Cpa's and wanna be CPA's, come in

[Baron Von Crowder]

We are trying to figure out if it is worth it to hire a CPA for our taxes this year vs and online freebee.

Everything is fairly simple, my wife and I both have taxes taken out of our paychecks, no major expenses this year etc.

We pay my wife's aunt to come to our house to watch the kiddos, and we pay her cash. She doesnt claim the income, so best we can do on the e-file is the standard deduction. Im told a CPA can play with that number and associated costs so we can reclaim some of that, but we dont want to get flagged or audited.

TIA for the input.

[BMCSean]

For the past 6 years we have used a CPA, this year I did it myself since we had a very simple year. I used H&R block online, the $30 thing, it was easy to use and let me put in everything for my kid.

[Cooter]

as cut and dry as your situation is, I'd just take standard deductions and roll with it

[Baron Von Crowder]

as cut and dry as your situation is, I'd just take standard deductions and roll with it

that's the way I'm leaning.

[BP]

Standard deduction for joint filing is $12,200. Unless you pay a boat load in mortgage interest or have tons of medical bills that's a hard number to hit.

[mstng86]

Standard deduction for joint filing is $12,200. Unless you pay a boat load in mortgage interest or have tons of medical bills that's a hard number to hit.

This is our dilemma.

[GE]

No Pattymelt dig yet? You guys are slacking.

[Chuck_Finley]

as cut and dry as your situation is, I'd just take standard deductions and roll with it

This, plus if you're reasonably familiar with tax code and don't flinch at filing the forms yourself, you can do this for free with TaxAct.

Standard deduction for joint filing is $12,200. Unless you pay a boat load in mortgage interest or have tons of medical bills that's a hard number to hit.

Every other year is when I pay property taxes so it helps me exceed this number easily. Roll in the state sales tax deductions along with it and it helps add up.

[Chuck]

Sounds like your return is pretty straight forward. So, you should be able to do it yourself.

Been a few years since I did taxes (2004), but we charged $250 for basic tax return when i was in public. Don't know what the rates are now.

[Frank]

About tree twenny figh, tree fiddy

[BP]

This is our dilemma.

Obviously I need to buy a bigger house and pay a higher interest rate.

[mstng86]

Obviously I need to buy a bigger house and pay a higher interest rate.

Don't forget higher medical bills. Guess I Shouldn't carry insurance on my family.

[sc281]

No Pattymelt dig yet? You guys are slacking.

He did put wannabe cpa in the title.

[SVT Lurch]

Obviously I need to buy a bigger house and pay a higher interest rate.

Sup?

[Slowhand]

I have a Master's in Corporate Taxation, will be licensed CPA here in about a month, and I even I pump my shit through TurboTax. 90% of people just don't have the complexity in their returns to require a $200 job. TurboTax (and the assorted other free services) can walk you through most deductions pretty simply, although you might have to pay a bit if you're itemizing (can't remember off the top of my head).