Doing your taxes is always hard. Not only have to take care of every little bit of detail, but you also have to be extra careful not to mess up anything.
But since we’re well into tax season, we thought of an article explaining to you why you should get someone else to do your taxes. Hiring a professional to complete one’s annual tax return will not only save you from a lot of headaches but also time.
But there is more to it than that. So here is an article giving you the 7 reasons why you should hire someone else to do your taxes.
Major Financial Events Make it Harder
Maybe you’re used to doing your own taxes. But what if you’ve had quite a successful financial year? Big changes in your finances happen because of a few things. The first is a change of salary, bonuses, and perhaps a change of job. Another common reason why you’ve had major financial events is that you’ve taken money out of a retirement account, purchased a home, or your children starting college.
All of these can be quite difficult to deal with when filing your tax returns, then the more work you’ll have to do. Not only that, but any of these can make the process significantly harder and more complex.
So instead of doing it yourself, why not hire a professional to do it for you?
If You’re Self-Employed
Self-employed can mean any number of things. It could mean you’re a freelancer, run your own business, or perhaps doing a side hustle. But regardless of what you are, you are still your own boss.
This isn’t really an issue when it comes to doing your taxes, but the rules significantly change for you. Being self-employed and filing taxes is more complex than being employed.
The reasoning behind it is that there are plenty of grey areas that need looking over. Things such as write-offs can make the process a lot more difficult.
But there’s always a positive from being self-employed. Namely, where self-employed people benefit the most when it comes to taxes is the fact that there’s added protection from being audited.
But to get this protection, well you will need to do your taxes properly. Self-employed people hire professionals to do their taxes much more than employees.
If You Have Kids
Kids always make things more complicated. And the case is the same when it comes to doing your taxes.
While there is always the option of having a quiet financial year even with kids, that isn’t always the case. If you’re sending your children to college or private high school, then that can make the process very difficult.
Not only that but having a stepchild or a child from a previous marriage can also make things a lot more difficult because there are specific rules for that. Hiring an accountant to do your taxes instead of you might prove beneficial in these scenarios.
You’ll likely want to spend more time doing the things you love as opposed to doing your taxes.
If You Have Things to Itemize
We tend to itemize deductions for tax season. We itemize only the things that we don’t get by mail. Since we get the mortgage interest and similar stuff by mail, then we don’t really have to take care of too much.
But the real issue presents itself when we have to take care of things that we don’t get by mail, such as our own business or charitable expense. In these scenarios, you’ll want to hire a professional to help out as it can be quite hard to present them on the tax return.
Some of the things that an accountant can help you itemize include business expenses, donations, interests in investments, medical bills, and many more.
And since these are quite common, successfully itemizing can be very beneficial for your tax return. But not every yearly expense can be fully deductible for this year. Luckily for you, an expert knows everything about it and can help you make the most out of it.
If You’ve Had a Major Life Event
Similar to having a major financial event, a major life event can seriously make things more difficult.
But what does it mean to have a major life event? The most common ones include sudden death in the family, a divorce, marriage, and bringing a child into this world.
All of these events ask a little more from us and that could put us off from doing our taxes. So instead of wasting time on your taxes, why not hire a professional and use the spare time in teaching your kid how to walk?
If You Have Multiple Investment Accounts
You might have a couple of investment accounts that you regularly send money to. The reason why this is an issue is that different investment accounts have different tax rules attached to them.
An example of an investment account is a college fund, retirement fund, bonds, stocks, and much more. Seeing as a college fund is very much different from a stock portfolio, it would be wise to consult with a professional when it comes to doing your taxes.
If You Don’t Feel Like Doing It
Unless you happened to be an accountant, where you have the knowledge and perhaps the love to do it, doing your taxes isn’t fun at all. Tax season is one of the most feared times of the years for regular people.
Seeing as a lot of people wait until the very last to do their taxes, you’d be surprised to see how much work you’ll have to do. And all that work might be overwhelming for someone, essentially putting them off from doing it.
But seeing as you still have to file your tax return, hiring a professional will save you the trouble of having to go through each individual receipt.