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Taxes – general

Taxes are a horribly complex thing – no one is going to argue about that. Next time you have a spare afternoon, break out the U.S. tax code (or, more specifically, Title 26 – Internal Revenue Code) and give it a read. If by the end of the afternoon you understand anything about how you are supposed to be paying your taxes, you will be ahead of the vast majority of the population. Perplexing or not, however, everyone (well, almost everyone) has to file their tax returns and pay their taxes (preferably on time!). Fortunately, there are a number of solutions out there than can make filing your taxes easier for you, and could in fact even leave you with a reduction of your tax bill.

Using tax professionals
(or, getting someone else to do the work for you)

The biggest benefit to getting tax professionals to prepare your tax return is, well, the fact that you do not have to prepare your tax return. Preparing your own tax return can take up a lot of your valuable time, can end up causing a huge amount of stress and annoyance in your life, and can be a bewildering and confusing situation. Using a tax professional will take away most of your tax related stress (let’s be honest, nothing will ever take away all of your tax related stress). Ideally, you will also be able to rest easy knowing that someone who actually understands the U.S. tax code is preparing your taxes. This is especially important if your tax situation is particularly complex, or if you need to engage in an aggressive tax strategy as part of a larger financial plan.

In order to find the right tax professional to prepare your taxes, you should consider first what your needs are. If you have a particularly complex tax situation, or are a small business owner, you should consider getting either a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or an Enrolled Agent (EA) to do your taxes. The advantage of using a Certified Public Accountant or an Enrolled Agent is that you will know you are using someone who has been certified (either at the state level for CPAs or by the IRS for EAs) to do taxes. This should give you a certain amount of comfort that your complex tax situation is being handled properly. If your tax situation is more straightforward, you could consider using one of the many walk-in services that blanket the nation with advertising during tax time. Or if you are more confident in your skills, you could use tax filing software to finish your taxes yourself. With most software, it will involve answering a series of questions, so it is not like you will have to be working with the blank tax forms yourself. The best part about using the software is that, if your adjusted gross income is $52,000 or less, you will be able to use a software package to file your taxes for free under Free File program. Whatever option you chose, be sure to get your taxes in on time!