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As a CPA who has worked in the tax industry for 13 years, my advice is to use a local CPA you like and trust. We charge less than H&R and do a much better job. Plus we are around year round to discuss all aspects of our clients financial situations. I will even advise someone to use a free file software if there is absolutely no need for me. I always tell clients my goal is to save them more than I cost them over the course of our working relationship. *end of CPA plug*
Quoted from too-many-pins:I have done it about every way possible. I studied accounting in college but got a degree in business instead because I really didn't like accounting all that much. Did my own for years, then started with a great CPA for a few years. After we moved to Central PA I started using H&R Block just because for $30 I can get their "piece of mind guarantee". I figure if I get audited I'll let them explain some of the shit they did instead of me having to deal with it.
H&R isn't the cheapest way out and like stated above "they really don't know anything more than what the computer tells them" but at least I am not spending a half a day dealing with it. Spend 45 minutes in their office & it is done instead of spending 1/2 a day doing it myself.
Just remember, you get what you pay for. Here's a story from my grab back of shit I've seen H&R preparers pull over the years I've been in the industry. My uncle, a farmer, took his taxes to H&R for years and paid for the audit protection. He then got audited because some moron depreciated a tractor twice by mistake. Then after the audit letter came, H&R wrote one response letter and decided they were in over their head. He moved to a local CPA who got things lined out for him. It was a total dumpster fire just because of incompetence.
H&R employes preparers who they ram through their in house class and then make them preparer hundreds of returns a year. It's totally a volume based game with no care for the clients. One more example: My dad has an employee with a druggie burnout girlfriend, who has been unemployed for the last 2 years. She just went through a month of training and could now be doing your return at that local H&R office.
The moral of the story is you get what you pay for. And remember, any monkey can dump numbers into a computer program, but not any monkey can tell you if the output is correct.
Quoted from Kkuoppamaki:I often hear that CPA's can find overlooked deductions, but is it really so that e.g. Turbotax does not cover all that? Full disclosure, I've been using Turbotax for years, it's pretty straight forward (at least in my case, despite having investments and property) but I've always wondered if I'm missing something by not using a tax professional
Unfortunately there is no straight forward answer here. Each taxpayer's situation can vary significantly. There are clients I can save a lot of money and some I won't have anything different from TurboTax (or any other software). Where we bring value to the table is point out things that software might not recommend, and those things are all situational. We get to know clients over years and make sure together we are going the most we can for the financial benefit.
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Wichita, KS