Tax preparation

[georgy.livejournal.com]

Can anyone recommend a good tax preparer in the Somerville area whose rates are fairly reasonable? My husband and I just sat down to do our taxes and we think our various financial involvements have finally outgrown the capacity of our tiny brains. I know it's somewhat late in the game, but we'd love to have a pro do this to make sure it's done right.

Thanks!

Comments

[ron_newman]

I tagged this "financial". Take a look at the old posts with this tag and you may find something useful.

[phoenixy.livejournal.com]

Could you be more explicit about what you mean by reasonable?

BTW you will probably get some recommendations for Rich James, and he is fairly cheap (my return was like $200?) However, I didn't think he did a good job and wouldn't go back, YMMV.

[veek.livejournal.com]

I'll second Richard James. Cost me $200 as well, and a bunch more than necessary in late fees because he misinformed me about deadlines.

Wow, cheap at $200?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Seems rather expensive to me, at least for a straightforward case.

Re: Wow, cheap at $200?

[veek.livejournal.com]

Er, sorry, I was recommending *against* him. Like the commenter to whom I replied, I wasn't satisfied with his work. And I do think $200 is a lot of money, though I suspect it's about what tax prep costs. Note that our taxes had self-employment stuff, and Rick James charges a set amount for every [type of] form he needs to fill out.

[georgy.livejournal.com]

I am not sure, as I have never done this before. I suppose that if someone said, "John Smith did a great job for me and I found his rates reasonable compared to past tax preparers I've used," I would believe that.

[laryu.livejournal.com]

For the record, $200 is NOT expensive for good tax prep and advice, if you have "financial involvements." In fact, it's pretty inexpensive, in my experience. You get what you pay for, yada yada.

Diane O'Brien E.A.

[spaz-i-mota.livejournal.com]

Two years in a row I've gone because moving and working in multiple states was too much for me to figure out. Very easy and very friendly. For me it was $100 for Fed and MA. You can call @ 617.591.8383. She's right in Davis Square.

[unferth.livejournal.com]

Looks like we had a thread about this a month ago:

http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1634632.html

I personally have gone to Paul Bain on College Ave every time I've had taxes that were more complex than I wanted to handle alone. My basis for comparison is not large, in that he's the only person I've ever paid to help me do taxes, so I can't intelligently speak to the competitiveness of his rates or his competence - but I wasn't unhappy with either the results or the rates.

turbo tax?

[dullescoelho.livejournal.com]

i've been using turbo tax for a couple years, i think it's pretty solid.

Re: turbo tax?

[ron_newman]

As I said in last month's thread, I really don't think that is a helpful answer. The OP wants a person, not a computer program. (But if someone does want a computer program, I've been pretty happy with TaxACT.)