Posted: 5/8/2015 6:19:01 PM EDT
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I have some questions for those of you that use an accountant to do your taxes.
I usually do my own through turbo tax, but I moved from NY to FL last year, and TurboTax was saying that I owed NY something to the tune of 5 grand, which is I knew was wrong (NY makes it tough on part time residents to try and get snow birds to pay their fair share). Anyway, I just got the invoice, and it's 480 dollars. This is way more than I ever expected to pay. Individual filing Single, federal and two states (NY and NJ). Before I call her back and tell her to itemize out all of her hours by rate, I want to make sure I'm not blowing this out of proportion. If this is standard, I'll just pay it and be happy to return to TurboTax next year when my return is simple again. Any help is appreciated. |
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mine normally costs me $400. Went up to $450 this year.
If you have a good cpa, its worth it EDIT: Also, realize that you get what you pay for... by your own account the $150 service wanted you to pay $5000 I presume that the $480 service more than paid for itself in the extra you didn't pay |
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Quoted:
mine normally costs me $400. Went up to $450 this year. If you have a good cpa, its worth it She was OK, not great. Did the taxes correctly, but offered no advice or guidance like I expected. My buddy has a guy that helps him structure everything correctly, do the right things at the right time to maximize everything (without cheating), his services literally end up paying for themselves. This one I will not find me a return customer. |
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Also, realize that you get what you pay for... by your own account the $150 service wanted you to pay $5000 I presume that the $480 service more than paid for itself in the extra you didn't pay Yes and No. It was much less of a hassle to just email her my docs and then receive a completed return. I could have called TurboTax and gotten it straightened out, they keep CPA's on staff to help. The IRS sent me a DV2000 last year (I claimed interest and tax deduction on a property I co-owned with my Dad, but forgot to note they were reported under his SSN, so there was an auto-mismatch). Called TurboTax and had a CPA walk me through everything I needed to do, free of charge. I went the lazy route, and ended up paying 300 bucks more than I could have out of laziness. Which isn't bad. My girlfriend's parents who use this CPA also, said they paid about 500 for their taxes and they each had a corporation to do, which is why I thought it might be high. |
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I pay $350
Pretty simple married and a house. both jobs have a lot of deductions so it takes a while to go through all receipts. He is also there for me year round and we do quarterly updates to see where we are on taxes throughout the year. I think it is money well spent |
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Don't sweat it. You can deduct the fee next year.  Quoted:
Don't sweat it. You can deduct the fee next year. good point! Quoted:
He is also there for me year round and we do quarterly updates to see where we are on taxes throughout the year. I think it is money well spent That would be well worth the 480! That's kind of what I was expecting from this one...guidance. "You did this inefficiently, we should do this for next year, if you do this you can deduct it." |
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Probably about right.
I'd love to see how many hours these guys bill out or what rate they use. Seems like everything my accountant does is 2 or 300 bucks an hour with how long it should take but they don't itemize. I'm cheap but I never complain about my accountant. He is very aggressive at helping me avoid taxes and offers great advice. Apparently he is good, his firm was just bought out by a top 50 firm from another state. I haven't got a bill since he got bought out though, I'm dreading that. I'm sure they will go up. |
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Quoted:
good point! That would be well worth the 480! That's kind of what I was expecting from this one...guidance. "You did this inefficiently, we should do this for next year, if you do this you can deduct it." Quoted:
Quoted:
Don't sweat it. You can deduct the fee next year. good point! Quoted:
He is also there for me year round and we do quarterly updates to see where we are on taxes throughout the year. I think it is money well spent That would be well worth the 480! That's kind of what I was expecting from this one...guidance. "You did this inefficiently, we should do this for next year, if you do this you can deduct it." Just throwing this out there. It sounds like you just work a job? If that is correct, what sort of guidance do you expect? I'm not certain there is a whole lot to advise on unless you start investing some money but I don't think it's really her place to try and get you to buy rentals or invest in a herd of cows or anything. Once you do more than just work and job and save for retirement there is a lot you can do. If my assumption is wrong then ignore me. You should have gotten more guidance. |