I use a professional because I have self-employment income on a schedule C with assets like a car and a home office. I also rent in the state of Michigan, which has a stupid convoluted rental credit calculation.

Some states offer tax breaks on rent or property taxes. Michigan (where I live) is one of them. It's definitely the kind of thing I didn't know about until I started working with a tax accountant.

As a tax accountant, I have a serious problem with this kind of advice. Regardless of what kind of interest a bank would give you, why in the WORLD would you give ANYONE an interest-free loan? Were you there when California had to issue IOUs to citizens because they didn't have enough cash to process returns? Maybe…