[QUOTE=Q.N. Jones]
Also, in my case, I actually have so many deductions that as I figure it, I don’t owe federal or state income tax this year.
[/QUOTE]
AMT?
[QUOTE=amarone]
AMT?
[/QUOTE]
Nope. It’s a long, boring story.
[QUOTE=Q.N. Jones]
And no, not a tax lawyer, but just about all lawyers study some tax law in law school.
[/QUOTE]
Yep - I write contracts for a living, but you won’t see me in a courtroom attempting to practice law. I don’t want a dermatologist to do any heart surgery on me, either - even if he studied some surgery in med school and did a surgical rotation. :dubious:
All in all, I will stick with someone who spent a few years studying the details of tax law, got an MST, and are licensed as an EA to practice by the IRS.
[QUOTE=ASAKMOTSD]
Yep - I write contracts for a living, but you won’t see me in a courtroom attempting to practice law. I don’t want a dermatologist to do any heart surgery on me, either - even if he studied some surgery in med school and did a surgical rotation. :dubious:
All in all, I will stick with someone who spent a few years studying the details of tax law, got an MST, and are licensed as an EA to practice by the IRS.
[/QUOTE]
If you really believe that it is impossible for a layman to learn enough about tax law to competently do their own taxes, ever, then I will waste no more of my time trying to convince you.
If I had a “real” business, and hence a more complicated tax picture, I would probably hire a tax professional. But my business isn’t really a business, exactly; it looks a lot like someone who simply pays their employee as an independent contractor. (Except that I work whenever I damned well please, and several other work condition things that make me an IC.) The tax situation is really very simple. My main point is, not all Schedule C returns are difficult. That’s why there’s even a Schedule C-EZ. DrDeth’s “idiot” brush is too broad.
[QUOTE=Q.N. Jones]
You make the mistake of assuming my self-employment is as a lawyer. It’s not. I have a consulting business based on my non-legal talents.
And no, not a tax lawyer, but just about all lawyers study some tax law in law school.
Not trying to hijack this thread, but blanket statements like “everyone who files Schedule C and does their own taxes is an idiot” are simply ignorant.
[/QUOTE]
Well, see you misrepresented yourself twice, and thus, sorry. But if “the man who represents himself has a fool for a client” is true, then “the dude who has a ScHD and does his own taxes is an idiot” is also.
In both cases there are rare exceptions.
I used to do my taxes with a pencil on the back of the envelope my W2 came in. That included the 1040, A, C, E, SE, 4562, 880, etc.
Now I use one of the e-filing sites.
Takes me a couple of hours.
I have done my own taxes forever, except for two years when I had some 1099 stuff to deal with and I was much younger and less wise. 
Since I’ve been married I’ve done taxes on my own (except for the first year when my mom helped to make sure I got all the deductions correct). And I’ve used TurboTax every year after that, about 9 years running. I get the automatic renewal including state and it costs about $45. I file electronically and it’ll cost < $25, and I’ll get a rebate on the federal. I do get grumpy about paying to file elctronically, but it’s very fast and easy and I’m lazy.
My love for TurboTax has decreased somewhat since I was notified by the state about a deduction I claimed which turned out to be incorrect. I’m a bit miffed that TT let me get away with it, but, reading the same info this year, I wonder what the hell I was thinking taking the deduction anyway. So, I paid the back taxes and I pay better attention.
My taxes are simple, single state residence, homeowner, W2s until this year when a 1099 came in for my wife’s new job. Nothing too complicated adn the software makes it easy.