Tax Return Fee

[lawman]

Wondering what others pay to have their taxes prepared. Since selling my farm mine is as simple as it gets. Our joint return has nothing except S.S. income, pension income, one IRA distribution, and one Schwab brokerage account that pays dividends, and capital gains.. Very little activity in that account.. I pay $350.00 for my return..That seems high for a very simple return... ?

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Is there any interest in preparing your own on using a computer? I do mine own (similar complexity) using TurboTax each year. Around $60 for the software each year. Electronic Federal filing is free. Electronic State filings cost $25 each, I think. But I just print mine out and send the state in for free.

 

[lawman]

Is there any interest in preparing your own on using a computer? I do mine own (similar complexity) using TurboTax each year. Around $60 for the software each year. Electronic Federal filing is free. Electronic State filings cost $25 each, I think. But I just print mine out and send the state in for free.

I would be happy to do it if I knew how..I'm afraid I would screw it up...Not exactly computer literate...

 

[mrfeh]

I would be happy to do it if I knew how..I'm afraid I would screw it up...Not exactly computer literate...

It's not difficult. Hell, using paper and pencil would be better than paying $350.

I've always done my own taxes, even as they've become more complicated over the years. Also a good way to learn how the tax system works, which is valuable knowledge.

Open an intuit account (turbotax) and start a return, and you'll see it's not difficult. Starting one won't cost anything, and you don't have to file if you don't want to.

 

[target2019]

Turbotax Home & Business covers a lot for $80 or so.

Family member used to do individual Fed + State for $115.00 in the early 00's. CPA was $200 a few years ago. The competition is usually 2-3X's that amount.

Now that your's is done and submitted, buy a cheap copy of Turbotax or get something for free and see if you can replicate the results of preparer. Some find mistakes have been made.

 

[ponyboy]

CashApp tax is free. Not sure why more people do not use it. Used to be credit karma tax, just fyi. Well not technically free...they're mining data like everyone else.

 

[harllee]

TurboTax has a service called Turbo Tax Live where you get a person online to help you file your tax return. I think it costs around $120 for Federal.

 

[aaronc879]

I have been paying $400-600 for most of the last decade but I have self employment income which makes things more complicated. If I just a regular W2 job, no unusual stuff, then I would just do it myself for probably under $100.

 

[harllee]

TurboTax has a service called Turbo Tax Live where you get a person online to help you file your tax return. I think it costs around $120 for Federal.

Just saw an ad on TV that Turbotax Live was free for a "limited period of time."

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

$55.93 for federal/state return through Tax Act (with discount through Amex). Not too difficult. Pension income, W2 (for DW), assorted 1099s for income/investments and a single K-1. Well worth the price, IMHO.

We have had a few "complicated years" (when DW would get 1099 income or when I was doing some contract w*rk), but nothing we felt we needed to use a professional for.

 

[RunningBum]

Now that your's is done and submitted, buy a cheap copy of Turbotax or get something for free and see if you can replicate the results of preparer. Some find mistakes have been made.

+1. At least give it a try and see if you match what you filed, then you'll have the confidence to do it on your own next year. Plus, you can learn things by doing it yourself.

 

[Bruno]

I was paying a CPA to do mine before i moved and it cost $400. Once i moved and didnt have a business on the side it stayed the same for a plain EZ1040. I found a local woman who does taxes and it was $185 last year. She is in her 70's and now that i am retired i am looking for a CPA once again to answer questions about Est taxes, roth and ect.

I believe we should have a 10% flat tax for EVERYONE with NO writeoffs.

 

[swakyaby]

My brother has a tax return about as uncomplicated as yours and his tax preparer charged $110 for his and only $80 for his brother’s. On the opposite end, I was paying a CPA $800 to prepare mine while w*rking, and he explained it was also for year-round tax advice. Once I retired, I decided to learn how to use TurboTax. But like you, I was nervous about making a mistake, so I paid extra for TurboTax Live and had their on-line CPA go over my federal and state tax returns before electronically filing. No issues. After that, I felt confident enough to handle TurboTax on my own. I recommend that route since you learn a lot more about what effects your taxes, and it feels very liberating.

 

[lawman]

Thanks to all for the encouragement. I need to learn to do my own...

 

[EastWest Gal]

DH has self-employment income, I have a 25% interest in an orchard, and for 10 years we did an asset protection/estate planning thing with a Family Limited Partnership and LLC. We decided the FLP and LLC's only function was to generate money for lawyers and CPAs, and we wound that down. I just tried TaxAct software today, and it went well. I liked inputing the numbers manually, as it helped me learn what the numbers actually mean, but it can import them from 1099s etc. I used a fake SSN and don't intend to file it, and the were ok with that. I'll see what our CPA does with our documents, and if everything is exactly the same, I'll switch to that. The CPA can continue to do the orchard taxes, as there is depreciation and a bunch of other things, but even that could be simpler than I think.

I think the larger standard deduction makes a big difference in paperwork reduction for most of us most of the time.

BTW, we about $550-600 for the orchard taxes, similar for our own, but it has been less since we dropped the partnership stuff.

 

[SecondCor521]

I volunteer for AARP Foundation Tax Aide, so mine, my three kids, my Dad's, and a friend of mine are all e-filed both federal and state for free.

Also included in that price is about 40 hours of free tax training and access to tax software in December.

This year I'll also prepare about forty other strangers' returns as well and get reimbursed about $10.53 per week for mileage.

 

[cathy63]

Wondering what others pay to have their taxes prepared. Since selling my farm mine is as simple as it gets. Our joint return has nothing except S.S. income, pension income, one IRA distribution, and one Schwab brokerage account that pays dividends, and capital gains.. Very little activity in that account.. I pay $350.00 for my return..That seems high for a very simple return... ?

There is no charge to have your return done by an AARP Tax-Aide or VITA/TCE volunteer. It sounds like that might be a better option for you. You can find nearby sites here: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-qualifying-taxpayers

Those of us who volunteer are not CPAs, but we do some training on tax prep, and we do hundreds of returns that are very similar to yours.

 

[iloveyoga]

I paid around $55 to e file federal and state using Taxslayer. I have used them for many years, it used to be cheaper, but now their system has all my data so it makes it pretty easy to do. I have used other softwares and I do think with a little effort many could do their own and then also understand better how our tax system works.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I volunteer for AARP Foundation Tax Aide, so mine, my three kids, my Dad's, and a friend of mine are all e-filed both federal and state for free.

Also included in that price is about 40 hours of free tax training and access to tax software in December.

This year I'll also prepare about forty other strangers' returns as well and get reimbursed about $10.53 per week for mileage.

After reading a previous post of yours, I applied for the Tax Aide program a month or so ago and did not hear back yet, probably because tax season had already started. I hope they will contact me for next year. It sounds like a great learning experience and I'd be helping people as well, I've been trying to figure out something I could volunteer for that I might enjoy and think this would be a good fit.
You and Cathy63 both seem to be so knowledgeable on taxes, I originally just assumed you were both IRS employees or accountants in your working lives.

 

[lawman]

The most likely thing that would mess me up is my Schwab accounts..Even though my return is simple it is many pages..I think most of the forms have to do with dividends and long and short term capital gains that I get from my Vanguard bond fund. ( VFIDX). Does that require me doing some math or just transcribing those numbers off my Schwab 1099 which is about 9 or 10 pages?

 

[mrfeh]

The most likely thing that would mess me up is my Schwab accounts..Even though my return is simple it is many pages..I think most of the forms have to do with dividends and long and short term capital gains that I get from my Vanguard bond fund. ( VFIDX). Does that require me doing some math or just transcribing those numbers off my Schwab 1099 which is about 9 or 10 pages?

It's just transcribing numbers. And depending on the software you use, they can import it directly from Schwab, so you don't have to do anything.

 

[iloveyoga]

The most likely thing that would mess me up is my Schwab accounts..Even though my return is simple it is many pages..I think most of the forms have to do with dividends and long and short term capital gains that I get from my Vanguard bond fund. ( VFIDX). Does that require me doing some math or just transcribing those numbers off my Schwab 1099 which is about 9 or 10 pages?

Usually you just enter/transfer the data and the software does a good job of guiding you, especially if you have a high level understanding of your accounts.

 

[SecondCor521]

After reading a previous post of yours, I applied for the Tax Aide program a month or so ago and did not hear back yet, probably because tax season had already started. I hope they will contact me for next year. It sounds like a great learning experience and I'd be helping people as well, I've been trying to figure out something I could volunteer for that I might enjoy and think this would be a good fit.
You and Cathy63 both seem to be so knowledgeable on taxes, I originally just assumed you were both IRS employees or accountants in your working lives.

I'm glad you are interested and I hope it works out for you.

Around here, we start training in mid-December and train all January, and we have to pass several certification tests before we can volunteer. So it was probably just a matter of timing, and hopefully they'll contact you in November or so to get you into the program for next tax season.

The most likely thing that would mess me up is my Schwab accounts..Even though my return is simple it is many pages..I think most of the forms have to do with dividends and long and short term capital gains that I get from my Vanguard bond fund. ( VFIDX). Does that require me doing some math or just transcribing those numbers off my Schwab 1099 which is about 9 or 10 pages?

Most of the time, only the first page or two where the summaries are located is needed. The last 8 pages or so is generally just detailed information which supports the summaries.

While Vanguard and some others have made it easy to import 1099s into Turbotax and the like, I can type all the necessary information from a 1099 into our tax software in about 5 minutes.

 

[lawman]

I think I may try to take my return and do a practice run..Is Turbo Tax the best way for me to go?

Can I use the free version if I have long and short term capital gains and foreign expense?
If not, which one should I buy?

How do you file it?

 

[nobody]

only paid for it twice when it was complicated and I was out of the US. 2021 don't have to file since I really don't make any money.