CPAs can specialize in a range of accounting areas, including business, government and forensic accounting, as well as tax preparation. For preparing and filing your personal taxes, consider finding a CPA who specializes in individual income tax returns. 2. Verify their identification number

Can a CPA be paid on a tax refund?

CPAs are not generally allowed to base their fees on a percentage of your tax refund, so you may want to avoid this type of pay arrangement. You can also connect with a live tax expert with TurboTax Live for unlimited expert help and tax advice as you do your taxes.

What to do if you are a tax preparer?

Tax return preparer fraud is among the list of common tax scams. The IRS provides tips on avoiding unscrupulous tax preparers and is committed to investigating paid tax return preparers who act improperly. Make a complaint if you have been financially impacted by a tax return preparer’s misconduct or improper tax preparation practices.

Where can I get free tax preparation software?

Military OneSource offers MilTax, a free tax preparation and filing software program. It’s available mid-January through mid-October. MilTax also provides free personalized help from tax consultants. The IRS offers an interactive tax assistant and other tax tools to help with general tax preparation.

Where can I get a Certified Public Accountant to do my taxes?

Retail tax franchises such as H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, and Liberty Tax Service offer competent help if you just want to file a relatively straightforward tax return. Sometimes you can even find certified public accountants (CPAs) and enrolled agents (EAs) working in these offices.

What kind of accountant do I need for my taxes?

Finding a Tax Accountant. CPAs often specialize in an area specific to accounting. Some CPAs specialize in tax accounting, but not all CPAs handle tax issues. A CPA can also represent you before the IRS if you’re dealing with an audit or collections. Tax attorneys are lawyers who have chosen to specialize in tax law.

Can a CPA prepare a basic income tax return?

Across the country, CPAs regularly prepare basic income tax returns for individuals as well as more complex income and other tax returns for families, not-for-profit organizations and businesses of all sizes.

Where can I find the name of a CPA?

Here’s what to do: If you got the tax preparer’s name from the IRS, your state board of accountancy, a state CPA society, or the NAEA, their credentials are most likely legitimate. But if you obtained the name through a referral, it’s a good idea to find out whether the person really holds the certifications they claim to have.

How can I find out if my CPA license is active?

All members of the AICPA are not reflected on this referral database at this time. To confirm that a CPA has an active license, you may contact the State Board of Accountancy where the individual obtained his or her license. This list of state contact information will help you connect. In addition, you can use the NASBA CPA Verify tool.