After years of cutting checks at tax time, one taxpayer decided to try something different. Instead of paying a professional to file their return, they sat down and did it themselves using tax software. The result surprised him.
Their federal return showed a $4,346 refund.
That moment sparked a realization, which they shared in a post that quickly gained traction on Reddit. “Did my own taxes,” they said. “I think my CPA has been robbing me for years.” The post unleashed a debate about whether most people actually need a CPA at all.
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Do Most People Really Need A CPA?
A large portion of commenters argued that for many workers, especially W-2 employees with straightforward finances, paying a CPA is unnecessary.
“The vast majority of people don’t need a CPA,” one commenter put it plainly. “Majority of us are W-2 employees claiming a child and spouse,” another added. “It’s literally fill in the blank.”
Others echoed the frustration, saying they felt silly paying someone else once they realized how simple their returns were. “I paid $0 to file and the person I go to charges $100 for five minutes of labor,” the original poster later commented.
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Still, many pushed back on the idea that the CPA was doing anything wrong.
“That’s like saying the grocery store robbed if you were to grow your own food,” one said. “Just because you can perform that service yourself doesn’t make it robbery,” another added.
A Bigger Refund Doesn’t Always Mean Someone Messed Up
Several commenters warned against jumping to conclusions based on one tax year. A recurring point was that recent tax law changes helped many filers this year, which could easily result in a larger refund.
“Just because you did your own taxes doesn’t mean you did them correctly,” one cautioned. “A refund hitting your account doesn’t mean you filed correctly. There were a lot of changes this year to credits and deductions.”
Others pointed out that a large refund can simply mean too much was withheld from paychecks throughout the year. As one commenter put it, “Congrats, you gave the government an interest-free loan for over a year.”
In other words, the size of the refund alone doesn’t prove a previous preparer made mistakes. It can just as easily result in different withholding, overtime pay, new credits, or changes in the tax code.
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Even among critics of paid tax prep, there was broad agreement on one thing: CPAs and enrolled agents still matter for complicated situations.
“It’s not about getting extra money,” one person wrote. “It’s about having someone who can contact the IRS on your behalf and get issues resolved a lot faster if something goes wrong.”
A Middle Ground For Higher Earners
For higher-income households with growing financial complexity, the conversation often lands somewhere in the middle. Even if tax filing itself is simple, broader financial planning can still benefit from professional input.
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