Taxes after last working year....

[Marco]

Freshly retired, last Friday was my retirement date.

So I've used H&R Block online for the past 10 years to do my income tax.....have had zero problems, and have been happy with the results. Was wondering if going into retirement, having my highest salaried year, made the most in my retirement accounts and dividends, and savings, would it be a good idea to have have taxes done by a real tax professional? I'd like to go into my new *taxable situation* with a clean bill of health so to speak.
Is this a wise idea, or I am I making things too complicated?

Thanks,

~Marco

 

[Ready]

Making more money does not make your taxes more complicated. If you had some unusual transactions that require special treatment that might warrant hiring an expert.

 

[audreyh1]

I assume you’ve already had to deal with dividends, interest and capital gains distributions and realized gains, unless all of your investing was in tax deferred accounts.

Generally, taxes simplify once someone quits working/earning wages. So I don’t see the benefit of you going to a tax professional now unless you start your own business.

 

[bloom2708]

You know you better than a tax person does.

I used a tax professional one year. It was way more work. I had to compile everything, then double check and find all their errors/omissions.

Never again. Unless you added some complex pieces to your taxes, do them yourself again.

Double and triple check.

 

[freedomatlast]

I retired in 2019 and am still doing my own taxes. The only thing that changed is that I must make appropriate quarterly payments to Federal and State entities since I no longer have W-2 income to have these taxes withdrawn from, to cover after tax investment income.

 

[VanWinkle]

I would suggest you use a little of your extra time to study Federal/State Tax rates and ways to lessen your tax burden. You could still hire someone to do your taxes, but you are the best person to look for ways to reduce your taxes.

I am a VITA tax volunteer and have found that it has saved me considerable dollars on my tax planning each year.

VW