With the beginning of the tax season, it’s about time taxpayers start anxiously wading through their tax records to get a hold of their filings, and once again, most people face the same question: “Should I hire a professional tax preparer?” Working with a tax preparer provides significant benefits that can be explored around multiple factors.
1. Money
When deciding whether to hire a tax preparer or not, most people base their decision solely on the money factor. In an attempt to save the money you would pay to a professional, you may want to handle your taxes by yourself. However, even if you have a rather simple return, the everchanging IRS guidelines, confusing rules, specifications, and challenging jargon make room for numerous mistakes and trust us when we say this if there’s one place that you want to avoid mistakes, it’s your tax returns. Any error made during the tax return process may lead to an inaccurate return, which would consequently make you face penalties and fees.
2. Efficiency
Even after investing hours and hours of your time on your taxes, it is still very likely for you to make a mistake or miss a possible deduction or a credit. A professional tax preparer can help you file your returns as efficiently as possible by keeping an eye on every single possible deduction or credit that can apply to your situation that even the most popular tax preparation software might miss. By highlighting the areas which otherwise might be overlooked, a tax preparer can help you get more money back eventually. If you choose not to get assisted by a tax preparer, you may lose the chance to make the most out of your tax return and risk losing more money compared to the amount you saved by not hiring a professional in the first place.
3. The IRS
Regarding the mistakes on your return, you would also need to deal with various IRS questions and notices that may be confusing and hard to deal with. However, a tax professional who is experienced in the IRS jargon and is familiar with the questions that may arise can represent you to the IRS as accurately as possible and make the process smoother for both parties.
Having a tax preparer on your side at the beginning of the process makes it a lot easier rather than running around with a notice trying to find a professional for help after realizing you have made a mistake when you filed your return on your own.
Choosing the Right Tax Professional
Even after deciding to work with a professional, choosing the right one makes a significant difference. A title alone should not be the only factor you base your search on. You would want to make sure that the professional you will be working with has enough expertise and specialization in taxes as they tend to be complex. You would also want to make sure the tax professional will allocate enough time to your business to understand your needs and the details of your situation to maximize the amount you get back. Besides, in case of an audit, you would want the professional you work with to be able to represent you, which would require that person to hold certain credentials.
There are three types of tax professionals who can represent you, which are:
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
- Enrolled Agent (EA)
- Attorney
Another factor you should want to pay attention to when hiring a professional is personality. The tax season does not have to be an unpleasant time of the year, and in fact, it can be rather enjoyable if you can find an accountant that you can communicate with smoothly and get along with well.
As Manay CPA, we offer a big firm capability along with a small firm personality. Call us today at 404-900-1040 or request a free consultation to stay on the safe side in this upcoming tax season and let our experienced staff take the burden off of your shoulders and handle the process for you easily and efficiently.
