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if you really have to justify an increase or your fee itself then you have a problem. My fee is my fee and you can go elsewhere. I try to be fair and conservative but really, I can charge what I want and either you see my value or you don't. I'd rather do one $600 return than 3 $200 returns, less time with clients and everything else associated with doing a return. They aren't paying me for filling in input screens on a computer program; they are paying be for my review of their financial activity, availability for consults and personal service, etc. A few times a client asked why my fee went up since everything was the same as last year and my response was; "did your grocery and electric bills go up? Well so did mine! Sometimes things change that causes increased like mandatory efiling - my fees went up with a $100 charge, until NY in order to get taxpayers behind efiling, made that separate charge illegal, now I have to include it in my fee. I also charge a postage fee on every return. Once a client that didn't pay it in the prior year, called about his return and I told him it was done. A week later he called saying he hadn't received it and I politely told him that its been on my secretary's desk all week for him to pick up. He got the hint. Do quality work, respect yourself and your profession and never apologize for a fee. Doctors don't and Attorneys don't. Of course audits etc take some explaining like, the auditor came 3 times not the 2 planned etc. Recently I had an audit and the client was assessed about $10,000. I said we could appeal but my fee will be $3-5,000 depending if I can resolve it with a supervisor or have to do a formal appeal. In the long run the client decided to pay the tax. That is time and cost that you do need to justify to a client.

WHEW!!!!!!! After months of stewing and stewing around about what my wife wants for Christmas, I finally found her Christmas list. This is going to be easy, here's what's on it. 1. bag flour, 3. cans chicken noodle soup, 1. loaf bread, frozen veggies, coffee creamer, sweetener, shampoo n cream rinse............

I added this earlier and it disappeared -- wonder what happened? http://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/heartwarming-photos-of-two-brothers-who-have-taken-a-picture Love this series of photos of two brothers!

This is the kind of stuff they do with their time. http://www.viralnova.com/dragon-pot/

And that fact should be utterly abhorrent to anyone interested in the health of anyone they know and care for.

The government is responsible for raising your rates. Congress is changing the laws. The IRS is interpeting them differently. The IRS wants to regulate us even further, even though *We* are not the problem... The states require us to do more training, CPE, due diligence. Your quote via email to your clients is: "Just as no two people are exactly alike, including identical twins, no two tax returns are the same. My fee is based on a combination of data to input that I am given by you, forms that will be generated and time needed to prepare your tax return. This year the IRS has imposed new regulations, and in order to avoid “potential issues” I will be spending more time doing “due diligence” on every return." My engagement letter was much simpler, I simply stated "Due to increased costs, each return was going to increase by $25 for next year." Simple and to the point, if clients had an issue, there wasn't much wiggle room for then... That would be my recommendation to you. Leave little room for interpetation. "My fee for tax preparation services is based on a combination of factors, including the complexity of the return, how the information is provided and how long it takes me to complete the return for delivery. Due to the increased "due diligence" requirements of the IRS and State of New York, every return is going to take longer to complete, and therefore, a minimum of a 10% increase in fees is required. " That way, you can increase everyone 10%, discount that for some, and increase even more for some others... And I would not send out just something that has the fee increase quote in it. It would be part of the organizier letter, the engagement letter, or the year end reminder letter. Whether sent via email, or snail mail, it it just part of business. Rich

Fantastic new Coke ad

I DARE NOT look at it. My Grandson works for Pepsi.

What are ACA payments? Unlike single-payer Medicare, ACA only regulates coverage. The private companies continue to negotiate their own prices. But yes, the least competitive companies will have to get up or get out. Nothing new about that.

OTOH -- Surgery Center of Oklahoma will enter into a pre-payment plan for most types of surgery -- cash only, in advance (obviously not for emergencies!). Full price disclosure beforehand. That price runs about 20% of hospital billings -- and EQUAL to a Medicare patient's co-pay amount. So for "standard" procedures all the Medicare premiums etc. demonstrably go to overhead, waste, and fraud. For yet another alternative, you can go to India, have a great tourist trip, then have your elective surgery in a first-class Indian hospital with US-trained physicians -- all for less than the 20% Medicare co-pay amount.

The other issue not mentioned is that more doctors are deciding not to take Medicare patients at all, or no new ones, so being forced onto Medicare can turn out to be a really bad deal for a seriously ill person.

WRONG Your overhead includes your software, your hardware, your CPE, your internet, paper, toner etc. I'd rework that last sentence to something like: As always, I will be keeping my fees reasonable, although they will be rising to reflect my increased costs for software, CPE, etc. Do not be more specific, you do not need to apologize. And don't mention other preparers, either

Good information. I had not heard of that before. Thanks Catherine. Tom Hollister, CA

Despite the increase, my fees are still below “the competition”. I invite you to compare my fee with any other tax preparation service. Here's what I thing your'e communicating, without meaning to: I work cheap. Check around and you'll see that's true. Here's how some clients might interpret that "I wonder what short cuts she's taking. ? ? ?" 1) I don't think you gain anything by calling people's attention to price. 2) Being the lowest-priced person around really isn't anything to brag about. 3) If you encourage them to look around, they will probably find SOMEONE who will work cheaper than you. And once they've done that, they make take your advice and switch based on price.

how about being honest "my fees will be based on however high I think I can charge you before you revolt, minor protesting Is expected and will be considered banter and not taken as a serious revolt"

Personally, I still like this. It's in my client letter: "Fees & charges for basic tax preparation will again increase an average of 6% - 8% this year. Also, some schedules involving more complex tax matters may incur additional charges exceeding the general increase. The type of items most affected are returns reporting rental income, returns reporting multiple transactions involving the sale of stocks or mutual fund investments as noted in the previous paragraph, and returns reporting income from self-employment. I encourage you to ask for an estimate if you have any concerns about what it will cost to complete your return." Then say nothing about the fee increase unless they ask. I find that very few ask. ============================================ There's a principle in sales which applies to many other situations in life - "any time you're explaining, you're backing up." By signaling that you feel a need to explain in advance, you're inviting people to question you. You're turning control of the conversation over to them before they even show any interest in pursuing the matter. It's much better to assume that reasonable people will understand that you need to increase your fees from time-to-time. For those who don't, you need to decide whether they're worth taking the time to explain yourself to them. In some cases, your answer might just be - "that's what I'm charging now for your type of return."

You're right....almost 0 face to face...so I don't get to see "the cringe". My plan is to tell them the price before I start work (after they send me their stuff)....and if they complain....send them my blurb. For the ones that "call to complain"....I'll but the blurb in an e-mail. For the few technically challenged ones that I have.....I'll tell them by phone....before they come over. I'm revising....taking all the comments into consideration....and will post whatever I come up with. Personally....I really don't care if some drop me. Those are usually PITAs anyway ("Why was my refund $8 less this year than last year?" types. You all know what I mean.)

Haha, I wouldn't touch that website for a billion dollars. My sanity is worth a lot.

can you fix obamacare website that fast? I vote Eric gets the next multimillion contract from them

don't like that you are only referencing "data input" since that's what turbo does, you should be referencing mostly "your review of all the relevant data, your experience and your extra time needed due to complex changes this year." on a minor note you can say "the volume of transactions also has an effect on time spent on your return." I find I can input a return in less than 15 minutes but its the thinking about it and the possible money saving idea's that create my fees.

Thanks. I finally found it once I installed the 2013 program, under Manuals, Practice Returns, and IRS Pubs--PDF browser. As a 15-year user of the form-based ATX software, I think this will be invaluable.