Tax time, CPA or yourself?
 

So I am kinda thinking that with the wonders of the Internet and this wonderful board I might be able to start doing my own taxes. Am I crazy? Is anyone else doing it all alone as well?

Re: Tax time, CPA or yourself?
 

Tax code, especially for someone operating a business, is complex and is best left to a professional.

Good luck. You're gonna need it. :wink:

"Do them myself", and "I am smart!", is a contradiction! :P :lol:

I let the proffesionals handle these things, good accountant can never be expensive if he or she knows this buisiness and know what they are talking about.

I have been doing my own taxes for some time, but I have been looking for someone else to do them. Frankly, I think we should all do what we do best. Besides, anything you pay someone for doing taxes is deductible. I used to have a CPA who took care of everything. With all the continuous changes, a good accountant can be worth their weight in gold. Half the problem in reducing your tax bite is planning. The time to plan for next years taxes is now. I spoke with one tax guy earlier today. He told me of one client who earned about 11 million dollars. The client sent his taxes to a friend in New York to do. Apparently, he filed a 1040EZ and left the guy with a tax bill of about $3 million. After the tax guy did his magic he wound up paying next to nothing. There are a lot of little tax deductions which we may not be aware unless we deal with them on a day to day basis. Now, if I could just figure out how this guy made that $11 million............ :P

OK, I guess I just needed a reality check. Back to the CPA.

Thanks guys

You can still do them yourself. :D

i`m a businessman not a CPA, hence a CPA does my taxes, and i`m sure for the few hundred she charges she gets me back many thousands in return.

Canadian taxes, especially "sole proprietor" are actually quite easy. I just make sure everything that is deductible fits where it's supposed to. I find doing taxes myself is much better, because then I can understand what is fully deductible, partially deductible and I can plan my business better. I also "throttle" the depreciation of the truck. For example, first year I'm allowed 20%. I did 0%. It made no sense to depreciate the truck because I barely made anything.

Now if I was a corporation, which I plan on being eventually, it would be a completely different story. However I'm waiting on a decision that might change this. Basically the only reason to incorporate is to take advantage of better meal on the road laws. You "lose" on some other smaller deductions. If the rules regarding meals change for sole-proprietors, I won't incorporate. Rumors of this are rampant, so I don't want to "jump the gun" as incorporating is expensive.