Imagine you wake up on tax day and realize you need to prepare your taxes, but you don’t have time. Preparing taxes can be overwhelming, but you can avoid that stress by hiring tax preparation services.

14 Factors to Consider When Choosing Tax Preparation Services

However, you shouldn’t just hire the first service you find on Google. You need to hire someone who can help you with your specific tax situation.

Read on to learn what factors to consider when hiring a tax preparer.

 1. Employment Type

 Before you start looking for tax preparation services, you should consider your employment type. For example, perhaps you work for yourself and take on different clients.

Or maybe you have a traditional full-time job, and you don’t have any other income streams. Your employment status can make a huge difference when preparing for taxes.

If you decide to hire someone to prepare your taxes, you need to make sure they can help with your situation. That way, you won’t have to worry about your taxes.

 2. Where You Work

Another factor that can affect your tax preparation is where you work, especially compared to where you live. If you live and work in the same city, you will only have to worry about paying taxes for that place.

However, it’s not uncommon to live in one state and work in another. Whether you travel a lot for work or live near the border of two states, you may need to pay taxes to both the state where you live and where you work.

In this scenario, hiring tax preparation services can ensure you don’t avoid paying taxes on accident. While paying more in taxes isn’t fun, it’s important.

 3. Complex Investments

You should also consider what investments you have and your overall investment situation. If you have a lot of gains or losses, or if you bought or sold real estate, it doesn’t hurt to hire a professional.

They can go over your finances and make sure you pay taxes on any capital gains. But they can also keep you from having to pay more in taxes than what you owe.

Then, you can make the most of your investments, and you can keep investing more of your money.

 4. Marital Status

Marriage, divorce, and the death of a spouse can all affect your tax situation. If any of these things happened to you in the past year, you should hire someone to prepare your taxes.

When you get married, you will need to combine your taxes with those of your spouse. If you get a divorce, you will need to start filing as a single person again.

Widows and widowers can file as a qualified widow or widower after a spouse passes away. A tax preparer can help you decide if that option is right for you.

 5. Tax Preparation Experience

Now that you know a bit about your tax situation, you should consider how to choose who to hire for tax prep. One of the most important factors is someone’s experience.

Of course, they should have tax preparation experience in general. They should know about the basic tax forms and how to fill everything out correctly.

But they should also have experience with your situation or something similar. That’s especially important if you work for yourself or in multiple states or if you have a lot of investments.

 6. Certification and Training

Along with general experience, you may want to consider a tax preparer’s certification or training. Tax preparers don’t need to have a degree in accounting or be a CPA.

However, it can help to hire someone with that training and certification. After all, an accounting degree involves a lot of classes in finance, which can help the person in their career.

Hiring someone with certification can also be a good way to ensure they have the right experience. Some certifications require a lot of studying and experience.

 7. Available Services

Next, you should look at the specific services the company or person offers. Consider if they offer services for federal and state taxes or if they focus on taxes for certain situations, such as self-employment.

You may also want a tax service that offers audit protection. That way, you can have someone to help you go through the process if the IRS audits you.

Or maybe you want someone who can help with bookkeeping or accounting for your business. Either way, make sure you hire a service that offers everything you need or want.

 8. Office Location

You can find tons of tax preparers all over the country, and you don’t need to visit the office in person. However, you may want to start your search in your local area.

A local tax preparer will have a better understanding of state and local tax laws. While you may find someone with a lower rate in a different city, they may not be the best fit for you.

If you want to minimize the chance of having errors or other issues, find a local tax office. Then, you won’t have to worry about missing important tax laws for your area.

 9. References and Reviews

Once you find a few potential tax services, you should look at references and reviews. If you know people who have hired that person or company, you can get a direct testimonial.

However, even finding reviews online can give you an idea of how good the tax preparation service is. Reviews and references can also help you verify someone’s experience.

If customers haven’t liked working with a service, you can know to stay away. On the other hand, positive reviews are a good sign, and you may want to hire that service.

 10. Current Workload

Before you commit to hiring a tax preparation company, ask them about their workload. If the company has a ton of clients already, they may not have time to get to your taxes.

They may also speed through taxes if they have a lot of clients. You need to hire someone who has room in their schedule and who can take their time on your taxes.

Of course, if someone has no clients, that can be a sign that they’re new or don’t offer good results. However, it can be a good way to get your taxes done without having to wait.

 11. Team Size

Another thing to think about when hiring a tax preparation company is the size of the business. Consider if it’s an individual who does all taxes for every client.

If they have a team, ask if one person will work on your taxes or if multiple people will work together. Then, you can ask about the experience of everyone who will prepare your taxes.

That way, you can make sure whoever does the work has the experience necessary. If they don’t you may want to ask for a different person to work on your taxes, or you can hire a different company.

12. Contact With Questions

Once you hire the tax preparer, you should know how to contact them with questions or to get updates. Consider when they’re in the office and if you should contact them by phone or email.

While you should be able to trust the company to prepare your taxes accurately and on time, you never know. You don’t need to contact the business every day, but don’t be afraid to ask for an update if they are late.

If they’re late, that means your taxes may not be done before the tax deadline. When that happens, you may need to pay a penalty.

You hired the tax preparer, and while you can’t control when they work on your taxes, you deserve answers. That way, you can make sure you finish your taxes on time.

 13. Pricing and Value

Another crucial factor to consider when hiring tax preparation services is the cost. You should consider how much you can afford to spend on the service so that you can find companies in your budget.

However, comparing preparation fees involves more than the base price. It’s also important to know how much a tax prep service can help you save on your taxes through deductions and credits.

If the tax preparer costs $1,000 but finds you $1,000 worth of deductions, that’s a great deal. On the other hand, not hiring a tax preparer means you need to find deductions, and they can be easy to miss.

 14. Personality

Your tax preparer will be working with your finances and with you, so you need to have compatible personalities. If you struggle to work together, it can be hard to get stuff done.

And whether you work for yourself or another company, your finances are important. You shouldn’t hire someone that you don’t like or trust.

That person may have a lot of experience and training. But that won’t matter if you don’t like them or their working style.

How Will You Find Tax Preparation Services?

Whether this is your first time filing taxes or you’ve had a major life change, tax preparation services are an excellent investment. But you should consider everything from your situation to the tax preparer’s experience.

Not only will that help you file your taxes correctly, but you can even save money overall with credits and deductions. Then, you can treat yourself to something special.

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