Cost for income tax services, standard form no deductions

[JeffKeryk]

$300 to $500 max for a pro. I do about 5 friend's taxes (at no charge) that are like yours.
10 minutes on Turbo Tax.
I think $300 is too much for something that simple.

Even mine, which has numerous (many hundreds) of Schwab entries is easy with Turbo Tax.
Stuff is generally imported and entered correctly.

Cujet, if you can change a timing belt, you can enter your information on Turbo Tax.

 

[zzyzzx]

Is TurboTax broken?

 

[Eddie]

$450: No deductions, No Kids or wife. lots of stocks and income from Dividends, interest etc. Ed

 

[Hall]

My mistake was not asking the price. I've questioned the reasonableness of the cost, with no response.

How long with no response ? Pick up the phone and call them.... Give them one more chance and find an online review site they have a lot of activity on (Google, Facebook, etc) and leave them a negative review. Don't bash them, just give them a low rating and a comment like "They prepared my tax return quickly and accurately but charged $1000 for a relatively simple 1040. I feel that charge is rather excessive and they've ignored my attempts to discuss."

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Use Tax Act. Federal 1040 and state both filed. Less than $100. Fairly easy to use. $1000???? Billy the Kid had to use a gun. They saw you coming.

 

[ctrcbob]

Mine cost me the price of a postage stamp. Did it myself. Picked up 1040 (and the 1040 for seniors) at my local library. The most difficult thing for me was finding the instruction book. Mailed it in with my W4's and 1099's. Two weeks later, had my refund direct deposited.

 

[MNgopher]

Back when I had a CPA doing my taxes, it was around $250. We did them that way for a variety of reasons. For what is described, I'd expect it to be under $400 these days.

I switched to using a tax software of my choosing. Around $30 a year, plus some to file the state tax (usually $20 or so). $50 and around 2.5 hours of my time... No brainer...

 

[measureman]

Is this a joke post?
$1000 to do something simple and is totally free for federal and state on credit karma.com ?

 

[Dave Hess]

Unless it’s a very complicated tax return, no way it should cost more than $200.

Turbo Tax can easily import your info into the correct forms and submit it online.

 

[Lubener]

Who's worrying over doing income tax in July?

 

[PWMDMD]

Back when life was simple it was around $250. Now with multiple businesses and a federal tax return that is about 75 pages long and a state return that is about 35 pages long with lots of different schedules...$1500 - but this also includes quarterly meetings to discuss tax estimates, etc and basically an unlimited number questions throughout the year as well as production of various documents on demand - no hourly charges.

 

[MoneyJohn]

I have W2, interest from savings and brokerage, 1 IRAs, and HSA. I was quoted $300. I thought that was unreasonable.

Someone told me about https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/ Its free and all are volunteers, most of them are retired. I used them until last year, no complaints. Due to COVID, everything was online and I could not get hold of them so used CreditKarma. I tried various other software through IRS free file, just to make sure, everything is alright. Everything was correct but from now on, I will use TaxAct.

 

[supton]

Was this thread brought up by a bot?

 

[Hermann]

Just think... you helped pay for someone's new boat...

That and they are telling the OP they don't want this type of return. It's like a mosquito bite, go elsewhere.

 

[PandaBear]

With no deduction and no business income why would you not DIY online? I think the value of tax accountant is to give you advice on what to do next year instead, or review and make sure you are not making mistakes. Boring income and no deduction does not require this kind of services usually.

 

[JHZR2]

I think I paid $185 last year for a family, a side LLC, hsa, taxable stock account, other investments, multiple kids, etc.

If it wasn’t for my LLC, I’d just do it myself. It’s not hard. Yours sounds simpler. I’d just do it. It’s certainly not a $1000 job for someone to input your forms into their computer sw.

 

[doitmyself]

We've been duped. This thread started in 2020!

 

[miden851]

the most recent fees at HR&B

so, single of MFJ as low as $155; it quickly adds up though

 

[zzyzzx]

Is TurboTax broken?

 

[Grandfit]

I remember a similar situation when I decided to seek professional help for my taxes. The first time around, it was pretty reasonable. But then, bam! The following year, the price skyrocketed!

It sounds like you've got a straightforward tax situation, so that quote does seem steep. Have you tried negotiating with the firm? Sometimes they're open to adjustments, especially for loyal clients like you.

Speaking of helpful resources, have you checked out those fake id videos? They offer some interesting insights into navigating tricky situations.