If there is a possibility that you may owe money on your taxes, the last thing you want to do is hand over cash so that a third party can tell you that payment is due. However, if you experienced a foreclosure or short sale on your real estate last year, you may want to think again according to tax expert Eva Rosenberg’s article, “Filling Taxes 2011: Should I Do My Own Taxes?”
Rosenberg’s article, posted on the Equifax Personal Finance Blog, provides a list of scenarios in which having your taxes prepared by a professional is safer than not. Such situations include taxpayers who own one or more businesses and those who have multiple jobs. Also included on the list are people who sold their primary residences at a loss, through a foreclosure or short sale.
The issue is not with tax filing software. Actually, Rosenberg acknowledges such programs’ usefulness to the average taxpayer: Those whose finances are straightforward and uncomplicated. These people definitely take advantage of the opportunity to save money by filing their own returns.
For more information including full lists of scenarios, check out Rosenberg’s article on the
