I wonder if finding a good tax advisor runs into the same problem as finding a financial advisor - in order to know if they are worth the money, you have to know enough that just doing it yourself would make more sense.

While I've never used one, my sibling was given very bad information by her new husband's tax advisor when they were doing taxes last year.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Oops, I should have specified - find a good tax advisor. I'd always assumed tax advisors were all pretty competent, but I guess some aren't.

And, to be clear, I'm not talking about a tax preparer. Where I live, pretty much anyone can take an online course and become a tax preparer. An actual tax advisor would typically be someone with a degree in accounting, at a minimum.

It's just frustrating because financial articles always say "consult a tax professional before making any moves" or something like that. But how many of us have our own tax professional? I don't even know where to find one.

I don't mind paying the tax. That's not the problem. I just hate all the complexity. We shouldn't have to rely on an entire industry just to file our taxes. I remember the days of filling out a 1040-EZ by pencil and mailing it in to the IRS. Nowadays, my nephew (single, no kids) pays someone $140 to file a simple return.