Turbo Tax or CPA?

[CraigAC]

Turbo Tax or CPA?

For those of you that own rental property in TV, do you have your taxes done by an accounting firm/CPA, or do them yourself with a software package like Turbo Tax?

Can you elaborate a little on why you prefer one over the other?

Thanks,
CAC

[Ohiogirl]

1st year I was a landlord, I used a CPA; after that, I used Turbo Tax. I felt like I understood it better, and also understood what was deductible, by doing it myself, but I had done my own taxes most of the years before. If you are comfortable doing your own taxes, I'd say go ahead with TurboTax. You need to use the version (about the 3rd from the bottom) that allows you to deduct business expenses.

This year I have seen something new available - I think it is taxslayer.com - not sure how much, but less than Turbo Tax, I think. Not sure if they have basic, deluxe, etc., haven't checked it out yet.

[bkubart]

I have a small tax practice and use turbo tax for all the returns I prepare. I find turbo tax very user friendly. If you decide to do it on your own feel free to contact me and I can probably answer any questions you may have regarding rental property. No charge.

[billybye]

I have been using H & R Block program for about 10 years, even when I owned a small business. Never had a problem.
If you can use a computer, you can do your taxes with a tax program - all you need to do is answer the questions they ask you as you go through it.
I also know a little about taxes, having been trained to do taxes by H & R Block some years ago.

[Oren L Miller]

I operated a successful tax business for over 30 years. The best rated tax program at that time was Turbo tax. I used a level called the pro series that ran $1,000 but it allowed for unlimited electronic filing of Federal and State returns. It also made preparing out of state returns much easier. If you have a good understanding of the tax laws to begin with and study the tax law changes every year then Turbo Tax is the way to go. That is what I do now as I gave my business to my son 3 years ago. My tax return is easy now. A person that is still in the business has already said to pm them if you have any questions. I also would be willing to answer questions if someone needs help. :)

[eweissenbach]

I also highly recommend turbo tax. I have used it for 7 or 8 years and am very satisfied. I took about as long to get my things together to take to my accountant, as I do now to complete the return - for a lot less $. I don't have rental income, but have had some complex issues in the past that turbo tax did an excellent job leading me through. I was audited twice in the 10 years prior to using turbo tax (went to audit by myself and resolved with no additional tax each time), and (knock on wood) have not been audited since.

[CraigAC]

Thanks to everyone for their guidance and offers to provide me with additional help if I need it. I�ve taken all of your comments seriously, and learned something valuable from all of them.

I feel very fortunate that I ran across this website several months ago. It�s truly a testament to the members of this forum how their willingness to help others makes us all a little better. I know that I can�t wait to make a positive contribution to this forum.

The only criticism I have for TOTV is that I�m spending way too much time reading the threads. It�s a good thing I just recently retired � I�d probably get in big trouble of I knew of this website while I was still working.

Thanks again to everyone,

[zcaveman]

I used Turbo Tax for many years because I started with it and lived in NJ where we had state income tax. After I moved here and ended my NJ state income tax problem, I went to the cheapest Turbo Tax without the state tax program. A few years ago I switched to the H&R Block At Home for $15.00 at Walmart. Same bells and whistles as Turbo Tax but cheaper. It also imported the Turbo Tax data from the year before so there was no extra work.

Which ever you chose they are good products.

And the E-file makes it a breeze.

[CraigAC]

I used Turbo Tax for many years because I started with it and lived in NJ where we had state income tax. After I moved here and ended my NJ state income tax problem, I went to the cheapest Turbo Tax without the state tax program. A few years ago I switched to the H&R Block At Home for $15.00 at Walmart. Same bells and whistles as Turbo Tax but cheaper. It also imported the Turbo Tax data from the year before so there was no extra work.

Which ever you chose they are good products.

And the E-file makes it a breeze.

Thanks Z,
I've used both for years and you're right -- both are good products. I'll think I'll give them a try for my rental property before making a decision to use a CPA. I'm going to play with last year's version and add in some estimated figures for a rental property and see how it comes out.

Thanks for the advice.