Selecting a Tax Software Program (And a Comment on Time and Taxes)

Here are some thoughts on selecting a tax software program from Bankrate. They suggest taking the following steps to find the program right for you:

• Determine your needs
• Comparison shop
• Find the 'help' link
• Run the final form check
• Check out other options

If you're interested in specifics, click through the link above to see what they had to say.

But what stood out to me in this piece was the opening quote:

Got about 13 hours to work on your tax return? That's what the Internal Revenue Service estimates it will take the average taxpayer to complete Form 1040.

This is just one reason (but a major one) that I use a CPA. If I value my time at $20 an hour (which is way below what I value it at -- and way lower than my hourly earnings at work or outside businesses), the time-saving aspect of hiring a CPA pays for almost half of the cost of the CPA by itself (I adjusted it to less than 13 hours in saying this as I still do some prep work to minimize the CPA's time.) Not to mention that those hours are generally HIGHLY FRUSTRATING (those of you who have complicated taxes know what I'm talking about), so for me, it's a no-brainer to hire a CPA to complete my taxes.

How about you? What are your thoughts/stories on tax preparation? Anyone out there like (or at least not mind) filling out taxes?

Comments

[Matt]

My objection to spending time on taxes is political, rather than economic or hedonic. I'm actually pretty good at it, and I do derive a certain satisfaction from saving as much on it as I do. Partly (indeed largely) that's also a political thing, but there's also a hedonic element to it as well...probably similar to what coupon-clippers feel at the grocery store.

I do personal taxes myself. (Actually, I use the H&R Block Online service, which even for the mathematically-challenged is easier than doing your own 1040. But I only do that because the IRS won't let people e-file their own returns. For the state taxes, I complete the forms myself, since the states I pay taxes in _do_ allow individual e-filing.) My business taxes are done by a CPA, but that's mostly because my accountant is more familiar with the changes in tax law in my jurisdiction-of-incorporation than I am. (It's tough enough keeping track of the federal situation and two US states.)