Taxes and planning

[somebabiesmom]

Every year we go to an accountant thinking that they will tell us how best to arrange our finances and every year we are disappointed. We basically want to know the benefits of filing separately v. jointly considering our mountain of student loan debt, various loan forgiveness programs, and the benefits of filing separately/jointly now that we have 2 kids and own a house. It seems like a perfect question for an accountant, but after 3 different ones all gave us blank stares - we are going to H&R Block.

I briefly brushed elbows with a financial planner once, but she wasn't telling me anything I didn't know about how to manage debt. And I really wanted someone who focused on a bigger picture, i.e., how to arrange our finances, assets, liabilities, and tax status. And I got the impression that you didn't really have to have any professional qualifications for her job...

Has anyone had a better experience? Who am I looking for for this kind of consultation? I really thought an accountant or financial planner would be appropriate.

[sudokufan]

I haven't tried to consult a tax professional for that kind of thing, but I did find that TurboTax was able to answer some of my questions last year. After I finished entering all my numbers it let me do some "what if" playing around - itemizing vs. standard deduction, filing jointly vs. singly, etc. But it's all retrospective - it can help you decide how to file for last year (filing jointly was better for us by $1000) but it can't give you advice about how to make next year better, other than generic stuff like open an IRA.

[supertrooper1]

I can tell you that whoever files your taxes at H&R Block probably won't be able to tell you either unless you get that one amazing employee. We go to H&R Block every year because DH thinks that if we have them do it, it will lessen the chances of being audited, even though it would be so much cheaper if I used a tax software like Turbo Tax or H&R Block's software. While they are trained and have specific tax knowledge, they pretty much just follow their software.
I'm not a tax expert but I've heard it's almost always better to file jointly. While you can deduct the student loan interest, the full deduction goes away at a certain level of income.

[jlaok]

Have you specifically looked for someone who does tax planning? We've gone to a tax accountant before and they've just done our taxes. This year we are going to a tax planner because we bumped tax brackets and want advice on how to adjust for upcoming years.

[anewadventure]

there's definitely a quality range within accounting and financial planning. we have it easy - both my parents are CPAs and they own their own, albeit tiny, company. so on the one hand i get the free planning and advice, and tax prep, but on the other hand my parents know every damn thing about my finances.

i agree to look for certifications. i would also call ahead before you make an appointment, and specifically ask whether they can do the things you are looking for.

[tmclawchick]

I agree with PPs -- go with a financial planner, or a tax attorney who specializes in that area.

[sandandsea]

I'm a CPA (I specialize in corporate taxes) and my firm offers financial planning and tax consulting for high worth individuals and we charge a lot for it, like thousands of dollars.

I would suggest putting all of your info into an online prep source (TaxSlayer, Turbo Tax, etc.) and then choosing the different statuses to see what gives you the best result. Married filing jointly is almost always the better answer. The preparers at H&R block know very little about taxes and almost nothing about planning.

Also, depending on your wealth, I would looking a wealth management firm or financial planner to help with asset management and planning. Before we bought our house 12 years ago, we did a free 1 hour consultation with a financial planner and I left feeling much like you. As I am a CPA and know quite a bit about it, we decided to educate ourselves and have pretty much done our financial planning on our own.

Dave Ramsey also has some endorsed local providers that he recommends that are supposed to educate you on what you're doing so that you understand it all. They're supposed to have the heart of a teacher, so you may check out his website and see if there is someone in your area to start with.

[tas1883]

I agree that H&R Block won't be able to help you plan. I would look at making an appointment with an EA (enrolled agent). EAs specialize in tax while most CPA's don't at least the CPA firms I've dealt with here in Oregon. An EA will be able to tax plan as far as taxes go and then I would look into a financial planner who will work with the person who is doing your taxes. I know Oregon and California you have to be licenses to prepare taxes and there are different levels of licenses. We actually do what you are looking for in my office but then we specialize in taxes. It might also make sense to try and schedule a consultation appointment during the none busy season which I know doesn't help you right now.