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Do my own taxes or hire accountant?
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amother
Ruby


 

Post Sun, Jan 06 2019, 4:01 pm
amother wrote:
Not quite. Losses have to offset income. Honestly, this sounds suspiciously like fraud.


I'm not providing advice here to anybody.
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amother
Violet


 

Post Sun, Jan 06 2019, 4:11 pm
amother wrote:
You don't need to financially savy to use turbo tax - and her profile on the face of it is not complicated - and there would be no headache - she's been doing this herself for a few years already. Turbotax is programmed to ask questions about her mortgage interest and her property taxes - thats all thats changed.

And yes - there are very professional accountants who are aggressive. So long as they are disclosing this to their clients - there is no issue.


No, that's not all that has changed. Once someone switches from standard deduction to itemized deductions, there may be other deductions that someone may not be aware of if they have never done this before.

Also, your "aggressive" accountant may not be an issue to him/herself - only to their client. When they get audited and have to pay the penalties. I guess this is ok if the accountant is up front about this...

There is still no legal way to get a business deduction on Schedule C without manufacturing income. I don't think it's a good idea to advise people here to break the law.
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lovetobemommy




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jan 06 2019, 6:08 pm
My husband is a CPA, he usually advises people with very simple situations like you to do their taxes on their own as he is busy with more complicated clients.... You can pm me if you would like.
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supty




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jan 06 2019, 6:36 pm
lovetobemommy wrote:
My husband is a CPA, he usually advises people with very simple situations like you to do their taxes on their own as he is busy with more complicated clients.... You can pm me if you would like.


I’m a CPA and totally agree with this. I see no reason why you should spend a few hundred dollars on such a simple return. If you have your own business, or you have complicated investments, etc then it DEFINITELY pays to hire an accountant, but if it’s just W-2s, no need. Even with a mortgage, it’s still very basic- no need to waste your money.
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aliavi




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jan 06 2019, 8:08 pm
amother wrote:
OP said she has W2 only.
Home office expense is not an itemized deduction for the self-employed. It is a Schedule C expense.


It goes to Schedule A if it’s tied to unreimbursed employee business expenses, which would be more likely, if at all, because OP didn’t say she owned a business. If she did have a Schedule C business, then it would flow from there.
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aliavi




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jan 06 2019, 8:11 pm
supty wrote:
I’m a CPA and totally agree with this. I see no reason why you should spend a few hundred dollars on such a simple return. If you have your own business, or you have complicated investments, etc then it DEFINITELY pays to hire an accountant, but if it’s just W-2s, no need. Even with a mortgage, it’s still very basic- no need to waste your money.


In agreement as well. Use TurboTax. It will walk you through questions to determine what scenarios are applicable to you, including any of those that others have mentioned.
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amother
Vermilion


 

Post Sun, Jan 06 2019, 8:11 pm
aliavi wrote:
It goes to Schedule A if it’s tied to unreimbursed employee business expenses, which would be more likely, if at all, because OP didn’t say she owned a business. If she did have a Schedule C business, then it would flow from there.


I mentioned in an earlier post that unreimbursed employee business expenses are misc. itemized deductions that are disallowed for 2018 tax year. Therefore, they can only be deducted as a Schedule C expense.
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 07 2019, 1:51 am
In my world, individuals do themselves
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amother
Orange


 

Post Mon, Jan 07 2019, 2:22 am
If you live abroad (e.g. you now live in Israel but get a W-2 as you still work for your US employer) you need an accountant (Turbo doesn't do foreign). Otherwise Turbo for a simple return.
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