Marci Shafto CPA - Accountant - Austin Texas

Trustworthy Accounting Services in the Austin Texas Area.

4612 Spicewood Springs Road
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 346-4499

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Use a Tax Return Preparation Specialist or Do it Yourself?

When to use a Tax Return Preparation Specialist vs Do it Yourself? 

What’s the difference between a chain tax preparation service vs Marci Shafto CPA?

Why would you use one over the other?

Every year, millions of people choose to do their taxes on software programs such as turbotax and taxact. And for most that do, these software programs are sufficient, but that’s because a majority of america work for a single employer, don’t have a lot of stock sales or complex investments.

We recommend using a specialist when:

  • You don’t have time
  • You have multiple investments
  • You have multiple sources of income
  • You run your own business
  • You want an increase in confidence

When you start to get a little more in diverse in your wealth building strategies, you may quickly realize that it’s hard to be an expert in everything.  For many professionals, it often isn’t worth your time to become in something may only use for a few hours per year.  Besides, it takes far more time than that just to keep up on all of the nuanced changes to the tax codes that pertain to each and every one of your investments.

Therefore, for anyone that has more than a W-2 and a few stock sales, having a CPA review & submit your taxes is well worth the cost.   For those who have diverse portfolios, multiple sources of income, and a wide range of investments, the odds only increase that something could be missed, potentially costing you thousands.  And you already have enough to worry about!  Your nerves are likely to be a lot calmer by adding a seasoned tax expert your personal team.

Drawbacks of TurboTax

Some people use a CPA annually, while others go years preparing their own taxes, only stopping in when they run into an issue that their tax software can’t handle. More often than not, the latter group wishes they had met with us sooner!

For example, this year we met with an engineer who had been preparing his taxes with TurboTax for the last 10 years.  Recently, he recently had a gain from an investment that he wasn’t sure his tax software could handle.  He met with us and he realized that his issue was going on for years!  Although his Turbotax had been accepting his numbers and giving him a result, it was wrong!

The result?  We re-did the last 3 years of his tax returns and found he had overpaid by $30,000!

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Testimonials

"As an engineer, I am good with numbers and problem solving, so I've always chosen to do my taxes myself. But one of my recent investments was an oil and gas MLP (master limited partnership) and my standard tax software was not up to the task. I was using Excel to try to keep track of things, but could not figure out how to enter all the data from the K1s into my tax software. Google only confirmed that everyone else complained about the same problem—that my “Name Brand” tax software could not handle this!

So I paid my estimated taxes April 15th and applied for an extension, and then began searching for an accountant to help out. In comes Marci! “You have not kept track of the depletion.” I did not even know that came into play. So after going back through the last 4 years of my taxes to correct my work, she saved me from making a $33,000 over payment to the IRS. Hats off to Marci!" Edward J, Austin, Texas
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About Marci Shafto

Marci Shafto  has delighted clients and built an excellent reputation during her 20 year career in Austin, Texas. Her private corporation experience included Dell, Applied Materials, and Trammel Crow before she became a partner with a small accounting firm. After 12 years of developing her tax expertise, Marci launched her own practice in 2014. Part of Marci’s desire to begin practicing privately stems from her belief that clients, like you, deserve to get more value from their CPA relationships. She believes that developing a strong relationship will allow you to focus on your family or business priorities while trusting her to focus on the numbers. Marci has a BBA in Accounting from Texas A&M University and an MBA from St. Edwards University. She is also a proud mother of three wonderful children who excel in math and … Read More About Marci Shafto

Hours and Location:

Open Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm

4612 Spicewood Springs Road
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 346-4499
Admin@MarciShaftoCPA.com

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Austin, Texas