Given that tax season is almost here, I would like to share a very important piece of information to everyone who will be filing or know of someone who will be filing his or her tax return in the US for FY 2011.
 
Please do not just go to anyone with a CPA behind their name to get your tax return done. You might as well fill out your tax return reading the 1040 instruction and save money.  www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

Just because a person is a CPA does not mean that s/he is the best person for the job. Obviously, the CPA knows (they should if they are filing the tax returns) the basics for filing the return, but they will not know the strategies for the lowest tax liability. And, if you do not use the strategies, you will lose the credits/refunds that you were entitiled to. AKA, you should get your tax returns done by CPAs who know the strategies for reducing your tax liability, and these are usually CPAs who specialize in taxes. 

Another thing, take a look at 1040 instruction, page 6. There might be things that you could use for your advantage. 

tutt, kasto ancient kura gareko mitra..
turbotax ko jamana ma pani kohi CPA ko pachadi laagchan??
I've been filing myself since the time I remember.
Turbo Tax guides you in each and every steps.

I file as an employee and single. Dunno about how it's done as a business or self employed.
At the end of filing, they charge around $14 which is not a big deal instead of paying to accountant some $200-300 or even more.

 Mitra, 

Scenario: I am married filing jointly. I recently started going to university. I sold my house which does not qualify as my primary residence (tried all the tests), and I do not qualify for limited exclusion either. I have a six figure gain(long tern) (I have to pay 15c on each $1 gain.) How do I reduce my tax liability?

Tara, I agree. If you have regular stuff where you do not need to use strategies, do not use a CPA. You could use turbotax, or any of the other softwares out there. If they have time, they could use the 1040 instructions from IRS. I believe IRS has a free software on their website as well.


 

@moonshine I agree