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I had a "compliance fee" increase this year too. I bumped my fee by $5 for all the crap we have to go through with the PTIN payments and the registration requirements for my wife. But I still have to pay her based on the new pricing. Dang, HRB out smarted me again. I could have cut her commissions if I added it like they did. tom Lodi, CA

You may not want to charge the $1500. But don't go too low. Even the easy ones can take some time. There's the state return and the local returns. If their two locations are in different local taxing districts (common in my area), then there's the allocation of the two locals. A lot of these local returns are not in ATX. These can be time consuming. Don't make my mistake and go too low. Tell them you turned them down the first year and they chose to operate as an S Corp so this is all part of it. Then there's keeping track of basis, reasonable W2 compensation vs. shareholder distributions. All these things add up in a lot of time that's really not seen by the client.

>>taxpayers don't have ss#, they do have ITIN#<< Why exactly are you using an ITIN? Your client can not file with an ITIN if he is eligible to get a Social Security number, right?. So using an ITIN must mean he is a non-resident alien. And like the IRS has told you correctly, non-resident aliens are NOT allowed to deduct real estate tax on Schedule A. Check it out in Pub 519.

Guess you could say all their savings went up in smoke... Or they got burned by the tax man... Or their plans are in ashes... Anybody got a match?