[quote=carlsbadworker]Since quite a few loyal piggs have bought homes recently, I think this question will come up one day or another: do you really need a CPA to do your tax return as an homeowner? As a renter, my tax return used to be super-easy, W2 income minus standard deduction, and that’s it. So I never used a CPA before, is the service worthwhile or I should just continue use my tax software?
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Back to the original question… Unless there were complications with the home sale transaction – turbotax or taxcut are both fine for doing your taxes. I’ve only used a CPA once – a year I sold and bought a house, relocated across the country, and had some tax gross up issues. (back when corporations paid for relo’s). She made mistakes. Being a “trust but verify” type of person I input it into turbo tax to double check things. When I asked her about the discrepancies -she agreed that turbotax was correct.

The real work with doing your taxes is getting all your documentation together and making sure you have everything. You have to do this for a CPA or for turbotax/taxcut.

If I had my own business, with lots of 1099’s, capital depreciation, etc… I’d probably hire an expert. But for a fairly straightforward tax return with home ownership… eh, do it yourself with a good tax package.