A question we hear quite often this time of year: “How Much Will You Charge to Prepare My Taxes?” This is a hard question to answer. The price you will pay for tax preparation services depends on how complex your tax return is and how prepared for the interview you are. The more complicated your tax situation is and the more unprepared you are, the higher the cost will be.
For a typical tax return with W2 income, interest, and dividends, expect to pay between $200 and $300. If you are self-employed, a landlord, or have brokerage trades to report, expect to pay $350 or more. Partnership, corporation, S- Corp – You will pay for the company’s return as well as your personal return. Business returns start at $500 and will go up depending on the amount of compilation needed and the complexity of the return.
For income tax preparation we charge by the form — the more forms involved in a tax return, the more complex the return, the more time and attention the taxpayer’s situation requires and the higher the fee.
Income tax advisory services are charged at an hourly rate — generally $150 per hour.
Tax representation services for audits, appeals and collections (back taxes) are generally charged at an hourly rate of $150 with a minimum $500 retainer required. Additional hours are billed in advance in $500 increments. Payment for any hours not used is refunded at the end of the engagement.
We accept checks, money orders, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and debit cards.
What About Those Free E-File Offers?
The IRS has partnered with several large national firms to offer free electronic filing for a limited number of taxpayers (based on low income, W2 wage-earners with no children). You will probably have to go all the way through the entire online tax preparation process before they tell you if you’ll have to pay or not. Most of the firms offering free federal e-filing do charge for preparation of a state tax return.
Tax Facts offers free electronic filing — in fact we recommend it for all eligible clients! Your tax forms cannot get “lost” in the mail or at the IRS, and both the IRS and your state will process the return much faster, so you receive your refund quicker. We also recommend having your refund directly deposited to your bank account, another service we offer for free!
What About Other Free Tax Preparation Offers?
You also may have seen or heard of some financial services firms and even retail businesses offering to do tax preparation for free or for a very nominal sum. How can they do that, since they obviously lose money on the tax returns prepared?
They have to make money somewhere. Some retailers expect you to spend your tax refund with them. Financial services firms may hope to make money on other products and services they plan to sell to you. Read the privacy policies carefully, as they will indicate if the company doing your tax preparation plans to share your personal financial information with “affiliates” or “subsidiaries” or “non-affiliated third parties.” Some firms use free or cheap tax return preparation as a “loss leader” to generate prospects for their other financial products. Guard your financial privacy carefully!
