Paying a CPA for the last time

[bill_schubert]

I think.

Long ago I did my own taxes on Turbotax.  Then I started a company and now 13 years later at an average of probably $3k/year to the CPA I'm so ready to do it again myself I can't say.  I went through four CPA's over the course of owning up to four companies at one point and I was not satisfied with any of them.  As people they are fine but they are not advisors, they are only the ones that tell you how much that mistake you made a year ago costs you now or how you did not plan nearly enough for the cash you need right now to pay the IRS.

But I think I've successfully shut down my last company (commercial real estate) as of 31 December 2019 so there will be no 2020 taxes filed for it.  Only my personal ones.

I'm pretty sure I can do my personal taxes next year in my head.  Life has gotten simple.  Other than dealing with IRA the distributions I needed to set up to pay for last year's company taxes it is a retirement pension, social security and standard deduction.  I might be able to use the free version of TurboTax.  Hell, I could probably do it on a paper form like the first years of my filing.  

And I'll be done in January, not June.  

Comments

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

(I missed this before.) NZ has gone for a very straightforward tax system, with very few deductions, for personal tax. No state taxes either of course. It went from a four-page return, to a single-page return, and now you don't need to do a return at all if you have no deductions. Makes like easier, although sadly as I am a company owner I also have a yearly accountant's bill of $3,000. He's worth his weight in gold though as none of his clients have ever been audited. I had to go through another two to get to him, but now I hope he never retires.

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

I was never audited either but I blame the underfunded state of our tax entity (IRS) rather than the excellence of my CPA. BUT, had we been audited, I'd have had an extra person on my side of the table so there is that.