TurboTax vs tax professional - worth switching after major life changes?

I've been using TurboTax religiously for like 7-8 years now, but my situation got more complicated this year. Got married last summer, and we now have two kids (our second just arrived!). On top of that, I sold my house in Georgia that I owned before tying the knot. Both of us have regular W-2 jobs and we've got a bunch of investment accounts that I've already entered into TurboTax. I spent about 4 hours gathering all our documents and plugging everything into TT. My husband is convinced we should see a tax professional to "find hidden money" we might be leaving on the table... specifically mentioned something about the child tax credit. Honestly, it feels unnecessary to me since I already claimed the child tax credit and the daycare expense credit in TurboTax. Am I missing something here? Is a tax professional really going to find enough extra money to justify the cost? Or is TurboTax sufficient for our situation? Thanks for any advice!

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18 comments

GalacticGuardian

•8M

Your situation has definitely gotten more complex with the marriage, second child, and home sale. While TurboTax is great for many situations, here's what you should consider: The home sale might be the biggest factor. If it was your primary residence and you lived there for at least 2 of the last 5 years, you likely qualify for the capital gains exclusion (up to $250,000 for single filers). TurboTax can handle this, but a professional might find nuances specific to your situation. Child tax credits and dependent care credits are pretty straightforward in TurboTax, and it sounds like you've already addressed those. The software asks all the right questions for these common situations. Marriage and filing jointly can impact your tax brackets, deductions, and credits. Again, TurboTax can handle this well for most people. Think of it this way - if your tax situation is primarily W-2 income, standard investments, and common life events, TurboTax probably has you covered. If there are complex investments, rental properties, self-employment income, or unusual situations, a professional might be worth it.

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GalacticGuardian

•8M

For selling a house in a different state than where you currently live, you'll generally need to file a nonresident state tax return for the state where the property was located. TurboTax does handle multi-state returns, but this is definitely one area where the software might not provide as much guidance as you'd like. The complexity increases if there are special state-specific rules about property sales or if you've converted the property to a rental at some point. In these cases, a tax professional familiar with both states' tax laws might catch things that aren't obvious in the software.

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Mateo Gonzalez

•8M

I was in a similar situation last year - married with a newborn and sold some property. I tried both routes and ended up finding https://taxr.ai which honestly saved me a ton of headache. It's like having a tax pro check your work without the full cost. I uploaded my documents and got a detailed review pointing out things I'd missed in TurboTax. The best part was it caught that I hadn't properly documented my cost basis for the home sale, which would have been a red flag for the IRS. For me, it was worth checking since I wasn't 100% confident in my TurboTax skills with the more complex stuff.

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Mateo Gonzalez

•8M

The review took less than 24 hours for me - I uploaded my documents in the evening and had results the next day. You don't need to start over at all since it's reviewing what you've already done in TurboTax. It doesn't file your taxes for you - it's specifically designed as a review service. They have tax professionals who review your documents and tax situation, not just AI checking for basic errors. They provide personalized recommendations based on your specific situation. It's significantly less expensive than a full CPA service but gives you professional eyes on your return to catch potential issues or missed opportunities.

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Aisha Ali

•8M

Just wanted to follow up that I tried https://taxr.ai after seeing this thread. Really glad I did! I was also using TurboTax and thought I had everything covered, but they found that I qualified for a home office deduction I completely missed since I started working remotely. They also clarified how to correctly report some crypto transactions I was confused about. Honestly so much easier than scheduling with a CPA but still got professional advice. For what it's worth, they confirmed that for most of my straightforward stuff, my TurboTax entries were correct - the value was in finding those couple things I'd missed.

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Ethan Moore

•8M

After dealing with TurboTax for years, I had a somewhat complex tax situation last year and ended up needing to call the IRS with questions. Worst experience ever - spent FIVE HOURS on hold just to get disconnected. Eventually found https://claimyr.com which got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. Check out their demo: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c This might be helpful if you end up with specific questions about how to handle the house sale or marriage situation that neither TurboTax nor online guides answer clearly. Sometimes you just need to speak directly to the IRS, and this made it actually possible.

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Ethan Moore

•8M

They use an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When they finally reach a representative, you get a call to connect with the IRS agent. It's basically like having someone wait on hold so you don't have to. They don't need or have access to any of your personal tax information. The service just gets you connected to the IRS - once you're connected, you're talking directly to the IRS agent, and the service isn't involved in that conversation at all. They just solve the "impossible to get through" problem, not the actual tax questions themselves.

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StarSurfer

•8M

I was super skeptical about this Claimyr thing mentioned above, but I had a question about my stimulus payment that was driving me crazy. Tried calling IRS myself and gave up after an hour on hold. Decided to try it as a last resort and... it actually worked. Got a call back when they reached an agent (took about 45 mins) and sorted out my issue in 10 minutes with the IRS person. Don't know if you'll need to call IRS for your situation, but if you do, definitely better than wasting half your day on hold. Didn't have to provide them any personal info either - they just connected the call.

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Carmen Reyes

•8M

Former tax preparer here - for your specific situation, TurboTax is probably fine if you're comfortable using it. The child tax credits are pretty straightforward and TT asks all the right questions. The ONE area where a pro might help is with the house sale. There are some nuances around basis calculation, improvements you've made to the home, partial rental use, etc. that might be worth discussing. If the potential tax impact of the sale is large (like if you made a lot on the sale), it might be worth a consultation just for that piece. A middle ground could be using TT for most things but paying for a one-hour consultation with a CPA just to review the house sale portion. Might cost $150-200 but could save you more if there are strategies you've missed.

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Carmen Reyes

•8M

The basic exemption rule is straightforward, but there are several areas where people commonly miss opportunities or make mistakes. Home improvements can be added to your basis (original purchase price + improvements), which reduces your capital gain. Many people don't keep good records of these or don't know which improvements qualify. This includes major renovations, additions, new roof, HVAC systems, etc. - not regular repairs or maintenance. If you ever used part of your home for business or rental purposes, the calculation gets more complex since that portion may not qualify for the full exemption. This requires proper allocation and depreciation recapture considerations.

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