Should I Do My Own Taxes?
Though filing your taxes may be a stressful process, it isn't necessarily a complicated one. If your taxes are fairly simple, you may be wondering: Should I do my own taxes? Is it easy? And where can I file online? While there are certain circumstances where it pays to hire a professional to prepare your tax return, if you have a straight forward source of income and a fairly simple return, you're probably better off filing yourself.
Don't throw away your money
Though you might take comfort in the help of a tax professional, that help isn't going to come cheap. According to the National Society of Accountants, it costs an average of $261 to outsource your tax return. If you have reason to believe that a professional might save you that much or more in deductions, then it might pay to hire someone. But if you don't expect to have a large number of deductions, hiring a professional could mean throwing your money away.
First of all, tax preparers are only human, which means they sometimes make mistakes. Furthermore, in a limited study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, only two out of 19 professional tax preparers managed to calculate the correct refund amounts for their clients.
Now, this isn't to say that professionals don't know more than the average tax filer. But your accountant's knowledge won't do you any good if you're not eligible for any of the hidden tax breaks you're hoping he or she will magically uncover. Furthermore, hiring an accountant won't necessarily help you avoid an audit, either. In fact, even if your accountant signs off on your taxes and files them on your behalf, if your return is audited and you end up owing money, you're the one who will be responsible for paying it.
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