Taxes - Why Should I Pay Someone to Do Them?

Why should I pay for this? What does this usually cost?

If you fully understand how to apply the dozens of different classification categories for depreciating fixed assets on a double-declining basis, feel free to keep your own tax records. Of course, if you do you’re probably an accountant, so that’s not exactly fair.

 

Tax filing is a classic case of comparative advantage. You pay someone else to do your taxes because they’re better at it than you are, so it will take them less time to do it than you would.

 

The time you take figuring out your taxes could be used to make money doing the things you are good at, like, presumably, running your business. A 2005 study by the SBA pegged the cost of legal compliance for firms with less than 20 employees at about $7,647 per employee. Using an accountant to keep track of your compliance issues should cut that cost. If it doesn’t, you need a better accountant.