Database of Indie-Savvy Tax Pros

Hi.

I'm a private math tutor and a musician, and this will be my third year doing my taxes as 100% self-employed. I'm about to order your book. I've done my taxes myself the past few years, with some advice from unpaid volunteers (retired big-company CPAs) which I'm now suspecting may have been poor advice. This year I want to hire someone to review my past 2 years, plan for next year, and educate me so that I can do my taxes myself with confidence that I'm not screwing myself. So my question is: How do I shop for a CPA with assurance that I won't get a Sammy Segar?

What questions should I ask to gauge if someone is knowledgeable about self-employment issues? And not just knowledgeable- but someone who really know the ins and outs and what questions to ask me so that I'm maximizing every possible expense and deduction.Thanks for any tips!

Lacie from Austin, TX

I responded -- see Two Parts to Finding the Tax Professional Right for You -- and Lacie said:

Thanks June. I've been learning so much from your website since I discovered it a couple of weeks ago, and am looking forward to reading your book when it arrives. I especially dig that you take the time to answer the little subtleties that make each case unique. I can imagine that from your point of view as an expert, a lot of the questions you get sound like the same one over and over. It’s nice that you’re sensitive to our difficulty translating general information to our own situation--and so friendly and patient-sounding about it to boot!I'm still a little nervous about knowing *how to know* if "this guy is any good".

Last year I thought the city volunteer I used was super nice and helpful and felt less stressed after meeting with him because I came home with answers. Then all these months later, I'm learning that these answers were wrong and cost me money. Each person that answers my questions in this field does so with such authority, it's easy to think I’m done when really I should triple and quadruple check the answer. So my plan is to meet next week with the CPA (actually I'm not even sure now if she is a CPA- didn't even think about there being a difference between one and a tax preparer before reading one of your posts yesterday- that's how much I don't know), read your book, revel in the relief of having been armed with some knowledge, then attempt to give an educated review of the meeting and this particular tax professional. The only screening I did was ask her on the phone if she worked with indies. She said that was her primary clientèle, so that's hopeful. I'll let you know how it goes.
Lacie

I asked Lacie to please let us know about her new tax pro. I am attempting to compile a national database of indie-friendly tax pros but so far the list is very, very small!

So, I ask all of you:
Please help your fellow indies. If any of you has a tax preparer that you think really understands the indie tax situation, please let me know. I am being inundated with requests from around the country for recommendations. Let's build my database of indie-friendly tax pros

Thanks.
June