Who’s doing your taxes this year?

In tonight’s edition of ‘Tax Tip Tuesday’ we go over the options of doing your own taxes compared to hiring a tax preparer.

Taxes are due April 17th this year and while many make sure to file in a timely manner, many Americans will wait till the last minute. Whether you are doing your taxes yourself through systems like turbo tax or liberty tax or counting on a tax preparer, its always important to do your research. Brian Watson with the IRS explains how the best way to get your taxes done is to trust the source.

“55 percent of tax returns are prepared by paid tax preparers. You can go to IRS.gov and file there. There’s a link on free file on IRS.gov and it will link you to several different vendors that you can choose to use. These are people that are approved by the IRS,” said Watson.

Ultimately Watson adds you want a preparer with a good reputation. Some red flags to look out for? Stay away from anybody that promises you a huge refund without ever even looking at your tax return information. Also stay away from anyone who bases their return preparation fee on a percentage of your refund.