Tax Question

Mrs.HarrisIII · February 2011

In your honest opinion do you think it would be the same if we went to H&R block as opposed to going to a regular accountant. I mean money wise. I have always used turbo tax and this year we have come across some things that are making my head hurt, so I want to just take my taxes someplace and have them done. I have heard a lot of good and bad things about H&R block and Jackson Hewitt but I have never used them

So I was hoping you guys could tell me what your experiences are in dealing with taxes.TIA

Steven&Jamie · February 2011

It seems like I've heard before that those people aren't always true CPAs...but maybe I'm wrong. We've never used H&R or Jackson Hewitt, I always did them myself until we got married and it got more complicated.

Why not use a regular CPA?

Mrs.HarrisIII · February 2011

I don't know. I am thinking they are so much more expensive than H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. I just never called around.

Do you know a good CPA?

amanjay · February 2011

In my experience, CPAs are actually about the same price. For what it's worth, although this may not be the norm, my mom's friend (who has a high school diploma and works as a group home supervisor) took the 2 week course from H&R Block and now works there at tax time as a preparer. They just taught her to use the software (essentially what you can access online or through TurboTax.) I would trust myself much more than I would trust her, and I would trust a CPA much more than I would trust myself.

kayleeb · February 2011

We went to H&R last year. We had some old lady who wasn't even up to date with stuff (like the education credits and the first time homebuyer credit). She finished (but it was before we filed) and we were going to have to pay H&R nearly $200! Luckily, since they didn't actually file them for us, we were able to just walk away and do it on our own at home. I think you'd be better off with a CPA (although I don't know how much they charge).

tbvenable · February 2011

Our 1st year married we went to H&R Block; but I went to a guy I knew that is very intellegent who worked there only durning tax season. They guy I know what teaching classes at OSU his Sr. of college if that tells you anything and was onl Dean's honor roll the whole time and making above a 4.0.

Now we go to an accountant that is familiar with C business and other Snap-On dealers use him. I have mixed feelings on him because we always met with him and when it came to them doing our taxes someone else in the office did them and we had to file like 3 extensions.

I have mixed reviews about the work but cost was much different. When we used H&R block it was like $150 for the 1040EZ and last year we had business profit and loss, expemtions and all that crap and it was like $250.

I say do what your comfortable with and check around with different CPA's.

stripesandspots · February 2011

Please, please, please, please, PUH-LEASE do not go to H&R block.

If you need the name of a good CPA, I can give you quite a few. Tax work is incredibly complicated - I have been a CPA for over 7 years and given that I do not deal with taxes on a daily basis would never consider even filing my own return.

If your return is fairly simple, you can probably get it done for around $100.

stripesandspots · February 2011

tbvenable:

Now we go to an accountant that is familiar with C business and other Snap-On dealers use him. I have mixed feelings on him because we always met with him and when it came to them doing our taxes someone else in the office did them and we had to file like 3 extensions.

I have mixed reviews about the work but cost was much different. When we used H&R block it was like $150 for the 1040EZ and last year we had business profit and loss, expemtions and all that crap and it was like $250.

I say do what your comfortable with and check around with different CPA's.

For one thing, as far as price, you are comparing apples to oranges. I am guessing when you filed the 1040EZ you did not have the business (that would have to be the case because you can not include business income on a EZ)? $250 for a 1040 with a schedule C seems incredibly reasonable given the amount of work and research that goes into a return with business income. $150 for the 1040EZ does not sound reasonable. That return should have taken H&R block a good 5 minutes to complete given that the only things included on a EZ are wages, interest, the standard deductions and personal exemptions.

The other thing - although your CPA has someone else prepare the return - that is a good thing. I bill out at $350 an hour - I am guessing your CPA's hourly rate is much higher. He has someone else do the actual input into the system along with organizing the file that way you are only charged $15 an hour or so for that - then he reviews everything. If it is important to you that he does ALL of the work you should tell him - but expect to pay for it.

Mrs.HarrisIII · February 2011

Well one of the things this year is that we bought a house together and we are filing "the long form"( I laugh ever time someone calls it that) and without giving out too much of my "bidness" his tax refunds (if any) will get taken. And like I said I usually do them and we file separate, but someone told me that we couldn't this year because we bought the house together and now I am confused.

I just am afraid I am going to have to pay out the wazoo for a CPA and if I go to H&R Block I am going to get stuck with someone who will miss a few deductions that I know he may be qualified for.

Steven&Jamie · February 2011

Mrs.HarrisIII:
I don't know. I am thinking they are so much more expensive than H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. I just never called around.

Do you know a good CPA?

The CPA we use charged us $100 to do our state and federal taxes. She's in the Shawnee area, but I'd be happy to give you her info if you're interested.

stripesandspots · February 2011

Mrs.HarrisIII:

Well one of the things this year is that we bought a house together and we are filing "the long form"( I laugh ever time someone calls it that) and without giving out too much of my "bidness" his tax refunds (if any) will get taken. And like I said I usually do them and we file separate, but someone told me that we couldn't this year because we bought the house together and now I am confused.

I just am afraid I am going to have to pay out the wazoo for a CPA and if I go to H&R Block I am going to get stuck with someone who will miss a few deductions that I know he may be qualified for.

I am curious as to why you file separate. But as far as the house - you can probably itemize now, depending on when you purchased the house. You can still file separately, I think, as long as you both do not include the purchase of the home on your taxes (only one of you can claim it). There really is no benefit to filing separately even in this situation.

Mrs.HarrisIII · February 2011

We filed separate because he was having his tax refund taken and I was told when we were married to do it this way, because of the fact that his refund was going to be taken until the debt was settled.

stripesandspots · February 2011

Mrs.HarrisIII:
We filed separate because he was having his tax refund taken and I was told when we were married to do it this way, because of the fact that his refund was going to be taken until the debt was settled.

Then, if I were you - depending on what your strategy is - place the house on your return.

Mrs.HarrisIII · February 2011

Thanks you guys for your comments, they have been extremely helpful and I appreciate all of your suggestions. you are the greatest group of people I know.

Mrs.HarrisIII · February 2011

Steven&Jamie:
Mrs.HarrisIII:

I don't know. I am thinking they are so much more expensive than H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. I just never called around.

Do you know a good CPA?

The CPA we use charged us $100 to do our state and federal taxes. She's in the Shawnee area, but I'd be happy to give you her info if you're interested.

YES! Please, and Thank you most kindly

tbvenable · February 2011

stripesandspots:
tbvenable:

Now we go to an accountant that is familiar with C business and other Snap-On dealers use him. I have mixed feelings on him because we always met with him and when it came to them doing our taxes someone else in the office did them and we had to file like 3 extensions.

I have mixed reviews about the work but cost was much different. When we used H&R block it was like $150 for the 1040EZ and last year we had business profit and loss, expemtions and all that crap and it was like $250.

I say do what your comfortable with and check around with different CPA's.

For one thing, as far as price, you are comparing apples to oranges. I am guessing when you filed the 1040EZ you did not have the business (that would have to be the case because you can not include business income on a EZ)? $250 for a 1040 with a schedule C seems incredibly reasonable given the amount of work and research that goes into a return with business income. $150 for the 1040EZ does not sound reasonable. That return should have taken H&R block a good 5 minutes to complete given that the only things included on a EZ are wages, interest, the standard deductions and personal exemptions.

The other thing - although your CPA has someone else prepare the return - that is a good thing. I bill out at $350 an hour - I am guessing your CPA's hourly rate is much higher. He has someone else do the actual input into the system along with organizing the file that way you are only charged $15 an hour or so for that - then he reviews everything. If it is important to you that he does ALL of the work you should tell him - but expect to pay for it.

You are correct we did not have the business the 1st year we filed together. I thought the price was high at H&R Block considering they did what I could have done at home but what can ya do when it's already done? I will never use H&R Block even once we don't have the business.

I thought the CPA's $250 was very resonable. Our CPA has a few other CPA's in with him. I think it is all family owned and operated. I was just upset it took so long to get them done and we still do not have a return from IRS like we are suppose to. But oh well. However the reason we had to file extensions was because they were missing paperwork they needed and did not call us until October to ask about it after us giving them everything else in April that is what bothered me the most.

I guess I should have said in my original post that I would use a CPA over HJ and H&R anyday.

Kellyn62 · February 2011

Steven&Jamie:
Mrs.HarrisIII:
I don't know. I am thinking they are so much more expensive than H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. I just never called around.
Do you know a good CPA?
The CPA we use charged us $100 to do our state and federal taxes. She's in the Shawnee area, but I'd be happy to give you her info if you're interested.

I'd like the name, too! I've been trying to convince DH that H&R isn't the place for us...

gingerfeathers · February 2011

We paid $65 last year for a guy to do ours. He was okay, better than H's experience with H&R Block 4 years ago (will never do that again), but we won't see him again.

This year we're going to use my parent's accountant. She's insanely thorough, and I have my fingers crossed that she'll be able to find some stuff I missed when I went through our stuff on Turbo Tax just to get an idea of what we'll owe.

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