Does the Online Income Tax Accounting Software Really Help?
By: Jonathan Medows, CPA | Posted: 09th December 2009
During tax season there are several different ways to prepare your taxes. If you are living in Manhattan or New York, you may hire an accountant or CPA in New York, you may try to do them yourself by obtaining the right forms or going online to file, or you may use tax preparation software to fill out your tax forms this year. You can run into trouble along the way, if you are not prepared for the questions or if you did not keep your receipts during the year on all your expenses.
Due to the hectic pace of lifestyles people have today it is so much easier to file your tax forms online or on the tax accounting software because you can do it whenever you want to do it and when you have time. The online income tax accounting software is a step by step process that asks questions and you fill in the blank. Once you are done you submit your forms to be processed.
Even if you choose to do the income tax accountant software you will need to be organized before you begin. On the other hand, if you hire a CPA in New York , to file taxes in NY they take away the hassles of keeping the accounts, receipts and other details.
In both the cases, you will need you W-2 form from your employer which states how much you earned the previous year, and how much you have paid into state and federal taxes. You should also see your 401k plan or other retirement plan that is taken from your check.
You also need to get all your deductible items out and ready. You want to include your mortgage interest paid throughout the year, if you have a mortgage. If you donated to any organizations including church you want to have a statement from them including the amount that you donated. If you cannot get your statement then at least save your return checks when you make a donation throughout the year so you can count it on your deductions. In some cases you can use medical expenses as a deduction as well as child care for any child living in your house during the past year.
After you spend a lot of time gathering all your information you are ready to begin your online tax preparation software. You will be guided every step of the way until you complete the form and then it will be e-filed so it can process.
But, there is still room for error on the software so you need to be sure of all the information that you enter. Before finalizing the return you need to check all your figures and then check it twice. Make sure you get even the smallest details right; your address, your birthday, your social security number, your number of dependants and so on. If you get even one number wrong you may lose your money or worse yet, get in trouble with IRS.
So, if you are not confident about using it, it might be a better idea to hire a CPA in New York who takes the headache away. Hiring a taxes CPA can benefit in more ways that just filing your tax returns in New York as they can also help you with great tips on saving taxes, informing you about the right investments and bookkeeping for businesses.
Jonathan Medows, CPA, MBA is the Managing Member of MEDOWS CPA, PLLC, a boutique New York CPA firm serving the needs of individuals, freelancers, self employed individuals & small businesses. To see how he can help you reduce your tax liability and keep you in tax compliance please visit his website:
Medowscpa.com
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Tags: hassles, accounting software, several different ways, retirement plan, receipts, medical expenses, 401k plan, mortgage interest, lifestyles, previous year, tax forms, cpa, child care, federal taxes, manhattan, hectic pace, tax preparation software