It's tax season again, and I'm getting started now that I have all of the forms that filter in from banks, employer, and the feds.

I do my taxes myself, I always have, because I don't trust the Turbo-type programs to intuit my tax situation well enough to get me the optimum return. I had an accountant do them for a few years when things were pretty complex (handling an estate, comingled accounts, and a divorce). The last time I plopped down $100 for what turned out to be a simple form (yet inaccurate, because he missed a credit I could get and I had to submit a revised form to get the cash) I decided to go back to doing it myself.

I don't make a lot of money, so I'm eligible for a number of credits. But since I don't make a lot of money, I'm reluctant to go to an accountant to ask a relatively simple (I think) question that I'll have to pay them to answer. In theory, I SHOULD be able to ask the U.S. IRS people, but it was my experience on the few times that I got through in years past that they don't really know what they're talking about, and have given me misinformation.

I'm not going to describe my question in detail here, beyond to say that it has to do with how to fill out the form to get a credit regarding a child who lives with me but I can't claim (per decree). This thread is started (the old tax threads are on different matters or have been closed) to ask if there are other U.S. Mudcatters who have found a reliable way to get accurate answers to relatively simple questions. Or, have you worked with an accountant in a limited way (not asking them to sign on the form, just to answer questions) and did you simply pay them by the hour?

SRS