personal tax filing-yourself or delegate?

[shootingstar]

Having had many friends that worked at the IMF & world bank... They're all pretty clear on the tax law - the foreign nationals don't pay taxes, and the US citizens do pay taxes - and the US citizens get paid more to compensate for the fact that they have to pay taxes, so that they're getting equal net pay as their colleagues. I don't see how this would be a surprise to Geitner while working there, because even I know all about how the US tax laws apply to IMF people... but maybe that's because everyone I know from there is an economist and likes to tell people in excruciating detail about monetary things.

Now, turbo tax may not have been set up completely for US citizens getting payments from international organizations, because it's a rare case... however, if I'm going through all my tax paperwork when I'm working with turbo tax, and there's a spare piece of paper that I haven't entered... I don't just neglect to enter it just because turbo tax didn't specifically ask me a question that made me think, okay let's put that in... I start using the help and the search features on the software to figure out where that is supposed to go... If that doesn't illuminate things for me, then I get on the IRS's website and read up on it. I also pay attention to the status bar telling me how much of a refund or how much I'm paying, and I think about what I'm entering to make sure everything makes sense...

There are sometimes when I start down a question path in turbo tax, then realize, oh, this doesn't apply, and then cancel it and later figure out that turbo tax didn't actually delete that form, and I've got to go through and do it manually or all the tax calculations are screwed up... But I've caught it doing that several times.

I think when using turbo tax, you've got to be fairly vigilant about what you're doign, but you should be doing that anyways because you're doing taxes.

Catriona you're not an accountant, but maybe you're a bit addicted to this tax filing stuff or you really do get treated well to dinners by others...take it as a compliment.

[ilima]

I do them myself & mail in the return. I refuse to pay to submit electronically.

Mine are pretty darn simple, but I will not hesitate to go to a tax preparer when I think it's warranted.

[Cataboo]

Catriona you're not an accountant, but maybe you're a bit addicted to this tax filing stuff or you really do get treated well to dinners by others...take it as a compliment.

Blech, if I'm going to be doing people's tax returns, I don't want to be responsible if they go to jail for tax evasion!

It's really not all that much work for the majority of people if I tell them what I need and they have all that organized ahead of time, then I just sit down for an hour or half an hour and plug in all their numbers. Turbo tax autoupdates on the previous years data, so it pretty much already knows what to ask for if nothing's changed. IF they do it with me one year, they usually learn what I want for next year. So it takes a little longer the first year, not a huge deal the years after that.

My Mom's always terribly generous with me anyways, so it's not a big deal to do her taxes even if hers are probably the hardest... Her friends'll usually give me some money if I've done their taxes, I try to refuse, they insist, we go back & forth and I usually end up taking it. My baby brother's my baby brother (I'm usually spoiling him), and my sister alternates between giving me money or thinking it's a family privilege.

[SadieKate]

My coworker whose husband works for IMF said there is no way Tim Geithner could not have known what he was supposed to do when filing his taxes. They are told very clearly, several times a year, what the procedures are for filing taxes. The problem was not with Turbo Tax. Sorry for the hijack...I don't work for Turbo Tax and in fact like Tax Cut better.

I don't know the details and really don't care, but I can tell you that one very bright attorney I know cussed like hEll doing taxes every year both with pen and paper and then Turbo Tax. This was back when our finances were pretty simple and the State of CA made the same consistent mistakes (as an employer) every year. I stopped dreading April when we finally used an accountant.

I still stand by "you get get what you pay for" so if you have finances involving more than 1 paycheck, same house for years, and no investments other than savings, an accountant does not hurt.

Maybe Tim Geithner should have known what he was doing, but that should have included having a professional review his taxes.

[TxDoc]

I use H&R block and love them!

[msincredible]

My parents had me start doing my own taxes when I was a kid (investment accounts in my name) and I've done them myself since then, with one exception. Most of those years were with pen/paper/calculator, then a few years ago I switched to TurboTax and more recently to TaxAct. Some of my tax returns have been quite complicated, including a combination of itemizing deductions, dealing with foreign tax paid, inheritance income, and Roth IRA conversions all in one year.

Even with the software I always review the actual forms for accuracy.

There was one year I decided to have a friend (casual friend) do them as she is a CPA and trying to get started in business. Ironically that was the only time in recent years my taxes were quite simple. She did them correctly but I decided afterward I just always prefer to have it under my control.

[smilingcat]

I avoid the whole ordeal of tax filing.

I'm smart enough to know that I have zero clue about taxes so I use an accountant. I love my Jewish CPA. She's straight as an arrow no funny business. I sleep without worry. And if something should happen, they have their own team of tax attorneys on staff.