Tax Accountant--Worth it?

[SoonerTexan]

Do you use an accountant for your taxes or just a program like Turbo Tax? I ask because I'm part of a photographer's group on Facebook and everyone recommends using an accountant even if your business is small because you will not miss deductions.

Honestly, I'm hesitant because:

A. Photographers (not all, but many) tend to be on the artsy side and not good at the business side of things, hence perhaps more of a need for outside help. Also, I have a business degree that required 2 accounting courses and I support an Accounting/Finance dept at work. While those certainly do not correspond directly to tax accounting, I do understand the general principles well enough.

B. Outside of med school tuition/loans, our personal taxes should be relatively straight forward. We're not in repayment or anything on the loans right now, so other than including the tuition statement, I'm not sure what else to look for (TurboTax didn't bring up anything last year), but, then again, I'm not an accountant.

C. Thanks to my new darling little tax deduction, I did very little with my business this year (guess who didn't make a profit!!), so I'm not worried about it getting complicated, especially as I am a sole proprietorship. It's seriously just a few line items of income and a few of expenses. I know everyone says there are always things you didn't think of that you can claim as business expenses, but I REALLY doubt it for my situation and it really wouldn't make much of a $$$ difference in my situation.

What do you think? Honestly, I guess I'm gearing this more towards those in training because I do see the wisdom of having a good accountant with a post-training income/private practice. But is it worth it for my little pile of beans?

[ladymoreta]

Up until last year, we used H&R Block. We used software last year (maybe Turbo Tax, not sure), and it was much cheaper. DH did it in an afternoon. I would buy the software rather than try to do it completely on your own.


Laurie

[Vanquisher]

We used Turbo Tax every year since like 1997 until last year when we used accountants. I still used the software a little bit as a guideline to help me remember exactly what I could tell them for deductions. I'll do the same this year. Our taxes are pretty complicated at this point.

Turbo Tax is a great program though. I would highly recommend it.

[Deebs]

DH used to always use H&R Block because he apparently liked wasting money. During M4 I finally convinced him to use Turbo Tax. If your taxes aren't crazy, it will help you with deductions, etc. now that DH is on 2 contracts as an employee, 4 as an IC, and we own a consulting business together, we will use an accountant. This is the first year we have felt it necessary, though. We are also using the same accountant who helped us plan for our taxes this year, and so it's kind of a year long process at this point.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

The first year I moved to Ohio I used an accountant. I was being paid in 2 states, we had bought a house, DH has some non-deferrable private loans that I was paying (thank you stupid in-laws!) and I had some business expenses to set up my office. The guy was an idiot and ended up delaying my receipt of my refund because he wrote our address wrong. Plus, I still had to organize EVERYTHING to give to him because he was sort of lost by the taxes in 2 states thing also. He and our company finance director both missed that I had to pay local taxes in Ohio (it wasn't being deducted and I didn't know that local taxes existed) so I ended up owing back taxes for the second half of the year as well.

I have since then used Turbo Tax with no problems and will continue to do so this year. They have more advanced versions for people with unique situations so you can choose one of those. Since I have some very small investments (from before I met my money pit I actually used to invest extra income!), I usually choose one of the more advanced ones to be completely sure I'm catching everything.

I really like Turbo Tax and the way they walk you through everything. Would definitely recommend!

[ides]

I've always done it on my own even when I had a small sewing business. Like you I managed the finances at my job even though I wasn't an accountant. I always researched throughly to make sure I didn't miss anything. I tried turbo tax one year since everyone says not to do it yourself & it makes it easier & it screwed up my return!! I just don't trust it. Once we are out of training we will use an accountant, but until then I'm doing it myself.

[medpedspouse]

We used TurboTax for 12 years until the year we moved, bought a house, I became a consultant and DH began "THE" job and it pushed us into another tax bracket. Since then we have used an accountant. However, once things settle (DH's practice was bought by the hospital) and they become consistent I think I may go back and do it myself.

[SuzySunshine]

This will be our last year using TT but I'm sure you can use it without issue.

[JaneDoe]

I did our taxes every year until Dh entered private practice. Now we have an accountant. There is NO way we could do our taxes on our own anymore. Although Dh is part of a group practice, he is a sole proprietor for tax purposes, which complicates things. He also is an equal owner in the LLC that owns his practice's medical building and he will be buying into a share of the ASC this year. His tax situation is so effing complicated anymore.

I think an accountant becomes necessary after training is finished and, especially, if you are dealing with different entities requiring filings with the IRS.

[Chrisada]

When I had a small business while DH was in med school I did them at home with the small business software.

[alison]

Ours were pretty simple in residency, but if you run a small business, I'd have an accountant do them for you. The fees to have someone do them aren't as much as you'd think.

[poky]

As long as you feel like things are relatively straightforward, and you're not dealing with large amounts of money, definitely do it yourself. I always did ours (and enjoyed it, even), but we switched to using an accountant when DH started school and we were simultaneously dealing with unemployment income, a move mid-year between two states with state income tax (one if which had local income taxes, too), and rental income, and stipend income, and stock option sales, and a big severance payout, and a job working at home for a company BASED in yet another state....it was just way too much for me to deal with myself. The accountant totally paid for himself in deductions we wouldn't have thought of or known about without him. We've been using him ever since. Just got the packet in the mail the other day, in fact. I don't know that our finances are going to be simple enough from now on to go back to doing it ourselves, but maybe, if/when DH is an attending and everything else has settled down, I might be able to do it again. We'll see.

[OrionGrad]

I'm a freelance writer, so our taxes have always been a little complicated. I did ours all throughout med school with TT, but I was never quite sure if I was doing everything right and that always hung over me. (I'm a worrier.) Because of moving, new jobs, more money, etc. last year we decided to get an accountant and I'm really happy we did. The cost was much lower than I always assumed it would be, and just the lack of stress I have about it now is worth the price of hiring a pro.

[moonlight]

When we filed in Texas I did it online. Since we moved to NC (and have state taxes), bought a house, had a baby, out of med school, moved to another state, etc. I started using a local accountant. Note: I'm not going to a CPA, the accountant is more affordable. I check my online tax work to his and he always gets me $200+ back then if I filed for us online.

[weeniegeniewife]

IMO, if you're an attending or have a small business, then it's a really good idea to hire a CPA.

We have DH's practice, my LLC, multiple properties, multiple retirement plans and 529 plans, annuities, stocks, the list goes on and on. Even though I am über-organized, I wouldn't trust myself to get everything right. I do, however, organize all our forms and documents and send them back with the tax organizer, so that the CPA doesn't have to do that part.