Personal Finance

The Ultimate Smackdown: Turbo Tax vs. H&R Block vs. CPA

A local news station published a story this week about a topic that I had wanted to cover soon but lacked the funds to fully give it justice. Bill Gephardt of KUTV took one family and computed their taxes using tax preparation software (Turbo Tax), a tax preparation store (H&R Block), and then using a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Each preparation method gave the family a different amount for the taxes due, but the results were interesting:

• Turbo Tax computed a refund of $1,000 more than the others
• H&R Block and the CPA discovered mistakes that Turbo Tax had made that could have led to an IRS audit
• After subtracting the fee each charged for the work, there was a $186 dollar difference between the number calculated by H&R Block and the CPA

You can watch the entire story here and decide for yourself which method is best. However, if you do choose the CPA route (which I would recommend) then be sure to choose one that you feel comfortable with. Get recommendations from friends instead of choosing one at random from the Yellow Pages. Also, be sure to check out my post on how to hire a tax professional. Whatever tax route you choose, good luck.

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