As someone who's been in tax for over 20 years, I'd strongly recommend starting with the CPA route. Here's why: the barrier to entry is lower, you'll start earning income sooner, and you'll get real-world experience that will make you a better professional regardless of whether you later add a JD. I've seen too many people go straight to law school without understanding what tax work actually entails day-to-day. The CPA path gives you that foundation. Plus, many employers will help fund law school if you decide to pursue it later - but they rarely help fund CPA programs for attorneys. One thing I'll add that others haven't mentioned - consider your personality type. CPAs tend to work more collaboratively with clients on planning and compliance. Tax attorneys often deal with more adversarial situations - audits, disputes, litigation. Both are valuable, but think about what energizes you more. The money will come with either path if you're good at what you do. Focus on which type of work excites you more, and don't underestimate the value of getting into the workforce sooner rather than later. You can always add credentials, but you can't add back years of experience.

This is such a great discussion! As someone currently working as a CPA in tax, I wanted to add another angle - consider the type of clients you want to work with long-term. If you're drawn to working with individuals and small businesses on planning and compliance, the CPA route is probably your best bet. But if you're more interested in complex corporate transactions, high-net-worth estate planning, or tax controversy work, you might find the JD opens more doors. One thing I've noticed is that having both credentials can really set you apart, especially in boutique tax practices or if you want to start your own firm someday. Clients love knowing their advisor can handle both the technical tax work AND represent them if issues arise with the IRS. My advice? Start with the CPA since you're already so close to having the credits. Get 2-3 years of solid experience, then reassess. You'll have a much clearer picture of what specialized areas interest you most, and you'll be in a better position to make law school financially viable. Plus, you might find that the CPA path gives you everything you're looking for career-wise. Good luck with whatever you decide - both paths can lead to rewarding careers in tax!

Anyone know which specific TurboTax version I need to handle business equipment like this? I'm using the Deluxe version now but wondering if I need to upgrade to handle depreciation properly.

Great question! I went through something similar last year with my consulting business. One thing I learned the hard way is to keep detailed records of the business use percentage for each item, especially for mixed-use items like your phone and laptop. For TurboTax, you'll want to create a simple spreadsheet tracking: - Purchase date and amount for each item - Business use percentage (be realistic - the IRS can audit this) - Which depreciation method you chose and why The furniture situation is interesting because at $8,200, you're getting into territory where the depreciation vs. Section 179 choice really matters. Since you mentioned this is a side gig, consider whether you expect your income to grow next year. If so, spreading the furniture depreciation over time might give you deductions when you're in a higher tax bracket. Also, don't forget about the home office deduction if you're using a dedicated space! The furniture could support that claim. TurboTax Self-Employed (which you'll need for proper business asset handling) has a good workflow for calculating this. One last tip - take photos of your setup and keep all receipts. The IRS loves documentation for business asset claims, especially for home-based businesses.

Has anyone tried adjusting their W-4 to increase withholding on just one person's paycheck instead of both? My wife and I found it easier to have extra withholding from just the higher income so we could better track it, rather than messing with both paychecks.

One strategy that's worked really well for us is maxing out HSA contributions if you have access to a high-deductible health plan. It's triple tax-advantaged (deductible going in, grows tax-free, tax-free withdrawals for medical expenses) and can really help reduce your taxable income. With two kids, you probably have plenty of medical expenses to justify it. Also, don't overlook the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit - it phases out at higher incomes but you might still qualify for some benefit. And if your employer offers dependent care FSA, you can set aside up to $5,000 pre-tax for childcare expenses. For the side income withholding issue, consider setting up a separate business checking account and automatically transferring 25-30% of each payment into a "tax savings" account. Then make quarterly estimated payments from there. It helps psychologically because you never see that money as "yours" to spend.

I went through something very similar last year and it was incredibly frustrating! In my case, it turned out that one of my part-time employers had made an error when submitting their wage reports to SSA - they accidentally transposed some digits in my SSN, so my earnings got credited to someone else's account. What really helped me figure this out was creating a spreadsheet with all my W-2 information (Box 3 for Social Security wages and Box 5 for Medicare wages) and comparing it line by line with what showed up on my SSA earnings record. The discrepancy became obvious once I had everything laid out that way. The good news is that once I brought all my documentation to the local SSA office, they were able to track down the error and get it corrected within about 6 weeks. The key was having every single W-2 with me - even the small ones from jobs that only lasted a few months. Don't wait too long to get this sorted out though! As others have mentioned, there are time limits for correcting these records, and every dollar counts toward your future Social Security benefits calculation.

I'm dealing with a very similar situation right now! My SSA earnings record is missing about $18K from 2022, and like you, I have multiple W-2 jobs so it's been confusing trying to figure out which employer might have made the reporting error. After reading through all these responses, I'm definitely going to take the advice about creating a spreadsheet to compare my W-2s (Box 3 and Box 5) with what's showing on ssa.gov. That seems like the most systematic way to identify exactly where the discrepancy is coming from. The information about the statute of limitations is really eye-opening - I had no idea there was such a strict deadline for correcting earnings records. It sounds like visiting the local SSA office in person with all documentation is definitely the way to go rather than trying to deal with those horrible phone wait times. Thanks for posting this question - the responses have been incredibly helpful for understanding how the SSA earnings reporting process actually works!

This is exactly the kind of detailed discussion I was hoping to find! I'm dealing with a similar situation for three different clients right now, and the consensus here is really helpful. One thing I want to add based on my recent experience - make sure to carefully document the business purpose for the method change beyond just the immediate tax benefit. While the cash flow advantage is obvious, I've found it helpful to document operational reasons too, like simplified bookkeeping for small businesses that don't have sophisticated inventory tracking systems. Also, for those worried about audit risk mentioned by Felix - I think the key is making sure your clients truly qualify under the gross receipts test and that you're not pushing the boundaries. The regulations are pretty clear for straightforward retail/wholesale businesses under the threshold. Has anyone dealt with this change for service businesses that also sell some products? I have a client who's primarily a service provider but also sells related merchandise - wondering if the mixed nature of their business creates any complications.

Great question about mixed service/product businesses! I've handled a few similar situations. The key is whether the product sales are substantial enough to require inventory accounting or if they're incidental to the primary service business. For businesses that are primarily service providers, the IRS generally looks at whether the product sales are a material income-producing factor. If your client's merchandise sales are relatively small compared to their service revenue (say, less than 10-15% of total revenue), they may still qualify for the simplified accounting treatment. However, you'll want to be careful about the gross receipts test calculation - make sure you're including all revenue sources when determining if they meet the small business taxpayer threshold. Also consider whether the products are produced by the business or purchased for resale, as this can affect which specific provisions apply. I'd recommend documenting the nature and scope of the product sales in your workpapers. If the merchandise component grows significantly in future years, you may need to reassess the appropriateness of the method. Have you looked at the specific revenue breakdown for your client?