DIY taxes vs hiring a tax preparer — the break-even point

The short answer

Do your own taxes when the return is straightforward — W-2 income, standard deduction, maybe a little freelance income you track cleanly. Hire a tax preparer the year your situation gets complicated: self-employment, an LLC or S-corp, rental property, multiple states, or a big life change.

Tax software is good and cheap, and for millions of people it’s the right call. But it only knows what you type in. A preparer knows what to look for — which is where the value is once your return has moving parts.

The real differences

	DIY taxes	Tax preparer
Cost	Software fee, often under $100	$200–$1,500 per filing
Best for	Simple, standard returns	Complex or self-employed
Deduction finding	What you know to enter	What they know to ask
Audit support	You’re on your own	Often included
Time cost	Hours, more if confused	A document handoff
Peace of mind	Depends on confidence	Someone signed off

Where each one wins

DIY wins: single income source, no business, standard deduction. Software walks you through it and the odds of leaving money on the table are low. Paying $300 to file a return this simple is wasted.

Hiring wins: the first year of self-employment, entity changes, quarterly estimated taxes, equity compensation, or anything you’re genuinely unsure about. A good preparer often finds deductions and avoids penalties worth more than the fee — and for high-stakes situations, a CPA vs tax preparer decision is worth reading.

The break-even

Run the test: if you finish your DIY return unsure whether you got it right, that uncertainty is the cost of DIY. The year you can’t confidently answer your own software’s questions is the year to hire.

Get the fundamentals down first in freelance taxes basics, then see what preparers charge in the tax preparer cost guide.