Tips For Your First Time Hiring A Tax Preparation Professional

If you have always prepared your own taxes in the past, hiring a tax preparation professional will be a bit of a different experience. It should be a lot easier on you, as someone else will be doing all of the calculations, making sure paperwork is filled out properly, and so forth. However, there are a few tips you will want to follow if this is your first time taking this approach.

Look into several tax prep services before choosing one.

There are plenty of good tax prep services, but you do want to ensure you hire one that fits your specific needs. Ask friends and family for recommendations, and make a short list of three or four tax services you're interested in hiring. Then, do a little more research on each one. You want to hire a service that has been in business for a few years, employs certified professionals, and gets good reviews from their clients.

Ask for a list of necessary paperwork beforehand.

Before you head in to meet with your tax prep professional, ask them for a list of the paperwork and records you should bring along. This will save you a lot of back-and-forth and scrambling. Your tax preparation professional may still ask you for some additional documents later on, but at least by bringing most items up front, you are giving them what they need to get started.

Be available via email or phone for questions. 

Make sure you give the tax preparation professional a good way to contact you during the day. You can usually ask that they email, text, or call you. Let them know which option works best. This way, if they have any questions as they start preparing your taxes, they can contact you, get answers, and keep on working. You don't want to waste their time or your own time playing phone tag.

Be thorough, and tell the truth.

Your tax preparation professional will do their best to ensure they provide the government with accurate and thorough information related to your taxes. However, you need to do your part and provide them with true and accurate information. You really cannot give them too much information; they can narrow down what's important.

Hiring a tax preparation company is a lot easier than trying to file taxes on your own. As long as you choose the right company, provide good information, and stay available to answer questions, you should have good results.

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