Should we get our taxes done?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m wondering if my wife and I should have our taxes professionally done. I’ve always done mine myself, and her dad has always done hers for her. Here is the pertinent information, which is what is making me consider having someone else handle it:

-Got married in July
-Bought a house (her name only) in March (we’ve paid a few thousand in interest on it so far)
-Bought a motorcycle (her name only) in March
-Bought a car (her name only (I have awful credit!)) in October
-Paid $1500 in interest on my student loans
-Invested in 401(k) (me) and 403(b) (her)
-Sold my old car in March

So, what do you think? Should I tackle it, or go to H&R Block, or go to a private CPA?

2

Get turbo tax. They are not really hard. That is unless up do not understand numbers.

3

Agreed. Use Turbo Tax. Your tax situation really isn’t very complicated, so you could still do them yourself. Turbo Tax is just more convenient. Don’t waste a bucket of cash on one of those tax-prep companies.

4

Another vote for TurboTax. If you have all your W-2 and 1099 forms in front of you, it’ll be easy.

How would buying/selling a car/motorcycle affect your taxes? IANAA but I don’t think buying and selling personal property has federal tax implications.

5

Correct. The car etc. have no effect on your tax returns. Turbo Tax will handle everything you need. Heck, we use it, and we’ll have stock sales, IRA income and possibly medical deductions on top of everything you’ve mentioned above.

The 401(k) will be a non-issue - your W2 will show your taxable income as though those contributions never happened (e.g. 50,000 income, 5,000 contributed to retirement, W2 will show 45,000 taxable income). Just plug in whatever they say.

The house being in her name only shouldn’t be an issue as long as you file jointly. Not sure it’s even an issue if you filed separately (though that is rarely a good idea).

6

Not necessarily. If you live in California or any other State where car registration fees are wholly or partially determined by the value of the car, it will have an effect if you itemize because it’s considered a property tax.

In any event, Turbotax will take that into account. It’s easy as can be for someone in your situation.

ETA: Reading more closely, I see what MZ probably meant. The sale of the car won’t have an effect if it’s a personal car. If you bought a junked '68 Mustang or something, fixed it up and sold it for a net profit, you would probably be liable for taxes on the profit.