When it comes to taxes, are you a proud do-it-yourselfer or do you prefer to leave it to a professional? Or are you on the fence about which to do, and wonder whether or not you should be doing your own taxes or hiring someone to help? You’ve no doubt seen the many advertisements for tax services that claim to save you money, but do those savings really outweigh the cost of hiring a professional’s help?

The Equifax Finance blog answers these questions and more in the recent article, “

Filing 2013 Taxes Online? Know the Pros and Cons of Using a Tax Pro.”

According to the article, you may be better off doing your taxes on your own if any of the following apply to you:

• Your income is primarily from jobs that provide you with W-2s.
• You own a house with an original mortgage of $1 million or less.
• You make primarily monetary charitable contributions, and your non-cash donations are valued under $500.
• You have children or other dependents and there is no dispute as to who gets to claim them.
• All of your dependents have Social Security Numbers and are not filing their own returns.

However, you may be better off using the help of a professional like ones found at H&R Block if the following apply to you:

• You are self-employed or your income is reported via 1099-MISC.
• You have more than one business.
• You own rental property or rent out part of your home or vacation property.
• You have dependents and there is a dispute over who gets the tax benefits.
• You have more than three questions about how to handle something on your tax return.

Read the full article on the

Equifax Finance blog, where you can find other helpful articles on taxes as well as expert-written articles and advice on personal finance topics like saving money, insurance, retirement, identity theft protection, credit and more.