Author Topic: does anyone hire a CPA for their tax return? how much? (Read 278 times)

drewpeabottom · « **on:** January 30, 2012, 08:20:57 PM »

my return is just a bit more complicated than usual so i'm considering actually having my return professional prepared. i think that's going to be cost-prohibitive though.

doctoracula · « **Reply #1 on:** January 30, 2012, 08:32:21 PM »

we pay $225 for our dude

drewpeabottom · « **Reply #2 on:** January 30, 2012, 08:36:43 PM »

Quote from: doctoracula on January 30, 2012, 08:32:21 PM

we pay $225 for our dude

For two returns?

Johnny · « **Reply #3 on:** January 30, 2012, 08:38:38 PM »

Quote from: drewpeabottom on January 30, 2012, 08:36:43 PM

For two returns?

we pay around that or a bit more for two. Our guy is a creative bad ass.

drewpeabottom · « **Reply #4 on:** January 30, 2012, 08:55:19 PM »

so maybe like $150 for just myself?

doctoracula · « **Reply #5 on:** January 30, 2012, 09:27:59 PM »

yea, its $225 for both of us

badmoon · « **Reply #6 on:** January 30, 2012, 11:14:26 PM »

Quote from: drewpeabottom on January 30, 2012, 08:55:19 PM

so maybe like $150 for just myself?

Don't know if you will get a quality guy if he charges you a flat fee. Usually the good ones charge by the hour. It helps if you're totally completely organized to help speed up the process. When you say complicated, what does that mean? PM me if you want. Not looking for the gig (I'm not a professional preparer) but just seeing if you need to pay the premium.

bort · « **Reply #7 on:** January 30, 2012, 11:16:52 PM »

jess and i paid a guy we knew 75 bucks to start doing it for us. since we bought our house it's been 125.

Harry Hijinks · « **Reply #8 on:** January 30, 2012, 11:20:55 PM »

About 200. Worth it

drewpeabottom · « **Reply #9 on:** January 31, 2012, 02:57:12 PM »

Quote from: badmoon on January 30, 2012, 11:14:26 PM

Don't know if you will get a quality guy if he charges you a flat fee. Usually the good ones charge by the hour. It helps if you're totally completely organized to help speed up the process. When you say complicated, what does that mean? PM me if you want. Not looking for the gig (I'm not a professional preparer) but just seeing if you need to pay the premium.

i'm not asking about a flat rate, but i was roughly quoted as high as $600 for a single taxpayer. that's an obscene amount of money, in my opinion at least.

drewpeabottom · « **Reply #10 on:** January 31, 2012, 03:08:21 PM »

also, to clarify: is this for federal, state, AND local?

lushj · « **Reply #11 on:** January 31, 2012, 03:11:33 PM »

$125 for a joint return for state & federal. It's pretty sweet. Too bad you're in a different state!

There's a local income tax? Are you sure about that?

drewpeabottom · « **Reply #12 on:** January 31, 2012, 03:23:33 PM »

Quote from: lushj on January 31, 2012, 03:11:33 PM

$125 for a joint return for state & federal. It's pretty sweet. Too bad you're in a different state!

There's a local income tax? Are you sure about that?

Philly residents pay Philadelphia City Wage Tax, which does not require a return. I have filed local tax returns since moving out of Philadelphia County and working in a different county.

drewpeabottom · « **Reply #13 on:** January 31, 2012, 03:26:59 PM »

Quote from: crickit on January 31, 2012, 03:25:27 PM

fuck philly, ben franklin has been dead for a while, time to move on

i officially don't like you.

Ken_Dirtnap · « **Reply #14 on:** January 31, 2012, 03:39:19 PM »

About $225 for business and personal taxes for me and my wife. Just incorporated so it'll probably be a little bit (but not drastically) higher from now on. Don't know your exact circumstances, but $600 seems pretty high!

drewpeabottom · « **Reply #15 on:** January 31, 2012, 04:09:11 PM »

Quote from: Ken_Dirtnap on January 31, 2012, 03:39:19 PM

Don't know your exact circumstances, but $600 seems pretty high!

no shit!

i was laid off in june. i have a W-2 from my job and a UC-1099G. that should all be totally simple. the part that's messing me up is i did a simple exercise of some vested stock options i had with my former company and rolled over my 401(k) with them into an IRA. i got 1099 forms from both of those transactions, but i want to make sure i don't screw up reporting it to the IRS. $600 for telling me how to do that is obscene. i'd rather spend the next two months teaching myself.

doctoracula · « **Reply #16 on:** January 31, 2012, 07:16:15 PM »

the city wage tax is one of my main reasons for wanting to move out of here

your_mother · « **Reply #17 on:** January 31, 2012, 08:25:06 PM »

Paying for a tax preparer is a waste of money unless you have an extremely complicated investment porfolio or are managing things like rental properties and shit like that. Guys who are "creative" are usually fudging the law.

Quote from: drewpeabottom on January 31, 2012, 04:09:11 PM

no shit!

i was laid off in june. i have a W-2 from my job and a UC-1099G. that should all be totally simple. the part that's messing me up is i did a simple exercise of some vested stock options i had with my former company and rolled over my 401(k) with them into an IRA. i got 1099 forms from both of those transactions, but i want to make sure i don't screw up reporting it to the IRS. $600 for telling me how to do that is obscene. i'd rather spend the next two months teaching myself.

This is not complicated. Get turbo tax. It will walk you through putting in all of the information in a simple matter.

jettrocks · « **Reply #18 on:** January 31, 2012, 08:29:39 PM »

Quote from: your_mother on January 31, 2012, 08:25:06 PM

Paying for a tax preparer is a waste of money unless you have an extremely complicated investment porfolio or are managing things like rental properties and shit like that. Guys who are "creative" are usually fudging the law.

or you freelance and can do a lot of deductions. i have six w4a from last year and 2 1099s and also no time so it's worth it for me to just get everything together and hand it over.

doctoracula · « **Reply #19 on:** January 31, 2012, 08:39:40 PM »

Quote from: jettrocks on January 31, 2012, 08:29:39 PM

or you freelance and can do a lot of deductions. i have six w4a from last year and 2 1099s and also no time so it's worth it for me to just get everything together and hand it over.

this is our main reason. danielle has her etsy shops and does surveys and things for extra money. she's made enough to have to file.

dre · « **Reply #20 on:** January 31, 2012, 10:35:49 PM »

Quote from: your_mother on January 31, 2012, 08:25:06 PM

Paying for a tax preparer is a waste of money unless you have an extremely complicated investment porfolio or are managing things like rental properties and shit like that. Guys who are "creative" are usually fudging the law.

This is not complicated. Get turbo tax. It will walk you through putting in all of the information in a simple matter.

agreed. business income/expenses can make things more complicated, but turbo tax should be able to guide you through basic investment stuff.

as for creative tax preparation... the problem comes when it's not totally to the letter of the law, and you get audited and owe a bunch of back taxes and penalties.

drewpeabottom · « **Reply #21 on:** January 31, 2012, 11:07:36 PM »

Quote from: your_mother on January 31, 2012, 08:25:06 PM

Paying for a tax preparer is a waste of money unless you have an extremely complicated investment porfolio or are managing things like rental properties and shit like that. Guys who are "creative" are usually fudging the law.

This is not complicated. Get turbo tax. It will walk you through putting in all of the information in a simple matter.

i don't understand the capital gains jargon, and the 1099 i got from exercising my options looks very weird and non-typical.

your_mother · « **Reply #22 on:** February 01, 2012, 03:35:12 PM »

Quote from: jettrocks on January 31, 2012, 08:29:39 PM

or you freelance and can do a lot of deductions. i have six w4a from last year and 2 1099s and also no time so it's worth it for me to just get everything together and hand it over.

That would take about an hour to do in turbo tax, if that. Less if any of the payroll companies they've used allow downloading of the information. Do you pay more than $60 for a tax preparer?

drewpeabottom · « **Reply #23 on:** February 01, 2012, 03:56:02 PM »

Yeah, I guess I should bite the bullet and Turbo Tax it up.

jettrocks · « **Reply #24 on:** February 01, 2012, 10:16:35 PM »

Quote from: your_mother on February 01, 2012, 03:35:12 PM

That would take about an hour to do in turbo tax, if that. Less if any of the payroll companies they've used allow downloading of the information. Do you pay more than $60 for a tax preparer?

i also have two states to do. turbo tax is at last 100 bucks.

also, my accountant has gotten back much more than i've gotten when i've used turbo tax (the past two years) so that makes up for the difference in price.