Texas Proud
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Why would you want to file for any other reason?
Well, looking... it seems you can file to get a foreign tax credit up to 10 years...
IRS Notice & Benefit of Hiring a Tax Pro
- Thread starter Emerson11
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Why would you want to file for any other reason?
Well, looking... it seems you can file to get a foreign tax credit up to 10 years...
brett
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We have done our own taxes for the past three years. Lots of changes. We no longer need ta CPA.
But, the work that our CPA did and the advice that she provided (and we followed) has enabled us to avoid a fair amount of tax including these last three tax years.
We would not hesitate to re-engage if we had an issue or felt that we required some updated advice for whatever reason.
Two other items that she advised us on are relevant to this day. If we buy an out of country home her strong or we assist our son and g/f to purchase a home her advice is to speak to her first and get our own lawyer involved.
But, the work that our CPA did and the advice that she provided (and we followed) has enabled us to avoid a fair amount of tax including these last three tax years.
We would not hesitate to re-engage if we had an issue or felt that we required some updated advice for whatever reason.
Two other items that she advised us on are relevant to this day. If we buy an out of country home her strong or we assist our son and g/f to purchase a home her advice is to speak to her first and get our own lawyer involved.
gauss
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If you realized that you did something wrong and you want to set it right with them before they come looking for you at a time which might not be convenient for you to deal with it.
-gauss
I used TT for about 6-8 years. Then in mid-2000's, our situation got newly quite complicated plus my DM passed & I initially miss-did her returns. Net, we did go to & use a CPA for several years. Complications reduced over time though, but with an LLC I imagine our return is still more complicated than most. But the complications stabilized & I realized I could do the returns again with TT Premier & have for the last five years. No issues.
Brat
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My DD and her husband are CPAs. They use a CPA with expertise in taxes to prepare their returns.
youbet
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I certainly support your kids in their decision to use a tax-focused CPA to prepare their returns. But at the same time, it seems so sad that our tax system is so complicated that even folks like your kids benefit from a specialist. It seems like it's not how you live your life that determines your dollar contribution to society, but rather how sharp your pencil is at tax prep time!
audreyh1
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DH did his taxes when he was self-employed, and did ours once we married and I was drawing a salary. Once we retired, our tax situation became much simpler. We only have investment income. Most of that is downloaded into TurboTax, just a few additional 1099-INTs. We do review it carefully and check against all documents.
I track our income during the year and do the estimated taxes. That’s a little more complicated during years that I decide to use the annualized income method. But I’ve been doing that for a long time now, so I have it pretty well streamlined.
I had an accountant. She decided to go for her PhD and sold her business. The guy who took over gave me all these forms to fill out. When I filled them out I realized it was no different then entering the stuff in a tax program. No other discussion. That was it for having a tax accountant for me.
I track our income during the year and do the estimated taxes. That’s a little more complicated during years that I decide to use the annualized income method. But I’ve been doing that for a long time now, so I have it pretty well streamlined.
I had an accountant. She decided to go for her PhD and sold her business. The guy who took over gave me all these forms to fill out. When I filled them out I realized it was no different then entering the stuff in a tax program. No other discussion. That was it for having a tax accountant for me.
aja8888
Moderator Emeritus
My SIL's husband in San Jose, CA was the senior tax partner at KPMG for 30 years in the Silicon Valley. He ran their tax practice in the western U.S. Now retired, he consults with a lot of his own clients on tax matters to stay busy (he really doesn't need to work part time, but...).
I use him to review our return each year. In the last few years after I sold my business, our return was fairly simple, but during the 14 years I ran our corporation, his service was very valuable. It pays to use a pro if you have a complicated tax filing.
I use him to review our return each year. In the last few years after I sold my business, our return was fairly simple, but during the 14 years I ran our corporation, his service was very valuable. It pays to use a pro if you have a complicated tax filing.
ncbill
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I do the same, thanks mostly to making some incredibly stupid decisions on investments a few years ago.
But in the OP's case what more was needed besides sending a letter & copies of the tax return & 1099 showing the correct basis? Seems easy enough DIY.
Texas Proud
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But they only get 3 years also... I would bet big money that if you made it 2 1/2 and never heard anything they are not coming...
Now I know they can come for longer time period, but that means they have to prove fraud... so if you committed fraud I doubt you would be amending...
However, if you never filed then they can come back for all those years... I had a friend who had started to not file as he was involved with some group that claimed they were citizens of the world and did not have to follow that IRS laws... they went after one guy who had not filed for many years and planned to put him in jail... the lawyer for the guy was one of these also... during the trial the lawyer decided to file 20 years of back taxes
Edit to add... remember, this started when someone said they did amended back to 99...
Brat
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Their situation is venture capital specific. .... for example, when Uber goes public they are restricted from selling for 6 months.
gooddog
Recycles dryer sheets
"BTW: it's very useful to create an account with the IRS and download a transcript for the tax year in question. This provides you with a look at your taxes from the IRS's point of view"
How does one go about doing this? Would be great info for the thread.
How does one go about doing this? Would be great info for the thread.
Over the years I've had the IRS send a love letter 3 times claiming I owed more in tax. In each case they were wrong and I sent back an explanation plus supporting documentation and in each case I got a letter back saying "Never mind." It really isn't that big of a deal as long as you have kept good records and are familiar with the tax code as it applies to your situation.
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Corporateburnout
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bada bing
Full time employment: Posting here.
Like most posting, I've gotten a few IRS "love letters" over the years. In one case I made a mistake, in 3 others the IRS was in error. One thing I think I've learned is that it is prudent to e-file returns. 2 of the errors the IRS made on my past returns were from mis-entering numbers from paper returns I had filed by mail. They literally will not fix those without a major tribunal because the person you talk with on the phone has no access to your physical return, only the electronic version they entered.
I do my own returns using H&R Block software. My returns are moderately complex for a mid income filer - I have 1099 employment, schedule C income, depreciation schedules, solo401K, backdoor and mega-backdoor Roth to keep track of. I think there is a benefit in doing my own taxes in being more educated in how taxes work (not that I'm an expert). It is useful to have some understanding how choices I make through the year influence my tax return. I can see the convenience of turning the work over to a pro, but in my case the pros/cons favor DIY.
I do my own returns using H&R Block software. My returns are moderately complex for a mid income filer - I have 1099 employment, schedule C income, depreciation schedules, solo401K, backdoor and mega-backdoor Roth to keep track of. I think there is a benefit in doing my own taxes in being more educated in how taxes work (not that I'm an expert). It is useful to have some understanding how choices I make through the year influence my tax return. I can see the convenience of turning the work over to a pro, but in my case the pros/cons favor DIY.
I could never afford a CPA for tax work.... each year I get one of those large brown routing envelopes and on the out side I write the Tax year date and list all of the places that I have tax liabilities with... all banks, all financial institutions and company tax items...
Then as each tax related item comes in the mail I put those into the envelope and when the tax items that need to be downloaded from the financial institutions and banks and such are ready I download those and mark off the list on the envelope making sure I have all the documents from every body... I then get TT for business and pull out all of those tax documents.. and one by one I read the documents and understand what is on them and then enter the data into TT... then as each document is entered I put a big check mark on the upper left hand corner and a check mark on the front of the envelope... and then put all of the documents back into the envelope and the tax return is complete... once I get that in place I save it as "complete" then I open the return again and save a copy and rename the return to " what if " and I play around with the data to see if I can fine tweek the return and most of the time I never use the " complete " to file and I end up using some other iteration that gets better results... some years it makes a huge difference and some years it doesn't make that much difference... I don't think a CPA would want to play " what ifs " for hours to better the return but still stay legal... sometimes you look at the "complete " form and maybe your expense write offs are too high and you need to shift some to the next year... lots of ways to play the tax game.. just takes time and effort... never has TT let me down so far... I also create one more test return and input data that I know I will have for next years taxes and so I know how much I can remove from retirement funds to maximize withdraws from those accounts... just a look ahead kind of exercise...
Then as each tax related item comes in the mail I put those into the envelope and when the tax items that need to be downloaded from the financial institutions and banks and such are ready I download those and mark off the list on the envelope making sure I have all the documents from every body... I then get TT for business and pull out all of those tax documents.. and one by one I read the documents and understand what is on them and then enter the data into TT... then as each document is entered I put a big check mark on the upper left hand corner and a check mark on the front of the envelope... and then put all of the documents back into the envelope and the tax return is complete... once I get that in place I save it as "complete" then I open the return again and save a copy and rename the return to " what if " and I play around with the data to see if I can fine tweek the return and most of the time I never use the " complete " to file and I end up using some other iteration that gets better results... some years it makes a huge difference and some years it doesn't make that much difference... I don't think a CPA would want to play " what ifs " for hours to better the return but still stay legal... sometimes you look at the "complete " form and maybe your expense write offs are too high and you need to shift some to the next year... lots of ways to play the tax game.. just takes time and effort... never has TT let me down so far... I also create one more test return and input data that I know I will have for next years taxes and so I know how much I can remove from retirement funds to maximize withdraws from those accounts... just a look ahead kind of exercise...
Professionals also make mistakes, so one needs to be a careful and educated consumer as with hiring anyone to do a job for you.
I volunteer with the AARP Foundation to do taxes. I had two individuals this year that brought previous year returns done by paid preparers on which I found mistakes. (We ask folks to bring their previous year return for comparison to help make sure we don't miss anything.)
In one case, a CPA deducted HOA fees on a personal home, and in another a preparer incorrectly reported Railroad Retirement Benefits that would require the taxpayer to pay thousands of dollars in additional taxes.
I volunteer with the AARP Foundation to do taxes. I had two individuals this year that brought previous year returns done by paid preparers on which I found mistakes. (We ask folks to bring their previous year return for comparison to help make sure we don't miss anything.)
In one case, a CPA deducted HOA fees on a personal home, and in another a preparer incorrectly reported Railroad Retirement Benefits that would require the taxpayer to pay thousands of dollars in additional taxes.
