Why Should You File Your Own Taxes?

More often than not, it may make more sense for you to file your own taxes rather than turn things over to a pro. Here are some of the advantages to filing your own taxes:

It’s a lot cheaper. The number one and most obvious advantage to filing your own taxes is cost. In 2018, the average cost of professional tax prep for a 1040 Form with no itemized deductions and a state return is $175, and if you itemize your deductions you’re looking at about another $100.

If you’re self-employed and have to file Schedule C, be prepared to deal with tax preparation fees as high as $450. And if you live in a particularly expensive area of the country or have a particularly complex tax situation, the cost of tax preparation can be many times higher.

Now some DIY tax software programs are more expensive than others. See how E-file.com can save you up to 50% on your tax software.

Filing your own taxes can be more convenient than having a tax pro prepare them. At first blush, it might seem that if money is no object, it would save you a lot of time and hassle having somebody else handle things. But the thing is, even if you hire a professional, you still have to do a lot of the legwork yourself in terms of compiling all your tax-related documents and physically bringing them to your tax professional.

Especially if your taxes are fairly simple and straightforward, there’s a good chance that in the time it takes you to drive to your tax professional and back again, you could have already successfully filed your taxes from the comfort of your own home.

Filing your own taxes doesn’t mean foregoing professional support. Just because you file your own taxes, that doesn’t mean that professional support isn’t within your reach. For example, E-file.com offers one of the most competitively priced online tax filing services on the web (as much as 50 percent cheaper than comparable sites), and offers qualified online tax support to all users.

E-File’s dedicated online support team expedites the filing process by enabling filers to get their questions answered just minutes after a question is sent, even during peak times.

Now, there are sometimes compelling reasons to have a professional assume the greater burden of your tax preparation. If you’ve been through significant changes since you last filed, including starting a business, retiring or incurring major medical expenses, things can sometimes get complex enough that it may make sense to hand things over to a tax pro.

For most people, however, the advantages to filing your own taxes are fairly obvious, and because services like E-File.com have been deliberately designed to keep complex tax situations as simple as possible and to make itemizing clear and easy, even those with significant changes to their filing status needn’t be daunted about doing their own taxes. Plus, dedicated support and successful filing is literally a click away.