Happy New Year and Welcome to Money Girls Quick and Dirty Tips for our richer life.

I'm your host, Laura Adams. In this episode I'll share tips on how to choose a tax professional that's right for you.

Preparing your own tax return can be a time-consuming and hair-pulling experience.

This is why so many people turn to the tax professionals.

I receive this question from a listener named Jenna Claire.

Hi money girl I have a financial advisor but I think I need to hire a tax

professional too. I always seem to miss deductions I could have

taken each year so I want someone to help me optimize what I can deduct for my

personal situation. Can you talk about hiring a tax professional?

Thanks very much for your email, Jenna Claire. This one's for you.

So let's get right down to it. How do you know which tax professional is right for you?

Well, there are several different types of tax professionals.

You can choose between tax preparers, national tax franchises, independent tax firms,

CPA's, enrolled agents, and tax attorneys, for example.

I'll give an overview of each type

so you can determine which one may be best for your personal situation.

A tax preparer is someone who's willing to help you complete your tax return for a fee.

Anyone can run an ad or print a business card and call themselves a tax preparer.

They may or may not have any specialized tax education or experience.

So it's critical that you make sure someone who claims to be a tax preparer is truly qualified or comes highly recommended.

Never work with an unknown tax preparer if your tax situation is at all complex due to ownership of a small business, rental

property, investments in the stock market, or working outside of the United States, for example. The National Tax Franchises such as H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt

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