At what income level should you hire a CPA to do your taxes?

It’s not what income level so much as what type of income you have. CPAs are licensed to do extremely complex and comprehensive corporate tax work. The fact that many opt instead to do personal US taxes does not change the fact that they may be overkill for a simple case. If you’re thinking of starting a company that you plan to one day go public, yes! Get a CPA right from the get go no matter how small it is to begin with. But if you’re just a W2 and with some investments and savings, you’re fine with an Enrolled Agent instead. Whichever one you opt for, make sure they’ve been in practice for at least ten years. There’s a lot of on-the-job learning that doesn’t sink in too well beforehand.