy me a 12” tuna grinder (with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, black pepper and lots of jalapeno peppers) I’ll help you put completed returns in the mail.

And a bag of chips. With sea salt.

Like I said your wallet will be lighter and your case is not involved at all...decisions...decisions...please update this and let us know what you decided to do.

If you go the route in this post I replied to...can u please tell me if you thought it was worth it please.

With what you wrote there, all you need is TurboTax.

It will walk you through absolutely every last bit of everything, one step at a time. I've used it every year for about the last 15 years now (going back to the days of filing electronically via dial-up). I have a home, job income, this site (ad income and outgoing expenses for this site/server), 401k, medical, HSA, ESPP, charitable donations, etc, etc, etc, etc.... it can handle any situation you have.

I've used Turbo Tax since 1992. I run two business out of my home and have always done my own taxes since I was 16. My taxes get pretty complicated nowadays but Turbo Tax makes it easy. As a matter of fact I'm done with 2015 taxes and getting ready to file them this weekend.

I'm a business owner also. I could probably do it on Turbo tax, but I have a CPA for piece of mind. My stuff is kinda complex and I feel like I will screw it up. Plus I like that I can call her and she will answer any question I have for free.

I just struggled through putting together W-2s for my church.

We were supposed to hire an accountant ..... and got within 3 days of the deadline, so I had to struggle through putting them together out of very casual records.

Fun, fun, fun. Now I can go back to my breakdown.

Hey folks,

Thanks for all the opinions.

I think I'm going to go with TurboTax and then have my buddy (more like a brother) look at them after. While he specializes in auditing, he just got his CPA recently and sounds confident that he'll be able to do a good check to make sure i'm not missing anything.

That's what he told me to do, same as my parents. And on this board I think I'm getting more TurboTax pushers than non. So the vote is in, lol. I appreciate the opinions folks.



I also really appreciate the offer though Rocky Hill. I'm going to try to make it up to that Browns Backers Bar sometime this fall. I really don't want to file an extension though. Hopefully my buddy will be able to do just as good a job. I really appreciate it.

You know, there are a ton of places that can do your taxes for next to nothing.

Turbo tax isn't all that hard based on the situation that you described.

But if you are uncomfortable doing that, why not just try H&R Block or one of those tax services. Some of them are pretty good for the simple stuff.

We've used the same CPA since 1986, we were referred to him by a realtor that was a co worker of my wife.

You can always find someone in the yellow pages as well.