<prompt> Human: I usually just use Turbo Tax and follow their forms. This last year I bought a house for the first time and rented the entire thing out to cover the mortgage. Would a CPA be able to earn me more tax returns than Turbo Tax would? After their fees, would it even be worth it?More broadly, would an average Joe with a 9-5 job who can follow automatic program instructions for something like Turbo Tax find value in a CPA? The only way I can think heshe would is if a CPA knows a ton of loopholes that the programs wont and can help earn back way more than their fees. How many of those even exist out there?  <response>: If the CPA can do a better job than you can. If you are not familiar with the tax requirements for a rental, it could be worth letting a CPA help, at least this first year. If you want to do this yourself, you should understand how to determine basis IRS Publication 551 can help and the difference between expenses and improvements for your cash expenditures on the rental. The rest will be consumed by TurboTax or similar suites. 