Taxes used to be really easy to do when I first got a job over 30 years ago. It was just very straight forward, and it took just minutes to get it done. Now that I have my own company, it is a bit more complicated. Actually, it used to be a lot more complicated, but that was just until I found affordable tax software for preparers that some of my colleagues were raving over. I was still doing my taxes the hard way, which was on my own and just with the paper forms.
When a good friend of mine found that out, he had one of two suggestions for me. He said I should either hire an accountant to help me with my taxes, or I should do it online at any of the electronic tax preparers that are always around during tax season. I had never considered hiring a tax attorney because I am very private about my business. I don’t want others knowing what I make or who my customer base is, so I just had been doing it on my own right from the start. I did not consider a tax program because I didn’t think I had the tech know-how to make sure I was not making any mistakes.
He told me that I needed to look into it because I was more than likely missing a lot of deductions by doing it the way I was doing it. He also told me how intuitive current tax prep programs are, and how companies who provide the software stand behind their product. I looked at several of the top name ones, and I finally settled on the tax prep software that I felt was a good match for my needs. It was simple to learn, and my friend was right. I had been missing out on a lot of deductions that would have reduced my tax bill significantly through the years. At least I am on the right track now!