Where's the best place to go to have your taxes done??

Question

What's the best company??

Answer 1

It depends how complex your return is. H & R Block has some very good preparers. They also have some lousy ones who have botched up taxes for years and a lot of first year preparers.

Having said that, it can be the same with CPA firms. You can get some CPA's who last did a tax return in college and who glaze over at the mere mention of Earned Income Tax Credit.

Now, if you have simple affairs - job, mortgage, kid or two - H & R Block may well be ideal. In fact, for many H & R Block preparers, that is their bread-and-butter return.

If it is more complex than that, you must either insist on an experienced preparer or go to a CPA firm, on a recommendation from someone you can trust. The basic Block training course doesn't come close to covering everything on a regular return (I know, I've been through it and now work for a CPA).

Having prepared my own taxes online this year, I was stunned at how much these (supposedly idiot-proof) services leave the layman to do. I picked up a $700 error in my state return (obvious to me but perhaps not so much to a layman) and a further $950 in my federal when I ran a tax computation using an excel spreadsheet. That's tax by the way, not income! That money will pay for a five-star hotel on holiday, rather than the two-star my wife thinks we're going to. My point is that you should be wary of tax programs. If you must do your taxes yourself, Bostonian's idea of the kitchen table makes some sense, except you cannot electronically file from there.

Answer 2

No, the preparer is not responsible for any payment. The preparer is sort of like a messenger; not responsible for the message; just puts it down in black and white. There would be no preparers who would do returns if such was the case as there is too much information that gets overlooked or not provided or lost or whatever. People forget that they owe child support or student loans or something that will offset a refund. Or, people forget about selling stocks or bonds; or, the notice never gets to them so they overlook it and it is not included in the return. A good preparer will always prepare a return and then ask the principle to sleep on the subject and see if they remember anything they have forgotten; and it is amazing how much information is added the next day. I always remember an old saying, "Do it right or do it over".

Answer 3

My mother works for H & R block and she is one of the best tax return specialists in this area. H & R Block gives thier employees extensive training in the field of tax preperation. You can trust H & R Block.

Please visit the website below and pay special attention to photo 16:16. Thank you and have a very nice day.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20715800@N00/

Answer 4

The best and cheap way to do it is using a do it yourself program places like H&R Block charge excesive fees if you go to a office, but if you do it yourself online using hrblock.com or taxact.com etc, you can save a lot of $$$. I used to pay $75 to $100 at the H&R Block office 4 years ago then I learned how to do it myself online using one of the free e-file sites. Go to www.irs.gov free e-file and you can find the one that best work for you

Answer 5

My husband and I have always used H&R Block. It is however kind of costly...I payed them $165 to do my returns but I have peace of mind. I hate numbers and could not imagine myself doing them on my own. But my mother who is self employed goes to a CPA because hers are a little more complicated and she thought they did a wonderful job. They helped her find numerous deductions she could claim. Also she only had to pay $90. Short & Sweet...I like H&R Block!

Answer 6

Your own kitchen table.

Answer 7

www.shaydzofluv.com