Should You Do Your Own Taxes?

With the first month of the year almost over and your W-2s in, it's time to face the facts: tax season is upon us. Even though you still technically have a couple more months of valuable procrastination time left, it's not too early to start thinking about your game plan. That is, whether you're going to go it alone or hire a tax professional to guide you through the process. Nowadays, with all the software and internet guides available, doing your own taxes can seem like a no-brainer. You'd definitely be in good company--last year, 27 million people filed their own tax returns, and there's a good chance that number will increase this year. Just because you can, though, doesn't necessarily mean you should. Filing on your own may be a good idea if: You have the knowledge. If you're already a numbers person, or if you have enough of a financial background to understand all the jargon, you're probably in pretty good shape shape to tackle this project on your own. Your situation is simple. When you've had just one steady job and added no dependents, investments, properties, or alternate streams of income over the last year, It's a pretty safe bet that you can handle your taxes on your own. In fact, if you make $60,000 or less, the IRS even offers a free software option for people like you. You've done this whole tax thing before. It's tough arguing with this logic. If you've been doing your taxes for years and you're satisfied with the result, there's little sense in switching it up now, especially if you made no major changes in 2014. However, you may want to get some professional help if: You're self-employed or recently started a business. When you are your own boss, taxes get a whole lot trickier. Not only do you keep records and receipts for just about everything, but you have to make sense of them when it comes time to file. An expert will be able to make sense of all that, and odds are pretty good they'll also find you some welcome deductions you hadn't considered. You've made a major life change in the last year. If you got married, divorced, bought a house, had a child (etc, etc.), then there are going to be a few changes to the way you file taxes, as well as some options for new deductions. Having an expert to walk you through the new options, at least for the first year, could be worth it. You don't do numbers. If you're a liberal arts major deep down, then just the thought of all those numbers probably makes you uncomfortable. Remember that toughing it out on your own doesn't make you a hero, especially if you have anything but the most basic of filings. If you don't think you're up for it, or if you just don't have the time, hiring a professional is the way to go.