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Hi everyone!
I am desperately looking for someone to help me with my tax return for my home daycare. This is my first year doing this so have ALOT of write offs and will need help. Can anyone suggest someone? Any idea of cost? I am in Durham Region. Thanks in advance :-)
I just go to H&R Block. However, there is only one guy there who can handle mine, being a small business. He's a proper accountant, whereas most of the others have just done a training course (at least that's my understanding). I tally up all my expenses under individual headings (groceries, hydro, internet, heat, water, insurance, car, satellite, daycare supplies, property maintenance/renovations and rent when I was renting). Also break down my income. I wrote all of it down and had my receipts/statements all very well organized and categorized so when I went in, everything was easy to find. He does the whole thing for me and deals with Rev Can should the need arise. I know lots of people like to do their own to save money. Not me....I will happily....HAPPILY.. ..pay a $200-$300 for someone else to do it. He knows all the ins and outs. I don't. I did, one year, fork out substantially more money for a fancy accountant and had to pay more than I've ever had to.
I don't know about an accountant in your area but don't go with the cheapest! I use an actually accounting firm. For my husband and I to get our taxes done together including my daycare I pay $400. Your accounting fees can be claimed as well.
Cfred.....Just curious as I have dealt with H&R (I wrote a bit about it in another thread)....did he re-add your numbers? I paid $300 for the lady (who was also the only one qualified to do small businesses, she also had a hdc actually) to do mine and she didn't re-add them, just took my word they were correct. I was not happy with this. If I'm paying that much I want them to do the work. She ended up making a couple mistakes and due to some other stuff, I complained and got my money back. I will never go back to that specific H&R.
Like I said in the other thread, I found someone who is qualified but retired. She charges me $50 or $60 (I think it's $50) but we have an agreement that I will add up all the stuff and have the numbers ready for her. She then places them in the appropriate areas and lets me know what I can claim and so on. I'm so happy I found her! She has also said she will help me deal with RC, if ever the need arises. I have been audited once and it was with H&R (not saying it was their fault tho! I'm not sure why I was audited)
Are you asking if he goes over all my receipts, statements, etc and adds them up? No, he doesn't. I do all of that. My daycare stuff and home stuff is all together, so I can go through receipts and pick out things that were definitely not daycare related and subtract them. When I went with an expensive firm, they didn't go through all my stuff either. I had it already organized and laid out. I assumed I wasn't supposed to just drop a box of receipts on their desk. Or am I? I decided that it wasn't worth the extra $200 in accountant fees and the taxes payable to go with anyone other than H&R. I'd probably always want to do my own organizing anyway....functionin g control freak here :) I've not been audited yet...hopefully never will be....knock on some wood please!
Yes, that is what I meant. I do all that of too just because I am somewhat organized and it was my first year with the dc and I was curious as to what I had paid for groceries etc. I expected her to add them up for the amount of money I paid. Maybe I expect too much LOL. I will knock on some wood for you as well!! haha I would hate to know what they charge small business owners who just give them their receipts than!
The lady I go to now, used to work at H&R actually, has qualifications and did small business claims all the time so I am confident with her. She said she didn't feel right charging a high amount because she has no overhead. She actually quit H&R when they started increasing their fee's yet the work never changed. I don't mind adding up all my expenses and organizing it (well, ok sometimes it's annoying and can be overwhelming!) for her. It saves me so much money! I am not under the belief that more money equals better service (for anything, not just taxes. altho sometimes you do get what you pay for. Research is key!). Unfortunately, because she is officially retired, I am not sure how much longer she will continue to do this on the side either. Oh well, I will stick with her as long as I can! :)
My hubby got audited quite a few years ago and it was a nightmare. It was so great to have a reputable accountant that helped us through it and deal with the auditor as well.
You're lucky to have her 5 Little Monkeys! Hang on to her! I would kill for cheaper accounting. I thought of doing it myself....and didn't get beyond that, lol! My accountant said that people do just drop bins of receipts for him to sort. I can't imagine that working in my favour with this business though. I'm way too micromanaging with this stuff to ever do that though. I like to know exactly where everything is, how much I've made, spent, etc. I was like that with my divorce too. I was involved in it up to my eyeballs - so much so that my lawyer gave me an office for the duration and his code for the photocopier, lol!
I've heard bad things about H&R, so I'm always aware that there could be problems. But for the past 13 years, I've been happy with the 2 guys who have taken care of my taxes. That, of course, could change with someone new.
And yes, I hate going through all the receipts. It's usually a couple grocery bags full of them and I itemize each one......thank goodness for wine :)
I considered doing it myself too because a few people said it was easy....however, I know I would make a mistake and not claim something so I decided not too either lol. I also like knowing that someone will be there to help me if I'm audited. Mine is pretty easy though as I buy everything for the daycare separately so it's just a matter of adding the receipts up and claiming half of most of everything else. I keep receipts in separate envelopes (toys, groceries, gas etc) and every 3 months add them up and than at the year end I add up the 4 envelopes in each category. I don't do that for the monthly bills though, I just add those up at year end.
LOL...I would likely do that in a divorce too....I wouldn't want to be getting screwed over!! haha
I had always heard bad things about H&R too but for 8-9 years never had a problem with them. It only takes one bad tax preparer to ruin that though.
You're good! I always say I'm going to keep everything sorted and tally my receipts every month or 2. 13 years later, it still hasn't happened! All my bills and things go into a file box into under it's own heading, so that's fine. I have one for every year, getting rid of things after about 9 years. But I have a bad, bad habit of just leaving receipts in my purse and pockets. When they start to get on my nerves in my purse, I get even lazier and stuff them into one of 2 drawers or I switch purses and forget about them. Then, in February, I run around with a plastic bag and collect all my receipts together. It's like a treasure hunt....but not fun.....
My husband is an accountant luckily so he does mine. Usually it's a bookkeeper who would add all your receipts etc. and then a tax accountant will do the actual taxes. A private accountant might accept your box of random receipts and do it for you.....but they charge by the hour! Someone at H and R probably won't be checking your numbers as they are working for a fixed fee so only file the taxes, not do the bookkeeping.
You really should try to find a tax accountant if you want the best results. My DH is not a tax accountant and says the rules change all the time. Only a tax accountant would keep up with the changes.
Ha ha CFRED...I do the same thing! The receipts end up shoved in a giant ziplock bag in my kitchen drawer. Not divided or anything!
lol Cfred...hey whatever works for ya!!
I am bad with receipts too. what I do to make it easier is I shove all my receipts in the cupboard. when I get a stack I go through them all and write it in a book. So for example I put
Jan 7, 2014 (date) - Walmart (place) - 5km (km driven) - $100 (total spent) - Toys (description). then I file it away in my folder under the appropriate place. Then at the end of the year (because I am a procrastinator and don't do it until tax time) I enter all the info into a spreadsheet that I created. I then can make the computer do all the totalling and I can organize everything according to description so all my grocery totals are together (house and daycare are together and I claim 50%), all daycare toys are together etc. It then gives me a total of km's driven during the year so my accountant can figure out how much mileage to claim. I then have a full printout of all expenses and don't have to go looking at receipts anymore. I print my spreadsheet and that is what I give my accountant.
I always figure I have 4 months after the end of the year to get everything organized - rarely file my taxes before mid April but there is no penalty for being near the deadline.
I am terrible at doing the km's. I have a log book in my car for this but I more often than not forget to write in it on each individual trip! I should maybe do a different system this year and see if that works out better.
I like to file early so I know how much I owe as I like to pay it before the interest starts to add to it! lol
This is my first year doing daycare taxes and I'm just wondering how much exactly do you end up having to pay and if anyone is willing to share specific details like their income vs. how much you pay in taxes (either on here or via private message) I would really appreciate it!