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Ask these 3 questions before deciding whether to do your own taxes or hire a pro

By Mark GrundellMarketWatchJanuary 20, 2026 at 12:00 PMNeutral1 min read

MarketWatch suggests taxpayers consider three key questions to determine if they should file their own taxes or enlist p

MarketWatch suggests taxpayers consider three key questions to determine if they should file their own taxes or enlist professional help. These questions likely revolve around the complexity of their financial situation, their comfort level with tax laws, and the time commitment involved, ultimately aiming to help individuals make an informed decision and potentially avoid costly errors.

What to watch next

Watch upcoming earnings, policy statements and sector-level price action for confirmation.

MarketWatch suggests taxpayers consider three key questions to determine if they should file their own taxes or enlist professional help. These questions likely revolve around the complexity of their financial situation, their comfort level with tax laws, and the time commitment involved, ultimately aiming to help individuals make an informed decision and potentially avoid costly errors.

MarketWatch suggests taxpayers consider three key questions to determine if they should file their own taxes or enlist professional help. These questions likely revolve around the complexity of their financial situation, their comfort level with tax laws, and the time commitment involved, ultimately aiming to help individuals make an informed decision and potentially avoid costly errors. The development arrives against a backdrop of shifting risk appetite, where investors are reassessing exposure to markets and weighing the second-order impact on adjacent sectors. Investors are watching the broader tape for follow-through. Live pricing was not available at the time of writing, but positioning data and order-book signals will shape the next session. Positioning across funds, options skew and credit spreads typically respond first; equity price action lags but tends to confirm the direction once volume returns. Readers should treat the immediate move as a sentiment proxy rather than a final verdict on fundamentals. For longer-horizon allocators the more important question is whether this changes the trajectory of cash flows, regulation or competitive dynamics. If it does, multiple compression or expansion follows; if it does not, the reaction fades within a few sessions and the prior trend reasserts itself. What to watch next: forthcoming earnings prints, central-bank guidance and any official commentary that either validates or pushes back on the market's interpretation. Reported by MarketWatch and contextualised by the Global Investing News desk under Mark Grundell.

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