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I'm wondering if I can use Turbotax for my first year taxes on my startup, or should I use an accountant? Here are the details:

  • I'm a newly formed start-up that I work on in conjunction to my day job, incorporated as a S-corp this past June 2011
  • I've got little or no 2011 revenue... been in development all this year and have an alpha site up with beta users for about a month in 2011.
  • There hasn't been any major expenditures outside technology & office item purchases and paying vendors, and I'm not planning on doing any out of the ordinary deductions
  • I'm self-funded, so every penny counts

Aside from the savings of doing both my corporate and personal taxes (I also have a W-2 from my full-time job), it just seems like my taxes should be straightforward /achievable by software like Turbotax. Is this assumption incorrect, or are there other things to consider?

Thanks!

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1 Answer

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When it comes to taxes and especially corporate taxes with W-2 available I would recommend accountant hands down. The reason being is that you might be able to take more of certain deductions that TurboTax usually won't show you. Problem is that you will need to find a good one that actually knows about those deductions.

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Yes, I agree on finding the right accountant. I wasn't super impressed with the two I've spoken to so far. I should clarify my situation: 1) I have a full-time job separate from my start-up, where I will need to file personal taxes as I always have with a W-2. 2) I have a recently formed startup (s-corp), and need to file taxes for the first time on that with basically no revenues in the first 6 months of development / operation. Thanks! – user16534 Feb 21 '12 at 0:58
@user16534 While there is no revenues there are expenses and your investing money into the company. So there are deductions. Finding a good accountant is hard work unless you can consult people in the same situation as you and get their accountants. – Karlson Feb 21 '12 at 1:46

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