I had my 2005 taxes done by a local CPA and she did a fairly decent job.  It’s the first time I’d ever had my taxes done by someone else, and did it ever cost me!

I ended up owing the Federal Government about $900, and the local state government about $600.  On top of that it appeared that I need to pay estimated taxes, so I mailed in about $300 worth to cover the first quarter this year.

Then comes the expensive part.  I owed the CPA about $1,300 for preparing my corporate and personal tax returns.  Ouch!  But hey, the corporate returns are over my head, so I suppose it’s money well spent… or so I thought.

I was down visiting relatives this last weekend, and found out that I could have had a small-town CPA do my taxes for about $300.  That’s total.  The whole shootin’ match, and I would have saved about $1,000.

You live, you learn, I suppose.  But that was an expensive lesson indeed.

2006 taxes will be different.  It just goes to show that it pays to shop around, even for your professional services. 

Taxes