The Benefits of Working with a Pittsburgh Tax ProfessionalClark & Chamberlin, LLC

The Benefits of Working with a Pittsburgh Tax Professional

May 3rd, 2013 by Bryan Brown

In many cases and for many people, doing your own taxes makes sense. If you’ve worked at the same 9-to-5 job for several years and life has been uneventful, then your return is probably pretty simple. Sometimes, though, life throws you a curve ball and all of a sudden your tax situation is much more complicated. In these cases, you might consider working with a Pittsburgh tax professional.

There are a variety of benefits to working with a tax professional, but in general they fall into one of the following two categories.

Save time and stress

One of the best reasons for working with a tax professional is the time it will save you. Filing your own taxes using tax software can make sense in many situations, but even small roadblocks or points of confusion can set you back hours. A tax professional, on the other hand, has filed hundreds of returns, and what may be a setback for you is probably not a setback for them.

When you work with a professional, you also reap the benefit of their tax knowledge. Together, you may discover that you can claim exemptions and deductions you’ve never even thought of. This can help you get more money back than you would have had you done your taxes on your own. This can help in retrospect, too – getting a professional to review some of your past returns can mean that you may be able to get more money back for incorrectly filed returns.

Reduced stress is another big benefit. At the end of the day, working with a tax professional means that you can sleep easy knowing that an expert handled your return. Isn’t that better than staying up late worrying about whether or not you did it right?

Avoid making costly mistakes

Some tax returns are fairly straightforward. Others can be a nightmare for the uninitiated. Beyond the common errors, like failing to claim dependents or forgetting certain tax deductions, there are potentially more complicated errors involved when you own your own business, get married or divorced, relocate for a job, get laid off, or sell a rental property. These are just a few of the situations in which you may find yourself with more questions about the tax process than answers. In these situations, even your best shot might not be enough when it comes to filing your return accurately.