Do you prepare tax returns yourself or use an outside firm to prepare them?

In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter containing the famous quotation "... in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." Today I am reminded of this saying because in the United States, tomorrow, April 15th, is the day federal income tax returns are due for calendar year 2020.

So, for this week's poll I thought it was only fitting to ask folks about the preparation of tax returns. Do you prepare your own tax returns, or do you hire an accountant or tax preparation professional to prepare your tax returns for you?

Besides voting in the poll, be sure to share you thoughts on both the tax return preparation process and the accounting work necessary in order to file tax returns where you live.

Michael

An accountant prepares all my books, both personal tax return in UK and company accounts. It is all done on the basis of the information provided by me, rather than gathered in any other way by him. I believe that in the UK you are less likely to trigger a tax investigation if tax returns are filed via a firm of accountants rather than personally. Also, why bother to save a few pennies and risk making a mistake in the way the form is completed & submitted. That in itself could be a red flag.

The filing deadline in the US has been extended for individuals until May 17th, 2021. This includes those who pay self employment tax such as independent contractors or single-owner LLC's, however as far as I recall, it is not extended for those who have an "S" corp, which is a classification for many small business owners.

Rick
Universal4

I have always prepared my own income taxes (but I was an accountant in my past life - aka, before becoming a casino affiliate).

I was audited once by the IRS for a large charitable donation I made. Well, I'll never make that mistake again.

Filing taxes online is such an easy breeze now.

The worst tax liability I incurred was when I cashed out a small pension plan.

When I had to pay capital gains tax on stock sales, I paid a lot less in taxes even though the income was much more than the pension income.

Wage earners are treated much less fairly than business owners and investors.

A specialised tax accountant prepares our UK company accounts, files them with Companies House and manages personal tax returns also. Although it costs money of course, it takes the pain out of the whole process.

My mother is a great accountant, she has been doing this all her life, so I let her do it for me for now. I like keeping it in the family. :)

I prepare my own tax return every 3 months, and I use the PAYG (Pay As You Go) system to make the payments in. I have a number of options on hand to pay it, including going to the post office. But, I prefer to pay it online using BPAY (Bill Payment).

Accuntants are very helpful, when you do not have such in your family :)

We have an accountant who works in our business. And she do all this paperwork with taxes.

That is very convenient.

I prepare all the transactions in spreadsheet form - and they're all categorised and broken down according to local laws.
Sounds complicated but it's just some basic excel lists and if/then formulas with accrued knowledge after 20 years of business.

I then provide it to an accountant along with the related paper trail and he completes the process and files all the paperwork / handles any issues.

The total cost for two companies, and two private returns to be handled is approximately $2K NZD (about $1.3K USD) ...
And it's worth that price to make sure that all the current tax legislation and rules have been followed.

There has been quite a lot of tax law change recently, due to covid19 with several grants / exemptions and handouts
So there are quite a few extra benefits this year that means having up to date knowledge is essential.

Like Tufty - I believe that using a professional service minimises the chance of errors - and raises less flags.

I do them myself and have done for several years, it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it, although I suppose it depends on how complex your business is. I'm self employed at the moment in the UK, I did use an accountant when I had a Ltd company, just to avoid this stress and any mistakes.

I've been doing them myself for many years except when I worked in high tech in the 1990's and had stock options then I went to a professional.

For the last 20 years I have had someone complete my taxes for me. They have become more involved and want to ensure I have taken advantage of all "opportunities".

Still do it on my own, but soon I will have to hire an accountant as it's getting more and more tedious...

For USA affiliates/taxes. What is the best IRS business code to use?
519130 is internet gaming

I'd suggest something in the Marketing category instead since we are marketers more broadly speaking.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gainfin

I'd suggest something in the Marketing category instead since we are marketers more broadly speaking.

---

Thanks, I did look up a bunch of different things. I'm going look again and find something more broad.

Here's the reference site if anyone need it.

https://www.census.gov/naics/

I know a lot of people prepare them themselves but I find it valuable to have a good accountant.

Depends on situation: sometime by myself sometime with the help of professionals