Need Recomendations for Filing Tax Return...

The guy who does my taxes is actually a soon to be retired IRS auditor. His philosphy is that you should get back everything that you can. I started using him last year, and he even went back on a couple of my last couple years of filings that I did myself, and found me a couple hundred dollars that I could've claimed and filed an ammendment for me. Anyway, if you are interested, just messange me and I'll give you his contact numbers.

I work for a CPA firm and have been doing tax returns for years. However, unless there is more to your return than what you mentioned in your post there is absolutely no reason to pay someone to do your return. Turbo Tax is great and will walk you through it step by step. I would never suggest using H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt or any of those type of places. They are just using people off the street they have trained using their canned software programs. I know I'll get criticized for saying that but "that's my story and I'm sticking to it". And yes, you should definitely file a joint return. Texas is a community property state and the correct way to file a separate return is to split everything 50-50. It is almost never beneficial to file a separate return in Texas. There is, of course, always the exception but nothing in your post indicates that to be the case here. If you're still not comfortable doing it yourself I recommend finding a good CPA firm.

It just depends if you want to do all the work, I have been doing our taxes for the last 6 years and know all the irs handbooks that apply to me. I enjoy doing it. If you are nervous you wil miss something than have them done, if you'r up for the challenge you can do them yourself. Also the irs agents are wonderful, I have spent hours on the phone with them in the last years and they can answer any questions as far as tax topics you might need.

M.,
We own a house, have two kids and itemize our deducions. I have always done our taxes. For a few years, I purchased Turbo Tax. The last two years I went to TaxAct.com. The basic version on Tax Act is free. They have a deluxe version that costs approx. $19.95. All of these programs walk you through each step. I have never had a problem.

Good Luck!
-W.

I would go with Turbo Tax. Tracy is right; you have a pretty basic situation and Turbo Tax will ask a lot of questions and walk yourself through it.

Keep in mind, you don't necessarily want the "biggest refund", you want what is most correct. With a house, you'll most likely want to file joint, rather than separate as you have done in the past. Turbo Tax will evaluate that for you.

I've seen news articles that compared TT and preparers such as JH and H&R and CPAs. No one came out on top.

Also, you mentioned that you need the return done in a hurry. Please don't fall for the refund anticipation loans offered by preparers! They are very expensive and you can get your refund very quickly if you efile anyway.

BTW, I'm a CPA; my background is in corporate tax but I'm familiar with individual taxes as well.

I am now a tax preparer for Jackson Hewitt and they do ask you for all information that will get you as many credits as you qualify for.

Personally, I have been doing our taxes online with Turbo Tax myself. The system asks you all of the questions to walk you through it. It's very easy and user friendly and saves money for you.

You can also try it and put in all of your information and if you don't want to do it that way, you don't have to file.

if you have any add'l questions, feel welcome to PM me.

Hello Myra,
My husband is self-employed and I am a State employee. We have experienced many business/property/family changes over the years and have always received excellent advice from our CPA. We have used Carldene Green of Retherford Tax Service in Lewisville for almost 25 years and are completely happy with their services; they are reasonable, honest and work hard to get the best return for you. You may contact them at ###-###-####. She has a home office and they screen their calls, so leave a message, someone will call you back. (^_~)

I always use Turbo Tax. It will even audit the return at the end to make sure everything looks good. You could even do it yourself and not file it. If you don't think it is correct take it to someone to see if they get the same return anount as you. If it comes back the same save yourself some money and file yours through Turbo tax. Good Luck

We have been using H&R Block for about 5 or 6 years now. We feel comfortable with our returns. My husband is a fire fighter so we have a lot of deductions here and there and we have a small business. We go only for the audit safety. Once you are in the system, they can usually use your last year's return to see if there were any special deductions. Good luck. If it is true about H&R Block and the IRS maybe it's safer to go there. At least they have an in with the IRS, and the IRS will most likely be looking at all of the other companies first over H&R Block. Who knows.

Definitely get them done for you. We also used to think we could do them ourselves and be fine, after we had kids I asked my husband to take them to someone to do them for us and told him if they got us the same refund that my husband had come up with (he had done a 'rough' draft of what he thought we would get back) we wouldnt do it again. We ended up with about $500 more when we had a tax company do them for us...Tax companies know all the laws/deductions for specific situations and every year they add more tax laws which normal people have no idea about. Especially after having kids, etc. If you were single and had pretty much basic deductions I wouldnt bother, but being married with kids I would definitely do it.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

Your return is pretty basic and I bet you two could do it yourself or go to www.irs.gov to find a free efile option. I have done taxes professionally for years (degree in accounting and just quit my job at KPMG, an international accounting firm, to stay home with my son) and it amazes me how much money people will spend to get their taxes done when there are so many free options. You would get the same return if you did it, or H&R Block, they aren't in bed with the IRS! :-) The only way you would get a smaller return is if you left out some vital information - did you pay student loan interest this year, does your job have any qualifying expenses that you could deduct, your mortgage is a huge one, another one is charitable donations and health expenses. Go through each line carefully on the schedule A and you will be alright. I do taxes for a reasonable fee - much cheaper than anywhere else in this area - and would be happy to help if you think you would rather go through a professional. Just let me know through mamasource and we can email for other personal information. Thanks and good luck! I am looking forward to our return this year too, times are tough!

M., I have done my own taxes as well as my Husband's Self Employment Taxes. I used to prepare them and then we would go have a Professional file the return for us because we always needed our refund super fast. I have now filed with Turbo Tax for the last 3 years. Their online program walks you through preparing your return easier than reading the book. It asks you the questions, then based on your very basic beginning answers, it will narrow the questions down to more specific to your situation & alerts you to credits you may qualify for without you having to search through the entire book for answers. It will import your information the next year and it's really easy if you lose your copies to go back and reprint them. the penny. experience. I'm positive that you can do this yourself and save alot of money. As one Mama said the IRS is great about helping you if you call them.
Best of Luck

Turbo Tax has worked better for us than H&R Block. We have a home, kids and itemize. Its safe and catches things I truly think H&R Block doesn't nor did they ever ask us about as many things as the Turbo Tax program does.

Hi M.
I've been lucky that I married a CPA so I always have mine professionally done! He is very reasonable with his rates. It is always best to use a CPA in my opinion and prices can vary greatly. He can be competitive with H&R block and Jackson Hewitt...so it is worth giving him a call, he can evaluate your tax situation for free!
____@____.com or www.zachcpa.com

we do ours ourself on turbo tax. We get the max deductions one. It is the same type program they use at h&r you just don't have to pay them hundreds of dollars. It is super easy and ask you everything.Have it direct deposite and you will get it in about 2wks. Good luck

We use to go to H&R Block, but one year my husband suggested trying Jackson Hewitt and I swear our return doubled that year. It was the most we had ever gotten back. From my personal experience, they really tried to get us all the money back that they could. And they were a lot nicer than the people at H&R Block.
Good Luck!

We've used Turbo Tax for over 10 years. Never been audited, always get a great return. You can do it online at turbotax.com, or buy the software. We file long form and have a few deductions with our house interest, property taxes, day care and tithes. Turbo Tax helps you look for deductions and makes sure you're not making mistakes. We file it electronically and it's direct deposited to our savings account within 2 weeks. We typically have ours by Valentine's Day each year.

We have ours professionally prepared as there are many nuances we weren't aware. I have attached our CPA's information. You can call her office to make an appointment. You will need to ask her staff what items you need to bring to have your taxes prepared. Lynn also offers tax tips in a monthly newsletter which is extremely helpful.

Lynn W. Bryant, P.C.
Certified Public Accountant
1825 Harwood Court
Hurst, TX 76054
Office: ###-###-####
Fax: ###-###-####

Good luck. We really like her and think her rates are very reasonable.