Seeking Personal Recommendation for DC Tax Preparer
February 16, 2011 8:58 AM   Subscribe

Can you personally recommend a reasonably priced tax accountant in Washington, D.C.? I'd like to keep the cost under $500. Also, I think I'd prefer an accountant in a solo or small practice, for the personal touch, but if you've had a great experience with a big firm or chain, do tell. Finally, I'm looking for someone with an office that's Metro accessible and not too far outside the city.

I found a couple of previous answers to similar questions, but I'm looking for something cheaper than Ross & Moncure and for more specific advice than to search the GWSCPA.
I work from home as both a freelancer and a part-time employee, am married filing jointly, and am a midyear transplant from another (or a) state, but I don't own property or have any other major sources of unusual income--so my situation is somewhat but not very complicated.
posted by bigboggle to Work & Money (4 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm in the same boat as you (though our transplantation to DC happened a couple of years back), and we go to Mike Fine at Finesse Tax. His prices are right about what you're looking to pay, and his office is about a 10-minute walk from the Shaw-Howard Metro stop. Feel free to MeMail me if you've got any questions about our experiences with him.
posted by evoque at 9:12 AM on February 16, 2011


Been going to SWH Advisory Group for three years now. It's really just one guy (Steve Howden) and some assistants.

My wife's a teacher and a coworker pointed us his way. The first year we tried him I also tried doing it myself with TurboTax. TurboTax said we owed and SWH got us a nice return, since teachers get a lot of tax credits for this and that that TurboTax didn't know about.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 10:14 AM on February 16, 2011


It's too late this year, but Ross & Moncure offer a 20% discount if they can complete your returns by Feb. 15. My cost this year was $525, which is a touch over your budget but with Braxton Moncure you do get one of the area's best (and most colorful and entertaining) accountants. My annual appointment with him is one of the highlights of my year.
posted by gabrielsamoza at 10:15 AM on February 16, 2011


I've had great success on both coasts (currently live in the DC area) with an Enrolled Agent.

Remarkably inexpensive (mine is complex with both rental property and stock option exercises) for the high level of service, and the one-person operations.

You can find one here and read up about them here.

Compared to a CPA I figure that I could easily spend three times as much, with very similar levels of tax expertise; that being said, my enrolled agent doesn't try to sell me financial management advice which many CPA's would like to do for you as well.
posted by scooterdog at 11:36 PM on February 16, 2011


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