What does a tax preparer do for me?

I usually do my taxes myself. But now that I am maried, husband is military and I have a mary kay buisness(that is not doing too well) I need someone to help. I have all this paperwork and receipts and bank statements, anything I might need to show my business finances and it's in a mess. I do not want to abuse the free tax service offerred to military by making them do extra work. What is ussually expected out of a tax preparer? Will they calculate all of this for me and weed out the un-important stuff? or should I try to calculate some things first? thanks

You can STILL do it yourself regardless of how complicated.. but you will need to spend more time researching each area you need to. A tax preparer is going to do all this for you and then charge you a pretty high fee.. a tax preparer can also sign his named instead of you having to sign as the self-preparer.. but you should try going online and using Turbotax or Taxact first.. you can pay $30 for a guided filing.. which costs less than hiring a tax preparer. Best Wishes.

Two things:

1) The various tax software packages are usually pretty good about getting you through the process; we use Tax Cut.

2) The free tax service offered to military personnel is there for your benefit; don't feel as if you are abusing it because your tax situation is more complex than average. I don't think it is inappropriate.

If they have to weed through everything they will charge by the hour. You save money by weeding through it and preparing your business net profit or loss. List your questions on the side before you go.

I would take your tax info to the free Military Tax Service. They may have to keep you info for a couple of days and have supervisors check it, but that is a free service to you. Many military personnel have much more complicated returns because they've moved all over the place, bought homes, sold homes, etc. This is a free service to your family and they are trying to help you. :D

WAIT! Before you do anything else go to Pink Truth.com - they have GREAT INFO on the real financial impact of an Mary Kay business, stuff you won't hear from your director because she's afraid of losing her commission checks from your business!

PT saved me when I got into HUGE debt trying to work my way to director. There's also a great online forum of current and former Mary Kay directors, all the way up to a couple of future NSDs, gals with 20+ years experience who will gladly share their insight.

You need to get the info from PT before you go to an accountant because many accountants are not aware of how MK and other MLM (multi-level marketing) businesses work - and how to properly apply the tax code to your circumstances.

Because MK recruiting is done by individuals who are NOT employees of MK Corporate, you most likely got some inaccurate information from your recruiter and/or director, albeit unintentionally. Make sure you have the straight scoop from PT.

You'll also want to do some calculations of your own. A couple of tips:
1. One of the big things to know is that you can't deduct the wholesale product you purchase until you sell it - and you could end up paying tax on inventory sitting on your shelf because it's considered an asset.

2. You'll want to set up a simple spreadsheet with date of sale, customer, total sale, msrp, wholesale price, and tax you paid on the product (in MK you pay retail tax up front) which you then collect from the customer, so you'll want to deduct that from every sale when calculating net, even if you offer your customers a sale price. Wholesale+tax is your real cost of goods sold.

3. Also keep a spreadsheet of your REAL expenses, training meetings, supplies including packaging (gift baskets, gift bags, tissue, ribons, etc.), as well as the usual office supplies, phone, web site, business cards. Don't forget to track free product you give away, hostess gifts and PCP bonus gifts and other section 2 items like supplies. And don't forget shipping for everything you order from MK.

4. Keep good automobile records - chances are you're doing a lot of driving for your MK business, to/from appointments, meetings, training, delivering products, etc. This can be a major deduction.

5. Home office expense - make sure the area you claim is solely devoted to your business, best if it's a room used for nothing else.

Pink Truth has many more tips, forms and a community of smart, caring women who've been in the same spot. Good luck!

If you have the time and don't mind shuffling papers, you can do it yourself (just like you have been doing).

As your tax situation gets more complex however, you may need help. (Nothing wrong with that.)

The free tax service offered to the military -- I certainly wouldn't refer to that as abusing the system. It's simply another benefit provided (exactly the same as any other benefit the military provides). That's what they're their for. That's what they get paid for. (If they weren't doing that, they'd be off somewhere carrying a rifle. [sorry, bad joke from my old military days... couldn't resist it.]

Yes, a tax preparer should calculate this for you and be aware of both the important and un-important stuff.

Ultimately though, the responsibility for the taxes is yours. So, always be up-to-speed on what they're doing with "your" taxes.

You have had a couple of changes in your situation that may make it worthwhile to get assistance from a tax preparer, particularly with respect to your business.

You should make the effort to sort all the paperwork pertaining to personal vs. business taxes. The tax preparer can show you what's relevant, what's not, and prepare the tax returns for you. I don't know whether they will allow you to assist in the preparation; if not, you should study the return once completed, keep a copy for yourself, ask them questions, so as to learn how to do it for yourself next time.

I've used a tax preparation service once, for my mother taxes, they were more complex than mine. Turned out that I was doing everything right, and even knew about things they didn't ! So you still have to be aware of things for yourself. Use it as a learning opportunity.

go to taxact.com, they will help you file your taxes step by step. Whatever the fees are can be deducted right of your tax return. mine cost me about 30 bucks.

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