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Hire tax guy or do my own?
 

I did 2 years of selling on Amazon without doing taxes but now I am starting to make a legitimate business out of it and want to cover my ass, not to mention Amazon rules kick into effect.

I am a sole proprietorship, I will probably do around 250K in revenue, have no employees, and work from my home office so its a pretty simple business.

I am college educated but even without being college educated.... tax software these days is so amazing and user friendly that it seems like anyone can do their own taxes.

I did a dry run with TurboTax and inputs your answers into all the required forms and covers all deductions.

Am I being to naive? Is it that easy?

Or should I pay an attorney, he is not that expensive, I just like be to in control of all my finances.

I get an outsider to do taxes. There's a simple reason, they are the professionals & know how to squeeze every dollar imaginable.

I agree the software is great. But software is only as good as the data input by anyone. If there's info missing, a person could lose.

By all means, keep your own set of books & have an idea of what you may need to pay. But let a carefully chosen expert prepare the goodies for the IRS.:juggle:

There lies my problem....Im 23 and do not have connections that can direct me to a good accountant. I met my dads accountant who seemed he was about to heal over and die. Thats when I started thinking that I could do my own.

I hear what you say and appreciate the advice. Should I be looking for a tax man who specializes in this business tax? Check reviews?

Basically, are there going to be major skill differences with something so basic?

My taxes will take me two full two days to complete (mostly in getting docs together). I use Turbo Taxes. I know what deductions I can take and how I should file. What I do is so complicated I don't think it would be cost effective explaining it to someone else. Instead I just do it myself.

I dread doing taxes this year. :eek:

I always do my taxes and then hand it over to a professional. Most times, they come out the same. But there have been a couple of times he found deductions I missed. I just feel more comfortable this way - two sets of eyes looking at it, lessens the chances of making a mistake.

250k................dammmmmmmmmmmmmm:clap:

yea...thats serious for single man operation. nice job

If you do two years of amended returns to show your sales on Amazon, I might hire a professional to guide you through. It may be complicated, and you want everything done right. Also, If you file amemded returns because of underreported income, that may red flag you for a few years for closer inspection of your returns. Keep in mind you will be liable for penalties, and interest on the extra tax for the income that you failed to report, and if you failed to file a return for those years, that is very serious, and they could hand your case over to the criminal investigative unit of the IRS for prosecution. I would get a consultation with a tax attorney to go over your options before doing anything. Sometimes they can handle all contact with the IRS, and make the whole experience alot less stressfull.

Good luck

250K revenue... not profit :) but still doing well Thanks

I think I like the idea of doing my own and have an accountant look them over. Thanks a bunch guys.

jeff weico's advices are always sound!

Hi,
Real newbie here. I am thinking ahead too. Ive been making a lot of £ from Amazon but.....its all in different accounts.
Ive been selling erm genuine, box dvd sets etc. Very sucessfull. But havent paid a bean in tax yet?
Ive got quickbooks but not bothered with it yet.
Ive not registered as a business either.
I am worried it will all come crashing down. so I want to start paying "something". Keep the wolves away so to speak....
Any ideas guys?

Hello all, also have a similar tax question...when should you start paying taxes on stuff sold on ama zon or feebay? Thanks in advance.

I just watched CNBC's "American tax cheat" and I am worried about not properly paying taxes. I am 20 years old and I have never done my taxes before. Also I have multiple stealth accounts . How do you handle taxes in this situation I'm not sure what to do?!

Stealth makes no difference. Just total up your gross sales, deduct the cost of the merchandise sold, postage and other expenses, and then tax would be due on that amount.

It is a little more complicated than that, I suggest that you use a service like H&R Block, or another tax professional.

The IRS does not care about stealth, nor do they care exactly WHAT was sold. All they care about is the the income was reported properly and that the tax was paid.

CNBC's American Greed is a fun watch too /plug.

paying your taxes keeps you under the radar. I heard from a good source that after $2000 you have to start paying taxes on revenue? Is this confirmed by anyone? I will be in the same boat for taxes next year, I'm already keeping a log of everytime I order stock, and how much I make off the product (with shipping already deducted). This way I can keep track of how much I paid for the items and how much I made off of them. Real simple spreadsheets like that I highly recommend as it will help you through the tax process

I suggest you go to a TAX professional, instead of H&R block. Places like H&R block, and similar places hire teenagers to do tax returns for you. They make mistakes, and most of the time have no clue what they are doing since they just input it into the software.

Tax Professional = Accountant, they should be a certified public accountant. I suggest you check on classified ad's such as kijiji, or craigslist. Many of these accountants have a side business during the tax season.

I love all these answers but how do you guys deduct inventory? for example dhgate if you use western union there really is no way to prove you bought inventory since there is no receipt.
The tax people at h&r block that did my taxes told me I needed receipts so I had to pay the full amount and only deduct the postage and paypal fees it was so stressful and I bet I could have saved a few grand.

I'm stealth - I don't pay income tax. .:pop2:

stealth or not, if they really wanted to get you, it wouldn't be very hard. You just have to be a high value target that they can recoup alot of revenue from. You have to really kinda "hide in plain sight". Unless you are doing something suspicious that really gets the feds undivided attention, or someone rats you out to the tax authorities, if you do it right, you can go on forever without the tax man knocking at your door. But I always say, pay your taxes, do it right, and sleep well at night without worring about the Feds knocking down your door, and siezing all your worldly goods, and assets, plus going to prison is a good deterrent.=}

LOL - I pay a lot of tax through the farm income and keep my trading well away from that. I have an aversion to my money going to keep every waif and stray that thinks the world owes them a living. Here in the UK we have tons of them:doh:

^ Hear, Hear!