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How to Get Your Tax Questions Answered for Free

As the tax code becomes more complex, and the process of doing our taxes becomes more complicated, the expert help of a certified public accountant, or CPA, is becoming more and more important. But it's not always easy to ask an accountant and access the assistance that these tax experts can provide. Physical distance from the offices of a CPA can make getting advice difficult for the average taxpayer and the cost of hiring one can take asking tax questions for free out of the picture.

Fortunately, it's becoming easier to talk to an accountant online for free. There are now options for taxpayers to ask a CPA a tax question with ease and affordability that they've never had before. The barriers to getting tax questions answered for free are fewer and fewer, so that taxpayers can save more on their taxes and stress less.

Who should consult a CPA?

Any taxpayer can benefit from the advice of an expert, but freelancers and self-employed individuals are especially in need of CPA support. Taxes for them are far more complicated than they are for someone who is an employee of a company. That's because freelancers are responsible for every aspect of their taxes, including deadlines, calculations and special taxes just for self-employed individuals. These are all things employees have taken care of for them by the company they work for and all the more reason for freelancers to talk to an accountant online free.

If you make a living as a freelancer, self-employed individual or a gig worker, you're responsible for paying quarterly estimated taxes four times a year if you owe the IRS over $1,000 in taxes. W-2 employees have these automatically deducted from their paychecks by their employers. Taxes for Social Security and Medicare, which every taxpayer must pay, are also automatically taken out of employees' paychecks. Not so for freelancers, who receive a 1099 from everyone they do work for and have to calculate the tax they owe for themselves, often relying on a 1099 tax calculator to do so.

This all makes it sound like people who work for themselves have it rough, but there's a tax advantage they have that can end up helping them pay less in tax than the average W-2 employee. That not-so-secret weapon is deductible business expenses. Just about anything they purchase as a requirement for the work they do can be deducted from their taxable income. They might ask an accountant whether they can deduct the gas they pay for in their delivery job, for example, because they know a deduction lowers their taxable income, and lower taxable income = less tax paid.

For all of these reasons, freelancers and self-employed individuals typically have a lot of questions about taxes and can benefit most from the expertise of a CPA and being able to ask a tax professional for free.

How to ask a CPA a tax question

There are really only two ways to ask a CPA a question about your taxes:

Traditional CPA

You can find a traditional brick-and-mortar CPA business in your community and make an appointment to consult with a CPA in that office. That requires gathering up all your documents and collecting all your information, then physically visiting a CPA in person.

It also requires a payment for their services. The going rate for a session to consult a CPA these days is anywhere from $500-$1,000, depending on how complicated your tax situation is.

Online CPA

The other option is to talk to an accountant online for free, or at far less cost, at least. Without the overhead costs of having an office and the rent and other costs that are associated with it, online CPAs can offer the same expert guidance much more affordably, and in some cases offer free tax questions. Getting expert guidance from an online CPA also means you don't have to leave the comfort of your home and spend time and money to make your way to a CPA's office.

At the same time as CPA advice is becoming more and more available digitally, the way business expenses are tracked is being revolutionized by A.I., particularly for freelancers and self-employed individuals. Gone are the days when extensive spreadsheets were required to keep track of everything a freelancer spends on deductible goods or services. Keeping all your receipts in a shoebox to prove you made those purchases is a thing of the past, too.

Today, your bank records serve as all the proof the IRS needs, which has helped make FlyFin a game-changer for freelancers. Its A.I.-powered platform connects to your expenses digitally and finds every possible deduction. The CPA team is available 24/7 in the app for unlimited tax advice.

After you review your deductions, that same CPA team prepares and file your taxes with 100% accuracy.

Why consult a CPA?

When you work for yourself, you're responsible for everything, from getting out there and finding clients to making sure you have the supplies you need - not to mention being careful not to miss tax deadlines or deductions that can save you money. With so much to deal with, it can be difficult to keep your work life running and take the time to gain the knowledge and experience to be your own tax expert.

What a CPA provides is the pinpointed support that only an expert can offer. It's like using Google maps to pick up a friend at the airport. The app will tell you what road to take, but it won't know that it's best to park in the C lot to cut your walk to the baggage claim in half.

When you work for yourself, you'll of course be aware that you can deduct business expenses like advertising to lower your taxable income, but you might not be aware that you can write off clothes you buy as an advertising expense when you print your company logo on them.

I'm looking for a tax expert near me

In the past, any online search for "tax expert near me" or "personal account near me" would lead you to the CPAs and tax experts in your geographical community, who are advertising online or listing their services on websites and other places. But "tax CPA near me" no longer needs to be taken literally. Now you can ask a CPA online who might be 500 miles away from you physically but has knowledge that directly applies to your tax situation.

When you search for "tax CPA near me" today, your options for getting tax question help are more expensive than ever. FlyFin's team of CPAs and tax experts, for example, lets freelancers and self-employed people from across the country ask an accountant as many free tax questions as they need to with no additional fee on top of their subscription.

Are CPAs and accountants the same thing?

You might see terms like "CPA," "tax professional" and "accountant" used interchangeably, and all three have the expertise to answer complicated questions and prepare your taxes. The major difference is that CPAs are licensed by state governments and are required to undergo continuing education to keep their license.

For example if you search online for a CPA in New York, the first thing you'll find is listings for tax professionals in New York. But further down, you might find listings for services provided by accountants or for preparers. The same goes for a search for a CPA in California, for example. You'll also find information about how to become a CPA in a given state. If you live in Houston, and you want to work as a CPA, you'll need to learn how to become a licensed CPA in Texas. The point is, CPAs are licensed practitioners in each state, while accountants and tax preparers aren't required to have a license and can practice their trade in any state.

Making the most of your time with a CPA

The best way to get your tax questions answered for free is without a doubt by accessing an online CPA. They are much more likely to offer advice at a low cost or even free, and they're much easier to access than traditional CPAs.

This is especially true for freelancers and self-employed individuals, who have more complicated taxes, and more complicated tax questions, than taxpayers who are employees. To make the most of your time with an online CPA, it's essential to choose the right platform to access them. FlyFin is the number 1 tax platform combining A.I. and CPA support at no extra cost to users with unlimited consultations.