Tax course?

[Sid23]

I have used H&R Block for several years to do my tax and recently received an email about their tax course. Seems the course may be focused towards those that want a job with H&R Block.

I had been thinking of doing my own tax this year as agents at H&R Block can be a bit of a hit & miss, the agent last year was more of a miss. It took 2 weeks to complete after leaving all details with them and the agent struggled understanding even to understand the tax summaries that I had from the 2 trading platforms I use. The high number of transactions were the only "complications" to my tax.

I was wondering if anyone has done this course or any tax course for the purpose of completing their own tax. If so, did you find it beneficial for the course cost? The cost of the course is slightly less than the usual H&R Block fee to complete the return.

Sid

 

[Dona Ferentes]

Rings a bell. I did it 20 years ago.... half the 'students' wanted a bit of The Knowledge to run their own affairs. The others ....well, many apply but few are chosen.

I did learn stuff but, as an incubator for talent and career paths, it did seem flawed. 'Peanuts' and 'monkeys' comes to mind.

 

[rnr]

I have used H&R Block for several years to do my tax and recently received an email about their tax course. Seems the course may be focused towards those that want a job with H&R Block.

I had been thinking of doing my own tax this year as agents at H&R Block can be a bit of a hit & miss, the agent last year was more of a miss. It took 2 weeks to complete after leaving all details with them and the agent struggled understanding even to understand the tax summaries that I had from the 2 trading platforms I use. The high number of transactions were the only "complications" to my tax.

I was wondering if anyone has done this course or any tax course for the purpose of completing their own tax. If so, did you find it beneficial for the course cost? The cost of the course is slightly less than the usual H&R Block fee to complete the return.

Sid

Hi Sid,
An interesting thought!
A couple of questions if you don't mind.
Do you consider yourself an investor or trader (or both perhaps)?
Are the tax summaries, as provided by the trading platforms, user friendly (in their layout) & thus easy to follow the path of each trade taken.
Cheers, Rob

 

[Sid23]

Hi Sid,
An interesting thought!
A couple of questions if you don't mind.
Do you consider yourself an investor or trader (or both perhaps)?
Are the tax summaries, as provided by the trading platforms, user friendly (in their layout) & thus easy to follow the path of each trade taken.
Cheers, Rob

Originally an investor (though more of a buyer and see how it goes, not a lot of analysis) over past 20 years of no more than several stocks. Started trading 2018 with 1 portfolio of 20 positions (started following one of the Nick Radge Chartist portfolios), past 18 months have added another 2 modest portfolios of 10 & 20 positions plus a small long term portfolio as a buy and hold.

The tax summaries seem relatively user friendly, 2 accounts on each of ANZ now CMC & Sharewealth, total 4 accounts. It did take some time to explain the 4 accounts, the agent was a bit confused, certainly wasn't familiar with more than 1 account. They also charge a fee for each transaction, which starts to add up with multiple portfolios.

I suspect some trades may not be so straightforward, such as REITs or some foreign income, as the agent had to contact his " share specialist guy" on a few occasions to get the answer. Though the eTax form should help guide through the process, I was thinking that a course would help provide a good understanding of tax accounting, enough to be confident if I come across anything not so straightforward.

Sid

 

[rnr]

Originally an investor (though more of a buyer and see how it goes, not a lot of analysis) over past 20 years of no more than several stocks. Started trading 2018 with 1 portfolio of 20 positions (started following one of the Nick Radge Chartist portfolios), past 18 months have added another 2 modest portfolios of 10 & 20 positions plus a small long term portfolio as a buy and hold.

The tax summaries seem relatively user friendly, 2 accounts on each of ANZ now CMC & Sharewealth, total 4 accounts. It did take some time to explain the 4 accounts, the agent was a bit confused, certainly wasn't familiar with more than 1 account. They also charge a fee for each transaction, which starts to add up with multiple portfolios.

I suspect some trades may not be so straightforward, such as REITs or some foreign income, as the agent had to contact his " share specialist guy" on a few occasions to get the answer. Though the eTax form should help guide through the process, I was thinking that a course would help provide a good understanding of tax accounting, enough to be confident if I come across anything not so straightforward.

Sid

Hi Sid,

So from your response I believe you have 3 trading accounts (short term trades with positions held under 12 months) and 1 "investment" account (long term, i.e. the intention to hold in excess of 12 months). Please correct me if the grouping of your accounts is incorrect.

My take on "share trading" as a business is that it is no different than that of any retailer buying and selling an item/items....and as such keeps the appropriate records.

Keeping these records (using 2 separate spreadsheets) should save you money by reducing your tax agents fees.

Cheers, Rob

 

[Austwide]

I used H&R Block about 40 years ago and even then I got the feeling I knew more than them. They seemed to know the standard questions well, but not much else. I felt the guy doing my tax wasn't an accountant, but a data processer. Hopefully they are better now.

Since then I have used an accountant (or 2) and I feel the advice given is worth more than their fees. I wouldn't bother to try to learn the ever changing laws, but it's amazing how much you learn in preparing you paperwork and asking questions along the way.

I would only do my own tax if I were an employee and had no investments.