Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:turbo tax is good but doesn't get you back as much as a CPA.

IME, unless you have a home business, or rental property or some unusual situation, it is highly unlikely that a CPA will get you a larger refund, and it is extremely unlikely that they will get you enough to offset the cost of going to a CPA.

This. A thousand times this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:turbo tax is good but doesn't get you back as much as a CPA.

IME, unless you have a home business, or rental property or some unusual situation, it is highly unlikely that a CPA will get you a larger refund, and it is extremely unlikely that they will get you enough to offset the cost of going to a CPA.

A CPA may be able to help with some items that are too complex for the software to explain, for small business, or if you are completely clueless or disinterested (don't want to take the time to go through all the software interviews). A CPA will not necessarily get you more money back, unless he/she is advising you to take expenses/deductions that are too aggressive. A good CPA may be able to help you plan a little bit, but most of that would not be new to a sophisticated professional (401k, SEP, child care FSA, IRAs, strategies depending on marginal rates, etc).

If you do use a more aggressive accountant, remember that it is your return, you are the one that pays if you are caught, not the accountant. As a CPA I spent time at a big four doing returns for high net worth individuals, expecting to see something amazing or clever - you are fine with TT in nearly all situations.

We had this problem when we got married. DH had his deductions based on what sounded right versus running the #s. Once we woke up to that, we used to take out extra $ every paycheck toward withholding. Some people even write check every quarter!

In our experience the IRS forgives you for one year of not getting it right. The second year you don't have a major fluctuation in income and don't deduct enough, you get a penalty. Since interest rates are so low anyway, we now overwithhold and then get our taxes done early to get the money back.

p.s. this is getting in their busy season-- it may not be that easy to get someone's time just to do a w-4 calculation.

Anonymous wrote:turbo tax is good but doesn't get you back as much as a CPA.

IME, unless you have a home business, or rental property or some unusual situation, it is highly unlikely that a CPA will get you a larger refund, and it is extremely unlikely that they will get you enough to offset the cost of going to a CPA.

Anonymous wrote:Responses are contradictory. On the one hand, it's easy to fill out the form. On the other, it's hard for couples to get withholding right. And what about the AMT risk?

Humor me. What should it cost to hire someone to figure this out?

Sorry-- I said it was hard for couples to figure out, but what I meant was, you can't just keep taking whatever exemptions you used to take before you got married-- you have to either figure it out with turbotax or experiment a little until you get it in an acceptable range. I think one of us withholds at the single rate with no exemptions, and the other takes one exemption, for example.

I believe Turbotax will consider the AMT in deciding what you need to withhold. You can spend a couple hundred dollars if you want-- hey I have a plumber coming to fix a faucet I should probably fix myself-- but they will still need you to estimate your income and deductions.

turbo tax is good but doesn't get you back as much as a CPA.

Maybe $200-300? My CPA charges about $200/hour for hourly work. To get up to speed and enter your data in their system will take at least an hour.

Responses are contradictory. On the one hand, it's easy to fill out the form. On the other, it's hard for couples to get withholding right. And what about the AMT risk?

Humor me. What should it cost to hire someone to figure this out?

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The Turbo Tax W-4 calculator, like the one created by the IRS, still requires estimates and judgment calls I'm not comfortable making on my own. Hence the original question: Is this the kind of discrete question a tax professional can answer, and if so, what kind of person and how much should I expect to pay?

Thanks

I don't think there are really any judgment calls in filling out a w-4, except perhaps what your income will be and a professional can't really estimate your income or deductions for you (well they can, but they will just be taking whatever you tell them).

Most people wouldn't need a pro, but if you feel you can't handle it, it sounds like you do.

OP here. The Turbo Tax W-4 calculator, like the one created by the IRS, still requires estimates and judgment calls I'm not comfortable making on my own. Hence the original question: Is this the kind of discrete question a tax professional can answer, and if so, what kind of person and how much should I expect to pay?

Thanks

I agree-- turbo tax will not only run the calcs for you, it will generate new w-4s for you.

it is actually not easy for married couples who earn about equal amounts to get withholding right.

here is an option - purchase turbo tax.

plug in your estimates

see what your #s are

Here's the situation. Just bought a house and had first kid. Married filing jointly, about $310K combined. In 2012 we got hit with a roughly $10K bill in April, so in 2013 we've been withholding like crazy (but kid and house only came at end of 2013). IRS calculator says at current withholding rate, we'll overpay in 2014 by about $18K. Our HHI is up significantly in 2013 (in 2012 AGI was about $238K) and we've got all these new deductions in play this year (mortgage interest, dependent care, property tax), but I'm worried we'll get hit by AMT and I don't understand how to adjust for it, despite having read about it a lot. I just don't really get it, and I don't trust myself not to make a mistake.

SO: I want to hire someone to simply look at our situation and advise us how to amend our W-4s such that we are even with the IRS at the end of 2014. Never hired an accountant before. Can I buy just the answer to this question? (Don't need someone to do my taxes, and I'd just as soon do it over phone/online.) How much should it cost? Any recommendations?

Thanks!