I'm going to add a little wisdom here based on my experience. I've been a tax preparer for 14 years, completed over 3500 returns, and taken more than 500 hours of training. I've had experience with various types of tax organizations. Deciding who to go to to prepare your taxes can be confusing. Let's change that! Here is an explanation of the differences of a CPA, tax preparer, and an EA -- and -- some information about how each of them work. I hope this will help you pick the one that best works for you! ~ An Enrolled Agent (EA) is a designation by the IRS that the individual has passed a knowledge exam on taxes that allows the EA to represent a taxpayer infront of the IRS. An Enrolled Agent may be a tax preparer or a CPA. Not all tax preparers or CPA's are Enrolled Agents. ~ A CPA is Certified Public Accountant. They received this designation by passing knowledge exams on numerous accounting areas. Many CPA's specialize in a specific area of accounting. If you go to a CPA make sure they specialize in taxes. Not all CPA's specialize in taxes or are Enrolled Agents. The CPA must be an Enrolled Agent to represent you infront of the IRS. ~ Tax preparers are trained to prepare taxes. Often they have a educational background or work in accounting but not necessarily. Their knowledge varies based on the number of years they have prepared taxes and educational courses they have taken. Tax preparers at H&R Block begin with a basic training course of 66 hours of class time plus additional hours for updates on new tax law changes and on-the-job training hours. Students of the basic training course must pass a final exam to qualify to work for H&R Block. Experienced H&R Block tax preparers are required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of training each year plus additional hours for updates on new tax law changes. Many tax preparers at H&R Block and smaller tax prep firms are Enrolled Agents. ~ H&R Block charges are determined by the forms used and what is filled in on the form. If you require H&R Block to do bookkeeping (you know that brown bag of receipts) they will charge an additional hourly fee. ~ Most CPA's charge on an hourly basis. From my personal experience the cost of going to a CPA is about 2X the cost of going to H&R Block. Some local firms are even less but may not have an EA or year-around office to help if there is a problem. ~ If you go to H&R Block you will sit with a tax preparer as they prepare your return. The preparer will ask lots of questions, answer questions, and make suggestions for future tax savings. Unless there is a complex tax issue that needs to be researched or missing information, the preparer will complete your return while you are there and you can take it with you when you go. ~ If you go to a CPA they may have you sit with them as they prepare and complete your return -or- they may just have you leave the tax information and call you to pick-up the return when it is completed. ~ Many CPA's hire tax preparers such as myself (often current or former H&R Block preparers) to complete the return. The CPA reviews the completed return and signs it as the preparer and presents it to the client. This is very common in our area especially with larger accounting firms. ~ Tax laws are complex and change each year. I've amended returns prepared by individuals, H&R Block, other tax prep firms, and CPA's. Anyone preparing your return can make a mistake. ~ If you prepare your own taxes on-line be sure to print a copy for your records. The on-line programs are great for simple returns (such as those with just W2's and interest). ~ If you want to purchase tax software Turbo Tax and Tax Cut are the most popular. Be sure to print a copy of your return for your records. The software is a great choice for a return that is not complex and if you are willing to take the time to research items that you are not sure of. ~ If you choose to go to H&R Block or a smaller tax firm call and request an appointment with an experienced preparer and let them know you would like a preparer that will spend time reviewing and explaining your return in detail. They will schedule you with a preparer that meets your needs if they know when you call for an appointment. ~ To find a good CPA or tax preparer ask friends and family for recommendations. Ask them why they like their preparer and see if it matches what your looking for. If you find a someone you like then call next year to schedule an appointment specifically with that person. As for the original poster ... from her explanation they have a rather simple return. If she felt confident to do her own return she could go online and do it. It sounds as though she wants to learn but would like some help this year so going to a professional might be a good idea. Since the return seems to be rather simple I think an experienced tax preparer would be less expensive than a CPA. I'd suggest calling for an appointment in advance and requesting that the appointment be scheduled with an experienced tax preparer that will be willing to answer lots of questions.

One of the biggest gain from the rental property is by properly structuring your taxes... You seem to have some grasp of that. Rental income is not an active income. It is a passive income, even so it is taxed at your income tax rate. If there is a loss on your rental property, which most rental homes show because of the depreciation, you can actually deduct the loss from your income, if you meet the income eligibility, around 150k or less. It looks like you will not meet this requirement. This can be the place where the rental homes showing loss has the biggest taxable advantage. (I understand your question completely. I think others do not understand the tax portion of your question.) If you can create this situation of "passive loss", you can actually lessen your taxable income AND still have the mortgage deduction. It's a bit of double dipping, IMHO but this is how the tax code is written. I believe LLCs allow you to deduct the passive loss from your active income without the income eligibility. If you are interested, you should ask your tax attorney. Interest you pay on a mortgage for a non-primary residence is about 1 to 2% higher than a mortgage for your primary residence, if you did not know this already. You need to do the numbers and see if the difference between the tax on the income from the rental house versus the higher/lower interest payment on your principle residence will show advantage one way or the other. When you run out of depreciation on your rental home, you will see a huge jump in your taxable income from your rental. This really hurts... This is a good time to do a 1031 exchange to restart the depreciation clock. (look at your 1040 to see what you have for depreciation on your rental...) I do my taxes with multiple rental properties and I have played around with the numbers to see where there is best tax advantage. I pay the top tax rate. So any tax deduction is "huge" to me.... This is easy with Turbotax. Even so, you need to see a tax professional. I have no professional credentials in taxes. Good luck.

"It would be nice if some men would respond. Linda put her side of the problem on the forum (Posted 11-8-09), only women responded." Wrong. I am male and here is what I wrote to her then: "Posted by asolo (My Page) on Tue, Nov 10, 09 at 15:17 You had separate finances before. You have separate finances now. Nothing unusual about that. But there must be mutual understandings. I assume your presence and activities within Dan's house amount to something. Cleaning, housekeeping, errands, cooking perhaps? In that sense, what makes you a "tenant" -- one who pays rent -- as opposed to a "housekeeper" or "personal secretary"-- one who is entitled to a wage? I would encourage you not to open that pandora's box. However, if he does, I wouldn't hesitate to turn it around instantly. Spouses often share expenses but they do NOT pay "rent". Suggest you share all expenses (excluding taxes and insurance on Dan's home which remains his asset) but not "rent". I think "rent" within a marriage is an obnoxious term. As time goes on and you may buy furniture, etc,. you must be careful to record what's his, yours, and "ours". Your union can work just fine with separate accounts. Both of you should gain. Neither of you should have your assets depleted. "Rent" would be a net depletion for you because if you still lived in your own house, you wouldn't be paying it. I would resist that. If you contribute to repairs and/or upgrades to Dan's house over time, that becomes your equitable interest in the property, too, which you'll want to record. Overall, I think Dan's being kind of a jerk about this. He's creating more problems than he's solving. You may have married a pedant. If he persists, you may want to consider a "post-nuptial" agreement and put this nonsense to bed permanently. How's the marriage going otherwise?" Your questions from this post: "1.) I am asking Linda to share the living cost of the home we live in. 1/2 of the cost is $240.00 per month (includes taxes, insurance, utilities etc.). Is this right?" Yes and no. Your idea of "living expenses" is flawed. She should share in "expenses" such as utilities and food and cleaning products, other things you both consume. She should also be willing to contribute to occasional appliance repairs and other wear-and-tear items that both of you use and that will require repair or replacement in time. That part would be fair in my opinion. How much and whether or not that will represent equitable interest thereafter will be a can of worms for both of you, of course. She shouldn't contribute to any capital item. You remodel the place or replace the roof, you pay for all of it. She should not pay taxes or insurance or anything else related to the capital value of your separate asset. "2.) I am also asking Linda to share $160.00 per month of the profits she makes from her 10 rental units. Is this right?" No. Hers is hers. Yours is yours. You've already agreed to that. Your justification is nuts. She could say the same thing if you wanted to turn it around. She's agreed to dance to your tune and you want her to pay the piper, too. "3) I feel the request I am making for her to share is fair and honest. Am I right or wrong?" I don't doubt your honesty. Making requests is "fair" but I don't think an experienced disinterested outsider would back you up about the logic or "fairness" of your proposal. I suggest two things -- and both of you should share the cost: 1) Seek out an experienced family-practice lawyer, lay this on the table before them and ask their opinion/advice. Nail down the financial logic -- which may give both of you new perspectives. 2) Assuming you reach an agreement, I would then lock it down in a post-nuptial agreement. What the hell....the way you two are thinking, you're going to be talking to lawyers soon enough anyway if you can't clear this off the table. You could allow Linda to purchase 1/2 of your house. Maybe she could do her own financing or maybe you could carry the note. That wouldn't disrupt anything else for either of you and would remove the root cause of all this financial pedantry. If, in your opinion, those options can't be considered -- you will have told me more about yourself than you may have intended.

Interesting thoughts -- we could all improve on paperwork storage in our homes. Two things I think I'm doing well that differ from the above mentioned Script, and someone else might find some ideas in my methods: Taxes. Yes, like Script, I am scrupulous about maintaining records for my taxes. About a dozen years ago I went to the office supply and bought two big boxes of BRIGHT GREEN folders (green like money). I labeled them Taxes 2000 ... Taxes 2001 ... Taxes 2002 ... Taxes 2003 ... and so on. Given my family's typical lifespan, I made enough green folders to take me to age 110 -- probably more than I'll need, but I'm ready! They're all stored in my file cabinet, taking up very little space. Now when I receive anything tax-related -- a charitable receipt, an end-of-the-year bank statement, whatever -- I have a place to file it. In April, I have a place to file a copy of my taxes, and I can go back and see previous tax years. For the rest of my life, this system is in place. Death folder. Ours is a notebook. Two identical notebooks, actually, since we have two children. Our girls are young adults now, but they've never dealt with an estate -- even if they don't open it 'til they're old, it'll be useful to them. It contains a lot of stuff: - A personal letter to the two of them - A list of our wishes about funeral and items we'd like donated to various family members or charities - A list of things they must do immediately; it starts with going to our house and taking possession of the dog, but it also includes small details like canceling our voting registration and destroying any medicines in the house. At every turn this list includes addresses and phone numbers, including the lawyer we suggest for probate, the funeral home our family's always used, and family members who should be contacted. - A copy our will; they know what's in it -- everything split between the two of them - A list of our financial assets -- bank accounts, investments, insurance, deeds/maps of real estate ... when our youngest became a legal adult, we made the two girls co-beneficiaries of every account; note that this was done before either was married, so our two kids -- not future son-in-laws -- will own these items. - A list of the bills we pay each month -- electricity, phone, even the guy who cuts our grass. - Official copies of our birth certificates, our marriage certificates, and the girls' birth certificates -- they might not be needed, but the girls won't have to scramble to find them - A flashdrive with all of the above in digital format plus photographs that might be useful in putting together the funeral Our rule: We keep two years of tax returns in the notebooks ... the reason being that someday an accountant will file our final estate tax return, and he or she will want our last two years of returns -- so every April we pull out the notebook, discard one old return and insert the newest ... so our rule is that every April we look over the notebook and update anything that's changed. For example, last year we changed bank accounts, and someday we hope to add items concerning grandchildren to the book. Our girls know that the notebooks are stored in the safe, and they know where the key to the safe is hidden, and they know it's labeled with a misleading name so that a thief wouldn't look at it twice. Last thought on this notebook: Though this project took us the better part of a year --- we kept remembering one more thing, one more thing that really should be included -- we didn't find it difficult emotionally. I suspect that if we were older and/or one of us were in poor health, it might've been different.