Hi, I heard once you are a home owning adult, you git yourself an accountant. Why?

[Scarpozzi]

For me, the standard deduction has always covered me better than itemizing, unless I did a bunch of weird claims. People running businesses will itemize and claim mileage, dining receipts, etc as business expenses and write those off their income. I'd want a CPA to bless it so it stays within the limits of what the IRS allows without getting flagged.

Otherwise, the tax software interview usually covers all the normal credits a homeowner or childowner might be eligible for on a particular tax year.

 

[nisryus]

I have an investment property, own a house, max contribute to Roth IRA annually, and have 401k and 401 Roth through work... I just use turbo tax.

 

[Sonikku]

I'm pretty sure Jeff Bezos and the rest of the billionaire class agree.

 

[Torn Mind]

I'm pretty sure Jeff Bezos and the rest of the billionaire class agree.

No doubts governments welcomed it at first. A few less old and disabled people to pay out "insurance" to.

Then it got a little too good at overwhelming the system....but COVID will be forever a remedy for the population pyramid. Oh, and if someone does die in a post-vaccinated world, the diagnosis will simply be a variation of "he was going to go anyway". (Folks should be familiar with that because that's exactly what Chauvin tried to use in court)

 

[ISAslot]

I tried: git fetch cpa
but it didn't work for me

 

[brianmanahan]

I tried: git fetch cpa
but it didn't work for me

probably because you ran it on a computer so old that it still has an ISA slot

 

[Scarpozzi]

probably because you ran it on a computer so old that it still has an ISA slot

Will a 16 bit slot even work in his 2 bit computer?

 

[Fritzo]

I used to say this too but Turbo Tax has gotten good. Like- REALLY good. Almost AI good. I switched over to it during the pandemic and used it again this year. Think I've converted.

 

[dank69]

I used to say this too but Turbo Tax has gotten good. Like- REALLY good. Almost AI good. I switched over to it during the pandemic and used it again this year. Think I've converted.

Or you can just file directly on the IRS site for free.

 

[Fritzo]

Or you can just file directly on the IRS site for free.

Our taxes are complex...tuition deductions, office space, mortgage stuff, 529 things, lots of other stuff. Well worth $80 to have something guide you through 50 pages of tax returns.

 

[brianmanahan]

Our taxes are complex...tuition deductions, office space, mortgage stuff, 529 things, lots of other stuff. Well worth $80 to have something guide you through 50 pages of tax returns.

that's a good price. i switched to turbotax when the tax preparer my grandparents and parents always used started charging me like 250$ a year. and that was almost 15 years ago when i didn't even have side income, just a W2 and some interest and IRA

 

[dank69]

Our taxes are complex...tuition deductions, office space, mortgage stuff, 529 things, lots of other stuff. Well worth $80 to have something guide you through 50 pages of tax returns.

Sure, I'm just mentioning another option. Most people aren't going to top the standard deduction anymore.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Yes, but most of them assume the income limits apply to their gross income and not their adjusted gross income. A competent CPA will find ways that you may not be aware of to lower your AGI. Even if that doesn't help him with Roth, it will still help him lower the amount of tax he'll have to pay.

ah as in cheating........ok

 

[JEDIYoda]

Home owning adult here. Don't have an accountant. Never have had and, as far as I know, the IRS has no warrants out for my arrest (unless I count those robocalls I get telling me to return the call or a warrant will be issued.)

you too??? They always hang up on me when I ask them if they have ankles....lol..

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

1. Google Search "Backdoor ROTH" and learn it. It's easy. Open a Traditional IRA with the same place your ROTH IRA is. Contribute to Traditional IRA with "After tax" funds. Then convert it to ROTH. Simple.


People "generally" can use CPAs because having more complex tax treatment is more probable with someone that at minimal owns a home.

That said, the majority of people still don't need a CPA - and the overwhelming majority that DO get them are just being screwed essentially for something that a teenager can pencil in on a tax return. They just see "OHHHH TAX RETURN! Scary! I better give this to someone thats qualified!". ANYONE who takes the standard deduction should be doing their own tax return. Period.

General things that MIGHT entail a CPA being useful:
-Complex investments
-Owning a business and properly accounting for all your deductions/exemptions. Maybe rental property as well.
-Potentially something with someone that has high medical expenses and overall complex expenses that can relate to tax deductions- e.g. living in assisted living medicare/medicaid perhaps? I'm def. Not an expert there.


Personally If I had any of those scenarios above, I wouldn't have any issue with hiring a CPA one time to do a return. I would ask tons of questions, figure out what data he is using - and make sure I get the overall synopsis to do it myself from that point on.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I used to say this too but Turbo Tax has gotten good. Like- REALLY good. Almost AI good. I switched over to it during the pandemic and used it again this year. Think I've converted.

Just bust out your tax returns from the previous year that the CPA did it and match up the lines and make sure they align with your expectations. It's really that simple.

 

[kt]

ah as in cheating........ok

Are you dense? Knowing tax laws is not a crime, nor is it cheating. You'll be surprised how many tax deductions are overlooked at fed and state levels.

 

[bbhaag]

Yes, but most of them assume the income limits apply to their gross income and not their adjusted gross income. A competent CPA will find ways that you may not be aware of to lower your AGI. Even if that doesn't help him with Roth, it will still help him lower the amount of tax he'll have to pay.

Agreed, but it seems like the general consensus around here is you don't need an accountant/cpa but when we switched over a couple years back it was well worth it.

I also agree that having a competent CPA who knows the tax code is not "cheating". That's called being smart with your money IMO.

 

[JEDIYoda]

1. Google Search "Backdoor ROTH" and learn it. It's easy. Open a Traditional IRA with the same place your ROTH IRA is. Contribute to Traditional IRA with "After tax" funds. Then convert it to ROTH. Simple.


People "generally" can use CPAs because having more complex tax treatment is more probable with someone that at minimal owns a home.

That said, the majority of people still don't need a CPA - and the overwhelming majority that DO get them are just being screwed essentially for something that a teenager can pencil in on a tax return. They just see "OHHHH TAX RETURN! Scary! I better give this to someone thats qualified!". ANYONE who takes the standard deduction should be doing their own tax return. Period.

General things that MIGHT entail a CPA being useful:
-Complex investments
-Owning a business and properly accounting for all your deductions/exemptions. Maybe rental property as well.
-Potentially something with someone that has high medical expenses and overall complex expenses that can relate to tax deductions- e.g. living in assisted living medicare/medicaid perhaps? I'm def. Not an expert there.


Personally If I had any of those scenarios above, I wouldn't have any issue with hiring a CPA one time to do a return. I would ask tons of questions, figure out what data he is using - and make sure I get the overall synopsis to do it myself from that point on.

As if you are that capable......dude your a joke!! Get over it we all see right through your bofus claims...

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

As if you are that capable......dude your a joke!! Get over it we all see right through your bofus claims...

.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I thought they closed the backdoor Roth loopholes but apparently not. I wouldn't be surprised if Roth ends up being taxable anyway.

Thiel I believe didn't use any loopholes per se, just that he was somehow able to buy Paypal stock at a fractions of a penny pre-IPO in his Roth.

So hedge your bets is what I do. Part of my retirement is pre-income with the 401. IRA is all ROTH for me.

When I retire the tax brackets will be totally different, so having an ability to take out some pre tax (say - until you reach a 25% tax rate) then compensate the rest with already paid.

Just good to have options if (like you suggested) that they so something to ROTHs.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

It's not the Roth conversion that's the problem. Thiel only reported income of like $75,000 the year he opened his Roth so he qualified. But under the IRS tax law, it says you have to pay market price for securities. He did not pay market price. He paid like a penny for his PayPal shares for his Roth account. PayPal private shares were worth far more than a penny on the private market. So Thiel broke IRS law when he put his PayPal shares into his Roth. So he should be made to forfeit his entire Roth gains and also claw back most of his regular aftertax fortune since Thiel used his Roth gains as springboard to make his aftertax fortune as well.

This.

Im sure they can find some legal citations to find he violated some of the clauses with what he did.

 

[Muse]

I'm sending 12% of my check to my 401k beyond company match.
Roth doesn't apply at my income level.
We save to 529
Also we buy stocks. Market will ways grow. Covid was a god-send. We are up a lot.
We have no car payments, drive 2008 accord and 2013 Hyundai SUV.
We have an investment property.
Turbo tax it

Please inform me.. how beneficial is a CPA for me?

I've owned my house for 21 years, outright. Most of my equity is in SPY. I have never talked to an accountant in my life. Or a tax attorney (use Turbotax Premier).

 

[Muse]

I put $2k in traditional IRA in 1996. That was the yearly limit. There was no Roth IRA back then. So just like Peter Thiel, I put in $2k in IRA and did not put another cent in traditional IRA. Thiel also put $2k but he did it in Roth IRA which I think first became available in 1997 or 1998 I think. But my traditional IRA is not worth billions like Thiel because I didn't get to cheat like him. I'm confident he would have less money in the IRA than me if he had to play with the same rules I did.

My Roth IRA did nothing until maybe 2016. I figured a few things out, it's getting close to double what I put in. Nothing fantastic but at least I don't have to worry about tax implications.

 

[Torn Mind]

ah as in cheating........ok

Shelving money into a 401(k) or HSA, which are two of the ways to reduce AGI, should be rewarded. It's a way of income redistribution from Wall Street.