Tax preparation

[spotty_dog]

Who does yours? EA, CPA, TurboTax?

Our first year post-training, DH did his with TurboTax and then ran it by a CPA. The CPA had no input, so we haven't bothered since. This year thanks to my growing interest in finance/accounting/bookkeeping, DH has proposed that we both complete the return and then compare. So I spent the morning neck-deep in the Schedule C instructions, LOL.

I just ran across this article about what tax preparers charge and had some sticker shock! However, since I still have a pipe dream of becoming a CPA myself, it's also a bit heartening.

[MrsK]

We use a CPA. Actually, we started using him when we lived in another State and we have continued to have him prepare our taxes once we moved for residency. Our tax situation, however, was/is somewhat complicated due to my profession and the manner in which my income was paid while I was a Partner. We had some issues related to my telecommuting and now related to the loss of my investment in the firm. We've stuck with him because he knows the history and issues but we'll likely switch to someone local once we've settled into a post-training job.

[SuzySunshine]

We are having ours done by a CPA this year because its our first year out of training, we have 3 states to deal with and I don't completely understand the resident of one state employed in another etc. Our CPA's regular rate is $220/hr but that is not for tax preparation, its for tax planning and special engagements. For tax preparation they will sit down with us, go through what we have and then give us a price. I have a range in my head that I think is reasonable, we're still waiting on a W-2 and a 1099 but I'm hoping to be able to sit down with our guy 2/18.

ETA: I also put ours into TurboTax online though and have a range in my head of what our refund should be. My biggest reason for having someone do it this year is because our income went up so much I'm afraid we'll get audited.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I do mine on TurboTax. I used a tax professional once (ironically, we might be talking about the same person, MrsK) and I really did not feel I got our money's worth. We had a complicated situation that year (I was paid in multiple states, we bought a house, got married, and DH was paying school loans). I prepared EVERYTHING in an extremely detailed way (very easy to follow folders on home purchase, jobs, loans, etc.) and handed it over. He filed it and got our address wrong so our refund was majorly delayed - when I contacted him about helping us rectify this, he basically said there was nothing he could do. I was also really disappointed that he didn't notice that I had been under withheld on local taxes so I was hit with a $1,500 bill 4 months later. Now that wasn't his fault, it was our finance/HR's mistake but it should have been obvious that I wasn't paying x% of my AGI to local taxes when he looked at my W2.

So, now I do it myself so I can properly watch everything. I'm pretty organized anyway so it's not a problem.

[spotty_dog]

Next year we probably won't qualify for any deductions

How so?? Or did you mean credits?

[MrsK]

Wow! T&S, I'm sorry you had a bad experience with him. He has been so great with us and usually goes above and beyond our expectations. We ran into an issue with addresses last year but that was in part because we moved and DrK gave him a different address than I did. I hope you let him know that you were unsatisfied.

[SuzySunshine]

How so?? Or did you mean credits?

Both

[Deebs]

For years we used Turbo Tax. Unfortunately ( or fortunately maybe), DH now works as an IC and an employee and currently has 6 or 7 contracts. It's incredibly complicated, so we are using a CPA. We used her last year, and it was nice to just pass it off.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Wow! T&S, I'm sorry you had a bad experience with him. He has been so great with us and usually goes above and beyond our expectations. We ran into an issue with addresses last year but that was in part because we moved and DrK gave him a different address than I did. I hope you let him know that you were unsatisfied.

It's not your fault. I didn't let him know. Frankly, I'm not good at giving negative feedback to people I won't encounter again, I just won't give them my business again. I feel like I give feedback all day long to juniors at work and I'm just over it in my personal life.

Glad he's still doing a good job for you! I think he viewed us as just young, not very wealthy students, etc. We're probably not his core clients. You as a law partner and DrK as a doctor were probably more his speed (even though obviously DrK was a resident and I know you guys were definitely NOT rolling in the dough).

[alotofyarn]

My husband usually does ours online, I think with hrblock.com, but we've never itemized deductions, don't have kids, and don't own a house. All of the interview expenses are tax deductible though, I think, so we're considering actually talking to a person and itemizing our deductions this year.

[spotty_dog]

I seem to recall that residency interviews count as looking for a job for the first time, and so not deductible. However, your moving expenses should be deductible, and it's an above the line deduction so you shouldn't have to itemize.

[MarissaNicole]

HR Block online was free to file our federal last year because we qualified (low income) and state only cost $15. Since it should have saved most our info (address, ss, and bank for direct deposit I will likely use it again this year.

Wife to PGY3

[alotofyarn]

I seem to recall that residency interviews count as looking for a job for the first time, and so not deductible. However, your moving expenses should be deductible, and it's an above the line deduction so you shouldn't have to itemize.

Good to know! We just matched and won't be moving until later this year, so we don't quite have moving expenses yet. Although, I'm hoping to get a job that will take care of the moving expenses for us like I did when we moved for med school.

[OrionGrad]

We have a CPA who specializes in working with medical professionals do our taxes, and he has been worth his weight in gold. I used to do our taxes myself while DH was in med school, but I'm an IC (and our deductions were always complicated) and I always had a fear in the back of my mind that I was doing something wrong. I'd rather hire a CPA just for the peace of mind.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

My husband usually does ours online, I think with hrblock.com, but we've never itemized deductions, don't have kids, and don't own a house. All of the interview expenses are tax deductible though, I think, so we're considering actually talking to a person and itemizing our deductions this year.

We had all the interview expenses on our 2011 taxes and no, it's not deductible which sucks. We had a lot of friends in the "we're not going to get audited, we don't care" category but I still didn't deduct them - too nervous.