Return Preparation Fee

[Dan]

It sure would be nice if their was a fee chart out there to help preparers. Car mechanics have something to look at when they repair your car, how many hours it will take. For example:

1. Form 1040 (fee)

2. State Return (fee)

3. Form 1040 (Schedule A) (fee)

4. Form 1040 (Schedule F) (fee)

5. Other forms

Thanks for your comments.

[TAXBILLY]

Depends where your practice is. A return done in New York City would cost a lot more than a comparable return in a small town.

taxbilly

[Dan]

Depends where your practice is. A return done in New York City would cost a lot more than a comparable return in a small town.

taxbilly

Then what is the cost for both?

[tilt]

With no complications I would charge $275. That's for a CA return.

[Eli]

Then what is the cost for both?

Just make it easy on yourself and call around your area to get prices from different preparers. Should only take a few mins to call a few places.

Eli

[JRS]

Then what is the cost for both?

A lot for NYC and a little for small town. Seriously, GearUp used to have an excel spread sheet on their web site. It was based on the time the IRS figured it would take to do the form. Since, "we" are tax pros, we should be able to do it in a quarter of the time. You could plug in your hourly charge and it would calculate a charge or you could do a per form charge. The rates here in California vary greatly from north to south. My daughter can get her taxes done in Orange County $50 cheaper than LA County by the same chain. My fees here are lower than HRB, but higher 50 miles to the south?!

[Ray in Ohio]

1. Form 1040 (fee) 40.00

2. State Return (fee) 5.00

3. Form 1040 (Schedule A) (fee) 15.00

4. Form 1040 (Schedule F) (fee) 50.00

5. Other forms... priceless

[Daune/CA]

A lot for NYC and a little for small town. Seriously, GearUp used to have an excel spread sheet on their web site. It was based on the time the IRS figured it would take to do the form. Since, "we" are tax pros, we should be able to do it in a quarter of the time. You could plug in your hourly charge and it would calculate a charge or you could do a per form charge. The rates here in California vary greatly from north to south. My daughter can get her taxes done in Orange County $50 cheaper than LA County by the same chain. My fees here are lower than HRB, but higher 50 miles to the south?!

A time rating manual like the Auto Industry uses would take care of that problem. It is the Auto Industries Bible. You use the stated time allowance X your local hourly rate = Fee charged. If you use the time posted by IRS for completion of a form, it would probably be overcharging, but there must be a reasonable time available somewhere X your local hourly rate.

Just throwing it out there IMHO and knowing that it is not exactly that easy to determine.

[joelgilb]

H&R used to publish rates on a sheet and a few years I was able to get a copy. Now they are far more careful about it.

Form firm to firm rates are all over the place.

I generally charge $175 per hour with the appointment and discount the first year slightly. Future years tend to be drop offs and obviously the return gets prepared in less time, but fee tends to stay consistent, with increases for cost of living (so long as the return is similar).

Afraid this causes my fee to be less than H&R in many cases due to speed of prep.

Larger firms, big cities and fee tends to be higher. Rural areas generally cheaper.

You can also still find some accountants that publish their rates by form out here. although I am not so sure a per form rate is really fair to the taxpayer/client when the form may have virtually no effort on our part due to software capability.

[TAXBILLY]

If you are an NSA member, they have an Income and Fee Survey Report.

taxbilly

[StevenL]

FORM 1040 $85.00

State MI-1040 included w/above

Schedule A $20.00

I don't do Schedule F where I'm at.

Other forms depends on which one it is.

NATP also has a fee survey you maybe able to find at their website. www.natptax.com

Steven LaForest, ATP

[Slippery Pencil]

Attached is a spreadsheet I compiled comparing fees I found on the internet of 5 different tax prep firms. It's about five years old. I tend to drop the highest and lowest fee and if my fee is close to the average of the remaining three I'm pretty comfortable with it.

Fees_Comparison.xls

[Julie]

Interesting spreadsheet....I run at the higher end of the things I actually charge for, but there's a lot of stuff I figure is included.

Example. I charge $100 for a basic tax return. But I don't add on anything for child care, EIC, education credits, retirement savings or interest income. So it's still hard to make the comparison.

Attached is a spreadsheet I compiled comparing fees I found on the internet of 5 different tax prep firms. It's about five years old. I tend to drop the highest and lowest fee and if my fee is close to the average of the remaining three I'm pretty comfortable with it.