CPA or turbo tax

[namasteak]

This year we have a somewhat complicated tax situation and I’m not sure if it makes sense to find a CPA or just pay the extra for the premium version of turbo tax

We still have to write off the losses from Harvey, we sold a house and we bought a house. I worked part time and DH worked full time.

[OG Jo]

namasteak, the one year I felt our situations were extra complicated, I put it into Turbo Tax, freaked out at the amount due, and called a tax accountant. He verified, sadly, that what we owed was correct but I felt better with the peace of mind that it was 100% correct. I can find the name of the guy we used if you'd like (we're in Dallas too).

[Susie]

For a one-time complicated year, I might be inclined to gut it out if you think you can figure it out with enough time and effort.  Sometimes it feels dumb how much time, effort, and explanation goes into relating to someone else what the facts are, that I might as well put that effort instead into understanding how to DIY and save myself the $.  I couldn't tell you how many times I explained the exact circumstances surrounding a 7 week gap in health insurance to my accountant in for the 2017 tax year and he still screwed up the form and I had to get him to fix before filing.  We were exempt from the penalty but it took years off my life to relate why to my accountant.  

If it's a permanent change though, sometimes it is worth it to use a pro.  I switched when I bought into my firm and started getting a K-1 instead of a W-2.  The first year, it was a pretty steep learning curve and I had to do a lot of leg work.  As time goes by though, I don't have to do quite as much/I know better what they're looking for.

[farmvillelover]

I’d use the cpa/ea if you’re at all uncertain. I did this one year bc of certain circumstances and with no exaggeration, he saved me roughly 40k in federal taxes.

[namasteak]

Jan 24, 2019 11:54:22 GMT -5 OG Jo said:

namasteak, the one year I felt our situations were extra complicated, I put it into Turbo Tax, freaked out at the amount due, and called a tax accountant. He verified, sadly, that what we owed was correct but I felt better with the peace of mind that it was 100% correct. I can find the name of the guy we used if you'd like (we're in Dallas too).

That would be great, thanks!


My uncle is a tax attorney and offered to look over them but that feels weird...

[namasteak]

Jan 24, 2019 14:48:00 GMT -5 Susie said:

For a one-time complicated year, I might be inclined to gut it out if you think you can figure it out with enough time and effort.  Sometimes it feels dumb how much time, effort, and explanation goes into relating to someone else what the facts are, that I might as well put that effort instead into understanding how to DIY and save myself the $.  I couldn't tell you how many times I explained the exact circumstances surrounding a 7 week gap in health insurance to my accountant in for the 2017 tax year and he still screwed up the form and I had to get him to fix before filing.  We were exempt from the penalty but it took years off my life to relate why to my accountant.  

If it's a permanent change though, sometimes it is worth it to use a pro.  I switched when I bought into my firm and started getting a K-1 instead of a W-2.  The first year, it was a pretty steep learning curve and I had to do a lot of leg work.  As time goes by though, I don't have to do quite as much/I know better what they're looking for.

Susie since this isn’t a permanent change I think we are leaning toward turbo tax and pay the money for the extra protection.

I’m hopeful that the new tax law won’t hurt our refund too badly and I’d love to bump up savings.

[sadlebred]

I have a somewhat complicated tax situation and started using a CPA a few years ago. She's saved me a ton of money & is worth her fees. I keep everything very organized during the year and hand it all to her.

[goldengirlz]

The only thing you mentioned that would give me pause would be the Harvey losses because that’s unusual enough that Turbo Tax might not be intuitive enough to figure out. Buying/selling a house and working a mix of FT and PT schedules are fairly mundane, very common situations that the software is programmed to handle.

We wanted to use a CPA last year but balked at the $1500 fee. For me, it was my first time dealing with RSUs/company stock. However, once we read up on the tax treatment of RSUs and figured out where to enter them, I felt confident that we did indeed owe the amount the software said we did.

Truthfully, for most of us who work a standard corporate job and have normal everyday assets, there really aren’t that many tax loopholes that are going to save us tens of thousands of dollars. A natural disaster would be a caveat to that. But the rest of the stuff we think of as “special snowflake” rarely is.

[ellipses84]

I’ve faced a similar dilemma and ended up using Turbotax knowing I could later decide to go to an accountant and have them back-checked and amended if needed. The disaster loss stuff was rough and I had to do some additional research for it (and still wasn’t 100% sure I did it right or the best way). Definitely find a good accountant experienced in disaster loss. It was very time consuming, but the hardest part is making sure you have all the right documentation. An accountant can let you know exactly what you need ahead of time. Don’t wait until the last minute.

[Chuppathingy]

CPA because you describe situation as complicated this year, and while I’m not sure of all of the regulations impacted by this I am aware of several new regulations that have not been finalized. My mother is a CPA and she’s complained that many deduction regulations are not final despite tax season having already begun.