DP wants to file taxes on Turbotax- and he has his own business- bad idea?

[Amila]

My DP wants to do his own taxes this year online. He is in his second year of owning his own tile business. It makes me nervous. Do you think it would be safer to go to an actual accountant? Help! Am I worrying for nothing? I guess I am just afraid of being audited- not that we are trying to scam anyone, but with his kind of business it is easy to have lots of write offs, and say you make less than you do, etc. which I know he will do. Arghh....

[Cheshire]

When I had my own business I did my own taxes but had a CPA review them before I submitted to the IRS.

Having the CPA actually prepare the taxes was very expensive. I felt pretty comfortable doing them myself and just had the CPA review them for a smaller fee. He also helped me find more deductions and told me which other deductions might raise a flag for an audit.

Maybe that compromise will work???

[annekevdbroek]

TurboTax is pretty good. However, when I was an independent contractor (basically, my own business) I hired a CPA. It is a tax deductible business expense, business taxes are WAY more complicated than individual taxes, and a CPA can do a much better job of catching stuff than TurboTax.... I found that calling around and asking about fees really helped. The CPA rates for tax preparation in our area varied widely, from about $300 (for personal, last year) to over $1200 (for personal, last year). Over the phone the CPA should be able to tell you what forms need to be completed and approximately what fees will be charged.

[oceanbaby]

My mom does her own on TurboTax, and she has her own business. However, although she is not a CPA, she is an accounting professional. I would probably consider having a CPA just review the tax return, if nothing else than to make sure you aren't missing some deductions that you could be taking!

[Epiphany]

We do our business taxes using TurboTax after my mother (a former accountant) recommended it. It has worked great for the last 3 years. It is a huge money saver as we are a very small business and hiring a CPA would be an expense we just couldn't manage.

[jaidymama]

my dh has used turbotax for our taxes for the last 7 years, and he has his own consulting business. We have never had them checked by a CPA or anyone else for that matter. We have always done really well with our taxes too. I don't know if it makes a difference, but my dh has a business degree.

So I guess you could have plan A and plan B. Perhaps just see how things go with the computer program, and call a CPA if you end up needing more reassurance. I would also add that depending on the type and size of business it might be more complicated than others to handle the tax situation.

[Free Thinker]

We use a CPA and I think he is worth every penney! He knows alot more about those write-offs than we do. If you have a couple W-2s, then file yourself w/ TUrboTax or wherever, but if you have different expense categories, ect. I think it is very helpful to have an accountant. WHo knows, you may figure out some way to save lots of money by incorporating or something like that! Good Luck!

Oh, and ours is about $650 last year.