There is an old saying, "you get what you pay for." This is so true in the tax preparation industry.

Many of the off the shelf tax software's promise to do your federal tax return for free (example Turbo Tax). However, they do not tell you you have to pay for the state return plus they do not even offer a city return forcing you to download a city return from the city taxation web site.

This type of tax return software has to appeal to the masses, therefore making them very unsophisticated. They use a decision tree format, asking a series of questions. Unfortunately, software can not anticipate every scenario, resulting in wrong or missed entries/deductions.

Every year our firm reviews many of these self prepared returns. We notice errors and missed deductions in almost everyone, resulting in a smaller refund than entitled, sometimes by thousands of dollars.

Use this software at your own risk. Yes, you can save a few dollars by utilizing this software but if your refund is hundreds of dollars less you have and ultimately cost yourself money.

Plus, you have raised your audit risk exponentially. By preparing your own return, you are over twenty times more likely to be audited (according to the IRS).

Unless you have a very, very simple return you should not use tax preparation software.

Preparing your own return will cost you time and money.

Remember, "Friends don't let friends use Turbo Tax!"

But, if you decide to go it alone and you are unsure about your results, please bring the return to our firm and we will review for free.

And when you receive that audit notice from the IRS, we are here to help with that also.