personal tax filing-yourself or delegate?

[shootingstar]

Do you file/prepare your own personal income tax return?

Or it's done by someone else..a family member, accountant.

I wasn't familiar with a parent still doing it for their adult child who has been working for awhile. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl.../lifeMain/home

Compared to other people, my life situation is generally not too complicated, hence continue to do it myself.

I recall someone new to Canada, was abit ticked off when they realized they could have done an equally good job themselves instead of paying a HR Block to do theirs. And this couple, both had engineering degrees..so mathematical literacy was not a huge obstacle.

[SadieKate]

I don't know about tax code in Canada, but since Tim Geitner had problems with TurboTax, I'd think twice.

We have an accountant do our taxes. It's not like we're rich, but our finances are a bit complicated with buying/selling houses, Bubba retiring, moving to another state, etc.

I believe that at some point you get what you pay for. Free legal and tax advice is worth exactly that. Of course, the pros can still screw up (ask MP), but I suspect the IRS is easier to deal with if you can point to your pro as the idjit.

[maillotpois]

Of course, the pros can still screw up (ask MP),.....

Indeed. More of a miscommunication than an actual screw up, but we're severely hosed this year.

[jobob]

I'm the tax preparer in my fambly unit.

But, on account of extenuating circumstances, this year I only got around to attempting said taxes a few days before they were due.

Come to find out, Jo + TurboTax + Pain Meds were a wretchedly sub-optimal combination. Extensions have been filed.

[crazycanuck]

I give my taxes to someone at H & R block so i don't make mistakes

Just don't leave your taxes for 4yrs.. I received a little fine but it's all ok

[Cataboo]

I file & prepare my Mom's (for her business as well), my brother's (for his business as well), my sister's, her boyfriend's, my mom's little japanese old lady friend whose husband died 2 years ago and doesn't trust her kids to do it, my mom's neighbors across the street, and my taxes. Various years other peoples get added on (boyfriends, friends, whatever).

It's fairly straight forward, if I have questions about anything, I just read the appropriate IRS documentation, and I use turbo tax. I've been doing it for years and haven't had a problem.

Of course, none of the above people have ever been appointed to public office requiring the congress to go over their tax returns.

[shootingstar]

I file & prepare my Mom's (for her business as well), my brother's (for his business as well), my sister's, her boyfriend's, my mom's little japanese old lady friend whose husband died 2 years ago and doesn't trust her kids to do it, my mom's neighbors across the street, and my taxes. Various years other peoples get added on (boyfriends, friends, whatever).

Alot of people owe you several nice dinners!

[divingbiker]

I don't know about tax code in Canada, but since Tim Geitner had problems with TurboTax, I'd think twice.

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.

[uforgot]

I do mine and my two "adult" children. Spending part of the year in a combat zone is about as complicated as it gets. Then again, I teach math...

[Blueberry]

I have a CPA, she's totally worth it!

CA

[AnnieBikes]

I have used Turbo Tax for years and love it. The year we called the accountant to say we were doing it ourselves, he replied "I was wondering when you were going to do it yourself!" We got a refund this year.

[Irulan]

In Turbo Tax, the software made a $4000 error on our return that we had to have corrected and amended by an accounting professional. I don't trust at all. Maybe if we filed an EZ but not the way our returns look now...

[indysteel]

I used to do them by hand and now use Turbo Tax. If my tax situation was anymore complicated, e.g. I was in business for myself or was retired, I'd use an accountant. As it currently stands, I have a pretty clear understanding of what goes where and how much I can expect to get back each year.

[Cataboo]

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.

[VeloVT]

I would point out that the IRS website is, surprisingly, excellent, informative and user-friendly.

That said, I send my docs to my parents' accountant .