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The mention of the word tax always resonates differently with every adult citizen regardless of his geographical positioning. The art of filling tax returns always presents certain challenges depending on specific circumstances surrounding different individuals' needs. As much as some people may opt to hire tax experts to do this job, the decision to hire or not to hire largely depends on the nature of an individual's business.
Larger businesses may no doubt require a more professional approach to their tax issues. This leaves us with smaller holdings that may be sole proprietorships or simple partnerships such as family owned businesses. The option of doing your own returns will be largely pegged on your ability to work with numbers as well as the basic knowledge on how to calculate the taxes. There are many methods that may be used to work out individual tax returns. The cheapest method involves simply working out the arithmetic manually to arrive at a figure. The other method is the use of tax preparation software or other online services.
Who is eligible to make individual tax preparation?
Although some states may require any one who files tax returns to have some authorizing licenses, most states do not mind much about the qualifications of an individual tax preparer as long as the figures are well calculated. This waiver however does not include attorneys, enrolled agents, certified public accountants or any other professionals who may represent a tax payer before the IRS. Persons with gross adjustable incomes of less than $52,000 may benefit from the free electronic tax feeling services offered by the Free File Alliance
Advantages and disadvantages of individual tax preparation
The presence of professionals tax preparers not withstanding. The decision by any one to handle their tax preparation individually should be made after carefully evaluating the advantages of individual tax preparation against the option of engaging the services of a professional tax preparer. The single most glaring advantage in filing one's tax returns individually is the amount of money saved that would have otherwise been paid to the professionals.
The thought of saving some money should however not cloud your reasoning into overlooking the hustles that may accompany your efforts at working out the complex arithmetic involved in the process more so if you are not smart with figures. It would be a complete mission in futility if you were to save some little money that would go towards settling the tax preparer's bill only to end up wasting lots of man hours at a job you clearly don't comprehend. This loss can't be further aggravated when you eventually come to realize that you have missed it all after the brain cracking effort you have given to it. It is thus smarter to approach the matter with a reasonable amount of sobriety to avoid unnecessary inconveniencies. |
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Margin Creep