One day a very kind woman came in and asked me to prepare her tax return. As I worked, I learned about her and her daughter, enjoying the conversation. At the end, the woman was surprised at how different her result was from the year before, when she prepared her own return on Turbo Tax and owed $20K in taxes to the IRS and NYS. I asked her to show me the self-prepared return from the year before. As it turned out, not a single dollar of the taxes she paid that year was legally owed. Due to a few innocent errors, this kind woman had accidentally cost herself $20K! It was not too late to undo the damage, so I prepared amended returns for her to mail in. 6 weeks later, she had her $20K back and I had a friend for life. It’s tempting to do your own taxes in order to save $50 or $75. But it can cost you much more in excess taxes you pay but don’t legally owe. Do yourself a favor this year and HIRE A PRO!