DO YOUR OWN TAXES?

Physician's Money Digest

The complexities of the tax codeare shrinking the number of Americansopting to fill out Form 1040 ontheir own, with more than half of alltaxpayers paying a tax preparer to dothe job for them. IRS figures showthat self-employed persons with morethan $200,000 in adjusted grossincome (a category that includesmany readers)spend an average of 62 hours ayear organizing taxes and pay $1315in fees to have their taxes done forthem. The total cost to all taxpayersfor tax compliance tops $16 billion.Be wary when picking out a tax preparer,since many are not certified byan accrediting organization. Andalthough many tax professionals willrepresent you if the IRS comes tocall, remember that you're still on thehook for any mistakes.