Tax preparation?

[WizeOne]

Just paid to have our taxes done. I think that some tax preparers think that they are Doctors or Lawyers. Our preparer extracted an amount of money that would would have made a handsome weeks pay, for what I estimated to be a half days work at the very most.

Even tho we have a couple of K-1's, rents and capitol gains/losses I hope it would not be an insurmountable undertaking to use something like TurboTax.

Any posters, with middling complex tax returns, have any input or comments on the subject?

I won't say how old I am, suffice it to say I am on the downhill run and I have never done my own taxes. Now with all my extra cash being spent on gasoline, it is time to send the preparers to the unemployment line.

Actually, not trying to be political but, I wish that Mike Huckabee would have had the chance to send them there for me, along with the entire staff of the IRS.

 

[burroak]

Re: Tax preparation?

I prepared my Fed and State tax returns using Turbo Tax Home and Business. It did everything that my tax preparer did in years past and for a lot less money. The biggest part of the preparation was getting the numbers together, which you have to do anyway.

It was amazingly intuitive and simple to use. I'm not humping this program over any others; it just happens to be the one I used. Features like filing online (for a fee) to direct deposit or deduction to/from a bank account made it the easiest thing to do.

Hint: This is 4/16/07. Are you late or starting early?

 

[mscher]

Re: Tax preparation?

Ditto on the Turbo Tax Home & Business. Picked up an original copy on eBay for $47.

We use it for our house and farm (11th year). Would not be surprised if accountants used it also, if anything to speed up the process.

Like burroak said, setting the paperwork and records together, is the hardest part of income taxes.

I prepared my Fed and State tax returns using Turbo Tax Home and Business. It did everything that my tax preparer did in years past and for a lot less money. The biggest part of the preparation was getting the numbers together, which you have to do anyway.

It was amazingly intuitive and simple to use. I'm not humping this program over any others; it just happens to be the one I used. Features like filing online (for a fee) to direct deposit or deduction to/from a bank account made it the easiest thing to do.

Hint: This is 4/16/07. Are you late or starting early?

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Tax preparation?

I have my own business with 4 people working for me.
8 vans in the business.
Couple rental places.
I also use TurboTax.
It asks the questions and you give it the answer.
It checks everything at the end and gets stuff right before you file.

 

[WizeOne]

Re: Tax preparation?

....
Hint: This is 4/16/07. Are you late or starting early?

Naw burroak, already done pay de piper. Got her off before the evening post yesterday. Just looking for how to avoid the hemmorage next year.

Mscher, you said that you picked up an 'original' copy off of ebay. Why would you be able to buy a current copy for 1/2 price? How does this work? Do they come out with a new one each year? or do you pay for annual updates for old versions?

 

[WizeOne]

Re: Tax preparation?

I have my own business with 4 people working for me.
8 vans in the business.
Couple rental places.
I also use TurboTax.
It asks the questions and you give it the answer.
It checks everything at the end and gets stuff right before you file.

What? do you use Quick Books for your record keeping then run it thru TurboTax business for year end taxes.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Tax preparation?

Nope, just use the old notebook/logbook and just enter what it asks for.
Mileage, gas, etc.

 

[mscher]

Re: Tax preparation?

As with a lot of stuff sold on ebay, I figure somebody just buys it wholesale and sells it without the competitive markup, that stores have.

It was listed as new, but the seal was loose when i got it. I thought that maybe they had purchased it new, made a copy, then sold the original on ebay, which is not uncommon. They had about 20 new copies, in other auctions, so I don't know for sure.

Looked like an original box, case and CD and it was for 2007.

Worked for me. I regularily buy new stuff off of eBay, for 30-50% of elswhere. No sales tax either.

Naw burroak, already done pay de piper. Got her off before the evening post yesterday. Just looking for how to avoid the hemmorage next year.

Mscher, you said that you picked up an 'original' copy off of ebay. Why would you be able to buy a current copy for 1/2 price? How does this work? Do they come out with a new one each year? or do you pay for annual updates for old versions?

 

[bjcsc]

Re: Tax preparation?

Worked for me. I regularily buy new stuff off of eBay, for 30-50% of elswhere. No sales tax either.

True, but there's use tax. Unless you don't have it in Indiana...

 

[WizeOne]

Re: Tax preparation?

True, but there's use tax. Unless you don't have it in Indiana...

How does that work bjcsc? When you buy something that would be sales taxable in your state but you buy it tax free, then you voluntarily cough up the substitute 'use' tax? Or do they intercept the packages at SC's border and make you pay before they deliver it to you?

 

[WizeOne]

Re: Tax preparation?

I had asked earlier how the annual editions of TurboTax work. What I mean is, do you buy a new disc for each years tax? Or do you do online updates for the new tax year using a previous years disc?

I went over to ebay and I see many old editions for sale ie; 2004, 2005, etc, etc. ???

One seller is offering every year from 1999 thru 2006 for $199.95 + shipping. Wha? he fishing for suckers?

 

[mscher]

Re: Tax preparation?

I had asked earlier how the annual editions of TurboTax work. What I mean is, do you buy a new disc for each years tax? Or do you do online updates for the new tax year using a previous years disc?

I went over to ebay and I see many old editions for sale ie; 2004, 2005, etc, etc. ???

One seller is offering every year from 1999 thru 2006 for $199.95 + shipping. Wha? he fishing for suckers?

We always buy a new copy for each year.

TurboTax will import information from the previous year(s) return file(s), if needed.

Not sure if like the 2007 program will open a 2001 return, properly or not.
Maybe that why they are selling multiple years.

 

[Wotknot]

Re: Tax preparation?

Been using Turbo Tax now for 13 years.....since 1995. Beginning with the 2004 filing season, you can save your return in pdf format allowing you to just open it with Adobe. Prior to '04, it would just save your return in an .tax file format. For those years I'm assuming you'd need that specific year's software to open a file, but not sure. Each year after doing taxes, especially when I have to pay in, I really have no desire to go back thru it again.

 

[bluegillfisher]

Re: Tax preparation?

You need to have the right year to open each years .tax format. If you register your software, you can download that year for no cost. If not it cost $40.00 per year to download software.
Quickbooks now has a free version of their software.
Mary

 

[arboldt]

Re: Tax preparation?

I have always done my own taxes; have never paid someone else to do them.

For years, each year I would order the current IRS Pub 15 (17?) that has most the tax publications in one book, then read and re-read it. [Now that's an easy download]. This was to know what was deductible and what numbers I needed to track and summarize. That's where 90% of the work is.

By the late 80's, I used Managing Your Money [now defunct] to track my finances and summarize the numbers, although I filled out the forms by hand -- first putting them in a spreadsheet for arithmetic help.

By the mid-90's I started using TaxCut to actually fill in the forms, although I still used MYM to summarize them. And yes, you have to buy a new copy of the tax program every year because invariably *something* changes in the law and/or regulations.

By the early 00's I switched to Microsloth Money for tracking finances and summarizing them. I'd still enter the number by hand into TaxCut, but having M$ Money summarize the numbers still made it much easier and faster.

This year I changed from TaxCut to TaxAct. Didn't see any significant difference in ease of use but big difference in purchase price ($40 purchase vs free download).

Review: The biggest factor is knowing what numbers you need to track and summarize, and what you have to do to get them. You'd have to do this no matter who or what you have do your taxes -- unless you can afford a personal bookkeeper / accountant.

What you might do is get a 2007 tax program and run the numbers through it yourself, then compare to the professional preparer. If there's any differences, find out why -- it's just as possible he goofed as you. Once you understand the *why*, then you're prepared to gather, summarize, and enter the numbers yourself next year.

It seems your tax return is moderately complicated, so you may well need a more advanced version of tax program (TurboTax or TaxCut) than what I've used.

You can do this. One final factor -- what is your time worth? If you've got your fingers in several business ventures, you may not have the time to track, summarize, and enter all the numbers yourself.

 

[slia67]

Re: Tax preparation?

WizeOne,

It's not just the time he/she spent writing the numbers on the forms, it's the knowledge needed to prepare the forms. If all you are doing is using them to prepare your taxes, you may be better off using TurboTax or one of the other computer software programs. But if you are a business owner that relies on your CPA to help save you taxes throughout the year, your money is well spent.

We encourage our clients to meet with their CPAs or tax preparers before the end of the year to determine if they can take large capital gains without the tax implications. Plus we use them in the business to answer tax sensitive questions throughout the year, not just at tax time.

Like arbolt said, what is your time worth? My personal federal tax return this year was 14 pages long, how long would it take for someone to do the research, preliminary calculations, and actual preparation of the forms? Compare that to what you make an hour.


Disclaimer: No I am not a CPA or tax-preparer.


Doug

 

[bjcsc]

Re: Tax preparation?

How does that work bjcsc? When you buy something that would be sales taxable in your state but you buy it tax free, then you voluntarily cough up the substitute 'use' tax?

Yep, that's exactly how it works. Of course, just like most tax issues, you can choose to not report it, but also like most tax issues, if you are audited and caught the penalties and interest are severe...