9 Questions to Ask Your CPA at Tax Time
Questions for the annual meeting or call with your accountant, covering the return in front of you, what to change before the deadline, what to do differently next year, and how the working relationship runs. Written for individuals and small business owners in the United States. It is general information, not tax advice for your situation.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What changed most on my return compared with last year?
Why ask it
A good opening because it gets a summary in plain language rather than a page of figures. The answer usually points at one or two items, a change in income, a new state, a sold asset, and those are the items worth the rest of your questions. If they cannot answer without opening the file, they may not have looked closely at your return.
Why did I end up owing this much, or getting this much back?
Why ask it
Worth asking even when the number is welcome. A large refund usually means you lent the government money all year through your withholding, and a large bill often means the opposite. The explanation should name causes you recognise, not just describe what the software produced.
Which of my expenses did you deduct, and which did you leave off?
Why ask it
The left-off items are the useful part, and preparers do not always volunteer them. Reasons are usually that the documentation was thin, the item was personal rather than business, or the rule is contested. Knowing which of the three applies tells you whether to keep better records or stop tracking it.
Is there anything on this return you would expect the IRS to question?
Why ask it
Preparers know which entries draw attention: a home office, heavy vehicle use, large charitable deductions relative to income, repeated business losses. You are not asking them to remove anything. You are asking which files to be able to find if a letter arrives in two years.
Did I miss anything this year because I didn't have the paperwork?
Why ask it
This is the question that changes next year rather than this one. Mileage logs, receipts for cash payments, and closing documents are the usual gaps. A specific list of what was unsupported is more valuable than a general instruction to keep better records.
Is there anything I can still do before the deadline to change this year's bill?
Why ask it
Most planning options close on 31 December, but a few remain open into filing season, and they differ by situation and by account type. Ask them to be specific about the deadline for each one, because a suggestion you act on a week late is worse than no suggestion.
Should I file an extension, and what does an extension not delay?
Why ask it
The point often missed is that extra time to file is not extra time to pay: the tax is still due, and interest and penalties can run from the original date. If you are extending, ask what to pay now and how they arrived at that estimate.
Should I change my withholding or my estimated payments?
Why ask it
The cheapest correction available and the easiest to forget until next spring. Ask for the actual change, a new form filed with your employer or a revised quarterly figure, and ask them to write the numbers down. A general instruction to adjust it rarely gets acted on.
How much should I be setting aside from contract or side income, and where should it sit?
Why ask it
People with self-employment income routinely underestimate this, because income tax is not the only piece. Get a percentage rather than a feeling, and agree on where the money sits between quarters, since a separate account is what stops it being spent.
What records do you want from me next year, and in what format?
Why ask it
Directly affects your fee. Preparers spend billable time reformatting statements and chasing missing documents, so ask what shape saves the most: a specific export, a summary sheet, a shared folder. Ask when they want it, too, which is usually earlier than you assume.
Which documents do I need to keep, and for how long?
Why ask it
The answer varies by document type, and property records often need keeping far longer than annual paperwork because they matter when you sell. Ask specifically about anything relating to a house, an investment, or equipment, and about what can be kept as a scan rather than on paper.
What would make my tax bill jump next year?
Why ask it
This puts their knowledge of your situation to use rather than asking about tax law in general. Expect items like a bonus, a property sale, a spouse returning to work, a business crossing a threshold, or losing a dependent. Each one is easier to plan for now than to discover in April.
Is my business structure still right for what I'm earning now?
Why ask it
Entity choice is usually set once and then left, while income and risk keep moving. A useful answer includes what a change would cost in filing fees and payroll administration, not just the potential saving, and roughly what income level would make it worth doing.
Am I using the retirement accounts available to me properly?
Why ask it
The options differ substantially between an employee, a sole proprietor, and someone with both, and self-employed people often do not know which plans they can open. Ask which accounts apply to you, the deadline for each, and whether the deduction now is actually better than the alternative in your case.
Do my state filings change because I moved or worked remotely this year?
Why ask it
This is where people find unexpected obligations. Working from a different state, even temporarily, can create a filing requirement there, and part-year residency is easy to get wrong. Tell them every state you worked from, including short stays, rather than waiting to be asked.
How do my charitable donations actually show up on my return?
Why ask it
Many people give with a tax effect in mind and get none, because it depends on whether you itemise. A straight answer here, including that the effect may be zero, is more useful than encouragement, and it may change how you time or structure future giving.
If I sell a property or investments next year, what should I know before I do it?
Why ask it
Timing and holding period usually matter more than anything you can do afterwards, and the paperwork you need, purchase records, improvement costs, closing statements, is much easier to gather before the sale. Ask what they would want from you and when.
Which decisions should I call you about before I make them rather than after?
Why ask it
This is the highest-value question on the list. Hiring a first employee, buying a vehicle through the business, taking money out of a retirement account, and setting up a second entity are all far cheaper to discuss beforehand. Ask whether a short call for that is billed.
What's your fee, what does it cover, and what counts as extra?
Why ask it
Ask before the work starts, and ask specifically about mid-year questions, amended returns, extra state filings, and responding to an IRS notice. A preparer who cannot describe when the meter runs is one you will end up avoiding calling, which costs more than the fee.
If I get a letter from the IRS, who do I contact and how fast do I need to act?
Why ask it
Notices carry response deadlines, and the useful thing to establish now is who handles it, whether they will speak to the IRS on your behalf, and what that costs. Also confirm whether you need to sign an authorisation form for them to do so, since that is easier to arrange in advance.
Getting more out of the meeting
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you go in
Write down the year's changes
One page: a new job, a move, a birth, a marriage or divorce, a house bought or sold, a business started, any state you worked from, any large one-off payment received. Most missed items on a return trace back to something the preparer was never told.
Bring last year's return
Comparing two years side by side is the fastest way to spot something misplaced or forgotten, and it gives the conversation a structure. If you changed preparers, bring the previous two years.
Send documents early and completely
A file that arrives in pieces during March costs more and gets less attention than one that arrives whole in February. If something is missing, say so up front rather than leaving a gap for them to find.
Separate the two conversations
Filing season is for getting the return right. Planning questions get a better answer in a quieter month, so ask at tax time whether to book a separate meeting in the summer or autumn.
During the conversation
The aim is to leave with things you can act on rather than a general sense of reassurance:
- Ask for numbers and dates. "Adjust your withholding" is not actionable; a figure and the form to file is.
- Ask them to write down anything you are meant to do, or write it down yourself and send it back to confirm.
- Say plainly when you do not follow an answer. Terms like basis, itemising, and safe harbour do a lot of work in these conversations and are worth having explained once.
- Do not ask whether something is allowed if you have already decided to do it. Ask what documentation it needs.
- Review the return before you sign it, particularly names, numbers, bank details, and dependents. You are the one responsible for what it says.
Common mistakes
Treating the refund as the score
A refund is your own money coming back, and a bill can simply mean you held the money longer. Judging the year by the refund figure leads to worse decisions than looking at total tax paid.
Only speaking to them once a year
By the time you sit down in filing season, most of the decisions that mattered have already happened. The calls that save money happen in the middle of the year, before the transaction.
Expecting them to find what they were not given
A preparer works from your documents. Cash income, a brokerage account they do not know about, or an untracked mileage log will simply be absent, and the responsibility for that sits with you.
Pushing for an aggressive position
If you ask a preparer to claim something unsupported, either they refuse or you take on the risk of an examination and penalties years later. Ask instead what would be needed to support it properly.
Not checking credentials
Anyone paid to prepare a federal return should have a preparer tax identification number and should sign the return. A CPA, an enrolled agent, or an attorney can also represent you before the IRS, which matters if a notice arrives.
If your situation is more complicated
Self-employed or newly self-employed
Concentrate on the set-aside percentage, quarterly payments, retirement plan options, and which expenses need contemporaneous records. These four decide most of what you pay.
You moved or worked across state lines
List every state you lived or worked in and the approximate dates. Part-year and non-resident filings are common sources of later notices, and remote work can create obligations people do not expect.
Equity compensation, rental property, or a business sale
These have timing consequences that cannot be fixed after the fact. Ask whether your preparer regularly handles them, and take a referral without offence if they do not.
You are behind on filing
Say so at the start of the meeting. Unfiled years and unpaid balances have their own procedures, and the practical position is usually better than people fear once it is being dealt with rather than avoided.