Please comment with what kind of professional you use and your tax situation if you don't mind!
We were told $400-600 by a certified financial planner recommended to us by a friend to prepare our taxes. That seems like a lot and that the savings he would find us could almost be a wash! But because I am 1099 this year, I am hesitant to just go to H&R Block as we have before.
55 votes
clementine / 838 posts
ours is a chartered accountant who does it out of his home. he charges $85 a person, or $150 a couple
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
We are usually around 150 as a couple, but we don't' have a business or anything so it's pretty straight forward. House, student loans, charity deductions, and "normal" paychecks, we are usually in and out in less than an hour.
pomelo / 5129 posts
Even when DH ran his own business, I think it was $300 MAX (probably closer to 200).
I don't think we're complex other than that. I own a home and have education deductions (student loans and current costs). DH has a lot of deductions for work (parking, travel, etc.)
We use a CPA
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
@MaryM: I feel like that is more reasonable!
@LuLu Mom: @MrsScottish: How did you find your accountant?
clementine / 838 posts
It is someone my parents used, he has done my taxes since I was 16 
He is retiring soon so we have to find someone new.
honeydew / 7622 posts
Ours are kind of complicated so I think they are more expensive than average. For our joint household we pay $400 and $350 for my business.
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
@youboots: That still confirms to me that $400-600 for our situation is a LOT!
grapefruit / 4400 posts
Gosh, I guess we are overpaying! Using a CPA recommended to me by a friend/co-worker and he charges us $300ish for a couple. We don't have anything TOO crazy going on. 2 houses, cars, but nothing major. I think we are going to try TurboTax this year and see how it goes.
cantaloupe / 6634 posts
$0 because my BFF is an acountant and ours are pretty straight forward. Well, we usually take her out for dinner.
honeydew / 7622 posts
@daniellemybelle: you could just try it one year and see how happy you are, or find someone else.
pomegranate / 3272 posts
I use Turbotax so it's less than $100 to file federal and state. We're a bit more complicated since we have a rental property. I should note that I'm a CPA but I'm far from a tax expert. In fact, I hate tax with a passion.
nectarine / 2262 posts
We pay almost $300 for an accountant. Our taxes are complex and she saves us so much money it is worth every penny. Plus with the risk of audits, etc... totally worth it.
Personally I don't trust places like H&R block unless you have super simple taxes (and in that case, I would just do them yourself for free!)
Edited to add: We are in south Florida and this is actually a good deal, I know people who pay a lot more. So I think some of the cost is kind of a regional thing.
eggplant / 11824 posts
When we paid to have our taxes done, it was around $300, and we have 1099 and W-2s, rental property, primary property and other semi-complex stuff.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
$300-$400 depending on number of forms annually for some of Dh's investments, we also have an investment property, iras, etc. She comes to our home. Cpa.
pomelo / 5660 posts
I usually charge over $1k for returns I do on the side. I'm a CPA. But I only prepare former clients who have complex tax situations. I also help them with tax planning. I don't enjoy doing it, so I'll only take on 1 or 2.
watermelon / 14467 posts
We paid about $230 last year to H&R Block. I love our tax lady though, she makes the whole thing painless.
grapefruit / 4663 posts
We paid hr block $300 for 2012 and haven't been back. We now use their software online and it's less than $100. We have a pretty easy return I think, house student loans paychecks
nectarine / 2521 posts
We pay $300-$500 depending on the year. Our taxes are becoming more complex and my husband likes to use a CPA that specializes in the airline industry, so we pay a bit more than most people we know.
cantaloupe / 6692 posts
DH's aunt is an accountant and she does them for us for free. Although we always get her a $50 gift card as thanks.
grapefruit / 4355 posts
@simplyfelicity: We are the same way. My mother-in-law is a CPA so she does all of our taxes for free! Although we do take her out to dinner every year. 
kiwi / 567 posts
I think we paid $400 last year, but we were filing in multiple states and had some very complicated forms. Usually I think it's around $100.
papaya / 10560 posts
Our CPA OSA family friend who does them for free. I would def go through turbo tax and enteR everything in...if you get a refund, they can take their cut out of your refund. If not, you can just pay and file. I did turbo tax years ago, super easy!
grapefruit / 4770 posts
$0, DH is an accountant! Although we always owe, so it doesn't really matter lol.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I have paid over $1k to have my taxes compiled by an accountant, this was for an income earned while abroad and I was completely unfamiliar with the proceedings.
For me, it wasn't about coming out ahead with a refund after paying the accountant, it was more about advice on the process and the idea was that if I did get audited, I had professional advice to fall back on (that was part of the package), which is what made the price high. I wasn't simply paying for him to fill out forms, but for him to be "on call" with his advice and know how.
pomegranate / 3329 posts
We've used our tax lady for the past five years, I think she's a CPA, I can't remember and her website just says enrolled agent. Anyway our taxes are complicated because of my husband's career. We pay $180.
papaya / 10343 posts
About $600 but I have (had?) two 1099 businesses and we have a lot of random deductions so our taxes are sort of hard. Also that is the fee for a whole year of tax help (I do quarterly taxes) and preparation/advice.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
Just under $600. It depends on the number of forms we have that year.. .it's changed a lot over the years.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
@daniellemybelle: We found ours because DH received a letter in the mail saying we owed the government a significant amount of money, he went in to the local H&R Block to ask them to look into it, turns out the government OWED US that money (to do with cattle/farming things.) So our lady worked to get us the money back and we've used her ever since. Before we used a family friend but I'm glad we moved on.
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
I am just having the hardest time finding someone! Everyone I know does their own taxes or uses H&R Block. One person recommended someone but I think they are overpriced... I don't know where to go from here!
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