Why don't people do their own taxes?

Anonymous

I did my own for many years. But I inherited property and investments, including stocks and bonds, and for me it's worth it to pay someone else to go through all the statements and put all the numbers in the right place.

RICK

I do my own Have every year but 2 since 1964 And I agree its not hard, even so called complicated taxes with self employment, rental income or capital gains are easy And what's funny is the only 2 times in 55 returns that the IRS found errors or had questions were the 2 years so called professionals did them

Anonymous

No, it doesn't take a genius to do a "simple" return. Many returns are not simple at all and many people are far to busy to be bothered with filing a tax return. Multiple investments and trades make a return much more complicated. One year, fortunately, not every year, my tax papers were massive because of multiple investments/trades. It seemed like 6" or 8" of papers. It was overwhelming. I had always filed my own and I missed it that year. The IRS put me down for making almost THREE times as much as I did. So I handed the mess to an accountant.

Slumlord

If your taxes are convoluted enough then it does take a genius not so much to do them but to do them and get every deduction allowed. For really complex taxes the savings from having a pro do them could far surpass the cost.

Amy

If your taxes are simple, go ahead and do them yourself. But some people have tax situations too complicated to do correctly without specialized knowledge. They may have a "gig" side job (e.g. driving for Uber), have a variety of potential deductions, manage a charitable fund, pay for a parent's health care, etc. It doesn't take a genius to jumpstart a regular old car, either, but if your car is a electric hybrid, you should probably call a professional before messing with the battery.

Anonymous

I do my own taxes. 😁

NiJo

Because most are willing to pay high fees to get their "refund" immediately. Saving seems to be a thing of the past.

daoco

Tax pro here. Had a man bring in his nephews taxes he was attempting to do online. Said he had income from a scholarship and he didn't know how to report it. He didn't have income, he had tuition paid which increased his refund by over $900 over what the uncle had figured. Many of my clients bring in the paper copy of what they did online. We will compare and I will show them where they made mistakes.

Max Hoopla

A lot of them screw it up.

mokrie

Bet your losing money by doing your own. Deductions are the biggest reason people want a pro to find them to save money.

curtisports2

I've always done my own. And I've done returns for family members and friends.

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i do my own, for years now