Income Tax Preparation – Using a Tax Professional Helps You Keep More of Your Money

When it’s time to prepare your income taxes, working with someone to personally oversee your return, particularly when you have any complex deductions, can ultimately save you both time and money. A qualified tax professional can help you to prepare your tax returns, or file an extension.

A good tax preparer will ask you questions, help you claim the appropriate deductions, assist you & represent in the event of an audit, and keep you from making errors on your tax return. They can advise you about items that could possibly pose problems for you, or raise a red flag with the IRS, inviting an audit.

If you have a simple return, you might consider e-filing or using a simple tax program. But remember, you don’t hire a tax professional just fill out forms, you pay them to give you advice, ensure your filing is correct, pose questions if they find something problematic, and ultimately help you to have the least amount of tax liability possible.

As with every service professional you hire, it is important to know who you are dealing with. Some of the big national preparers – the ones waging war against each other with television ads – hire seasonal employees. You really want someone who deals with taxes all year long, not only for a few weeks.

Here are some simple questions to help you decide if you would benefit from hiring someone to prepare your taxes this year.

Do you have the time to do your own taxes?

The Internal Revenue Service has estimated that the average taxpayer needed 22 hours to do his or her own tax return. That figure increases to 32 hours if you need to file a Schedule C for business or a Schedule E for rental properties. You have the option of filing online through the IRS website, or through a tax program. These can save you time filling out the forms, since it’s automated; but you still must organize all the materials, and then if you have questions along the way – it gets more complex.

Do you have the money to hire someone to complete your return?

The cost of having a professional prepare your taxes can range from under $100 for a simple return to thousands for a complex return requiring specialized work. The average for an itemized return is around $300 and goes over $400 for Schedule C and E’s. One big upside is that you may be able to deduct the fee you pay on next year’s return.

And the most important question of all…

Do you feel confident that you understand the complexity of the federal code?

And do you feel that you can effectively apply the regulations to your own tax return? The tax code is complicated with changes happening all the time. In fact, there have been over 3,500 tax law changes since 2000. The help of a tax professional – someone who has kept up with the changes and understands their impact – can be really valuable in helping you save time and money.

What You Should Consider When Hiring a Tax Preparer

When it comes to tax preparation, they fall into just a few categories: storefront preparers such as those at H&R Block, certified public accountants (CPAs), enrolled agents (EAs), and lawyers. They are all required to be registered and they are subject to continuing education requirements.

You ideally want to find an individual who specializes in taxation and keeps up with tax trends and changes in tax law. This will be to your advantage. After all, you are paying for advice and direction – not someone to simply complete your forms.

• Your tax preparer should be looking for every deduction possible, based on your situation. To do that they should ask you a lot of questions, they need to know what you do and what deductions you qualify for.
• A good tax preparer will educate you on allowable deductions, as well as how to minimize your tax exposure.
• An experienced preparer focuses on the current year, and offers advice on how to structure your financial transactions for the upcoming year to reduce your taxes.
• Investing in tax preparation, especially with an enrolled agent, can provide you with the advice you need and can also offer safeguards because they can represent you to the IRS in the event of questions or an audit.

About Us

We specialize in income tax preparation and planning, preparing income tax returns for both federal and state, for individual taxpayers, partnerships, corporations and fiduciaries. We try to take the work out of having your taxes done – with the power of email and fax; you do not even have to travel to our offices. We can get the job done fast and at your convenience.

Our firm has an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and all cases are personally handled by the principal of the firm, Mike Habib (EA).

With over 20 years experience in financial and tax advisory to individuals, small businesses, and fortune 500 companies, I have solutions to your tax matters.

• I handle each client’s case personally and attempt to successfully negotiate the best possible solution for him or her.
• I offer a free initial consultation so that I can gather the facts and determine what options are available for you.
• Evening and weekend appointments for clients that cannot meet with me during the week.

Mike is an IRS licensed enrolled agent (EA) and can help you Get Tax Relief & IRS Debt Relief by solving your IRS problems. To discuss your situation, please contact our tax firm for a free tax consultation at 877-788-2937.