Re:Ask HN: How did you do your 2023 tax returns?
by amerkhalid on Wednesday April 17, 2024 @10:14AM
(#40064915)
I used to use CPA for years when I had decent freelancing clients. The CPA was great as I can email him any tax question anytime and he usually answered in details for free.
But as for saving time, I would not consider that a benefit. It still takes me hours to gather all the forms from various websites, take photos of other forms that were mailed, receipts, and other expense stuff. The benefit was that I had an expert available to make sure it was done right.
You will still need to proactively tell CPA about any changes in your life.
I stopped using my CPA when I missed a deduction for buying a new car. But later I asked him how do I know what are important tax related things to avoid missing any deductions and breaks. He started sending me a giant pdf to fill out. That was more work and less user-friendly than simply using TurboTax.
But as for saving time, I would not consider that a benefit. It still takes me hours to gather all the forms from various websites, take photos of other forms that were mailed, receipts, and other expense stuff. The benefit was that I had an expert available to make sure it was done right.
You will still need to proactively tell CPA about any changes in your life.
I stopped using my CPA when I missed a deduction for buying a new car. But later I asked him how do I know what are important tax related things to avoid missing any deductions and breaks. He started sending me a giant pdf to fill out. That was more work and less user-friendly than simply using TurboTax.