How did you manage taxes when you started out?

[Ali Javid]

I try to be frugal and dedicated.

I read books on the tax benefits of real estate. 

I then filed my first year with TurboTax and was all of a sudden surprised. A lot of tax deductions didn't apply to me due to my income level. TurboTax though wouldn't explain the ins and outs but I started to find articles that explained some trade-offs online. 

This year I hired a CPA. He looked at my prior year return and even found mistakes from TurboTax. It cost some money to hire a CPA but I now think this is the best solution on the market for tax planning and filing with real estate. 

I still wish though that there was more intelligent software available that provided tax planning for real estate and filed taxes more easily than TurboTax. 

Any suggestions? How do you manage your tax planning and filing for rental properties?