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Quite a few are posting that they know they don't charge enough. Don't give your work away. If you have spent time on education, spend time on a return and with the client, charge for it. If it takes work and multiple calls and emails to get needed forms or info from a client, charge for it. If a client contacts you often throughout the year with this or that question, don't forget that either when you decide on your fee. I work at a firm and am paid regardless of what the client is charged, so I'm not making more or less money based on my billing. I just try to charge what my work is worth. We all have clients in trying circumstances and don't raise their fees sometimes for years. We probably have a client or two whom we don't charge at all some years. Then there are those who consume our time. Like one I had who asked one month about the tax consequences of selling a commercial rental. Lots of work on that question, calculating depreciation etc. Next month he asked about selling a different rental. After that it was about maybe gifting one or the other or both to a relative. Yes, his tax prep fee that year went way up. On the other hand, a client contacts me every month or two all year with this or that issue. I charge him $1500 for his individual return and don't increase his fee because I feel I'm already being compensated for the extra work. I don't usually charge for help with W4s or questions about potential 401k or IRA distributions either. I'd rather folks ask before the damage is done.

If I have to fill out 8867 and attest to anything I charge 90 more. Ed credits and child credits counts as 180 more. Sorry Charlie - I am not into attesting that I know all your dark secrets.

Current year plus the 2 prior years.

I'd charge about $225.. I have gone up 20% this year if same amount of work.. and no one has squawked except the bar owner who I had to do all ther bookkeeping - $880 - taxes and $700 books - They went and bought a $1500 scanner and laptop and think that will fix it! Best, Darlene - i like the one about all new clients!! $325 I am charging $50 more for PIRA's and harassing - where are my taxes.. this year

Usually it points to the correct one being claimed.. Otherwise I do the remove and file again method.. Otherwise go to ATX solution Status on e-file status and follow that - it will tell you D

Worked like a charm. A simple error in interpreting data entry. Thanks for pointing out my mistake.

I have some low income clients with a lot more class than high income clients. Per form has always worked well for me. A lot of circumstances I'll give a discount off the set fee, and a handful get surcharge above the per form charge.

Thats the main goal. To be happy and sleep at night. Sure Id love more money !!! But peace of mind is priceless. Plus we dont want to end up in the accounting department in hell !!!

Thank you. I thought sure that there was something about if I prepared CA returns, that I'd be considered as doing business within the state and would have to pay that fee. Did I have a bad dream about all of that? Anything's possible at this point.

I know that I am on the lower end of the spectrum. I agree mostly with Yardley CPA. I charges according to the circumstances. I know I am probably charging way too little, but you have to consider what the market will bear. In Central semi-rural Wisconsin, I don't have many high-class clients. I try to adjust fees yearly; some up and some down. I continue to tell my clients that this business is not all about money. They are first and foremost the most important presence in my office at any given time. I would never think of charging per form, per page or any other set method of pricing. I generally pull a number out of my head based on time and complexity; but I also consider the situation of the client. This might be wrong, but my clients are happy, I am happy and I sleep very well at night.

Wait, wait, we get a chance to slow down and scale back, too, don't we? At 77, I'm ready for the raising rates to thin the herd but still make enough money to keep traveling - off to Papua New Guinea for scuba diving April 24-May 11. Stress relief writ large.

Thank you, Tom and Tex and everyone, for the links and for help with interpreting the CA law and requirements. I know a state SMLLC is a funky designation, not recognized by the IRS or "foreign" states. On Forms W-9, I check "Individual/sole proprietor or single-member LLC," so I know where I stand with the IRS. But, CA?

Well, fooey, that's still ambiguous. I don't want to use my SSN. The federal returns have Preparer's name as Lion, my PTIN, and the box is checked for self-employed, then firm name is Dollars & Sense, LLC, followed by firm phone, address, and EIN. But the CA return signature block does NOT have the self-employed check box. It has Paid preparer as Lion, but then Firm as Dollars & Sense, LLC, followed by my PTIN, address (home office), and EIN. That looks too much like a firm doing biz in CA. Foo, again. That's expensive. My CA return fee just doubled.

My largest biz client is a radio broadcaster, so I blame electronic miscommunications on Sunspots!

Wow! How did that happen? I have no idea how this post ended up there as I almost never have the occasion to even look at the forum having so few with ACA. Maybe I should repost where it belongs! Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Lion. I'm going with hacker interference

If your corp is preparing returns for CA residents you are doing business in CA and have to pay the annual min. tax. If you prepared the returns as an employee of your corp, you do not have CA source income. If your corp prepares CA NR returns for TPs in other states there is no CA source income. My wife is an employee of my SP. She does almost exclusively CA resident returns. She works out of my office in TX. She has no CA source income, but my SP does and I file a 540NR to report the income and expense for CA source income related to my Sch. C. Tom Longview, TX

There's an exception if you fall out on the low end, that is, if you don't qualify because income is less than 100% FPL and you should be on Medicaid, but you thought you would qualify when you applied. There's no exception on the high end, except for the limit on payback when < 400% FPL

The Fee would depend if you were a Corp or LLC, then there is a minimum tax of $800. If you are a SP, then no min. tax, just regular PIT from the tax rate schedules. Tom Longview, TX

I always used to put my business and personal tax returns on extension and end up filing them in October until I slipped and filed my 1040 around October 21st. Now my business return is the very first tax return that I file every year and I file my 1040 by the end of February.

Reviving this as I have the same issue with a new client, so thank you for the post and answers that followed. Very helpful right now as I also have this with a new client. The former preparer missed including income for an entire brokerage account that created a false overpayment on 2021 that was applied to 2022. Those '21 earnings and tax effect will certainly not be insignificant amount if the '21 earnings are like that of the '22 TY, it should be somewhere in the $35-37,000 range.

Another day in the life of tax preparation

Well as a last full measure of my devotion to our work I again called Senator Bryce's office in Spotsylvania who after a lengthy discussion with his aide decided that any service veteran paid with a pension from the Defense Finance & Accounting Service qualifies for the benefit which oddly enough is passed on to their spouse after the veteran's death. Actually Gail retired Virginia National Guard members do in fact draw a pension from the Defense Finance & Accounting Service. It reads as follows Defense Finance and Accounting Service and in the second line just below U. S. Military Retired Pay.

A fairly knowledgeable retired neighbor of mine has prepared their return on Turbo Tax for years. This year she was unsure about something so she asked for some online advice. Her Turbo Tax fee for their 2022 tax return was $277.

1- If nobody is complaining about your prices, you’re probably not charging enough. 2- I tell my clients I don’t strive to be the cheapest. I strive to be the best. Charge your price and be proud of your work.

Way more than $300 - depending on complexity, up to about $600.

I would probably charge $595. Basically, I bill on value delivered plus a bit more for extra time.

The ERC credit just made the IRS Dirty Dozen tax scams.

I have a client who sold a rental house at a big gain. Whoops. Had to pay back all $12k of the PTC (plus tax on the gain). He's only a year away from Medicare. But he didn't have a mortgage so he's got all the money from the sale on hand.