HR Block charged 850 for a simple W-2

Depends.  Did they bring the kids to the appointment?  

$850.... that's crazy !!!!!!     

In my neck of the woods, the $400 would be exorbitant (other than H&R).

I would have charged the $850 too --------- but I like to sleep at night, and that fee would have disrupted my sleep a bit.  But those are exactly the fees the Intuit likes to see someone else charge so that they can keep pushing their Turdddotaxx full service product.

NMI.... I have two clients I'm currently working on.

1)  12 (!) emails since Sat a.m. (Sunday doesn't count, it was Super Bowl 😉 to try to get her to find out/provide ONE Form 1099-R that she had last year (and no, it wasn't marked as a total distribution.

She then sends a brokerage statement from LPL - it has dividends and stock sales shown.  LAST page shows interest income of $ 100.  BUT there's no F 1099-INT included ?!?!?!

2) 9 (!) emails in three days to try to get him to comprehend that I need the three brokerage statements.  She sent everything but the kitchen sink, including some bizarre statement of account showing actual gross holdings of the mutual funds that Commonwealth has her invested in.

Multiple emails/phone calls thru-out the year with those 'just a quick question' scenarios.  

So, my point... these clients will be billed, a LOT, for the babysitting required.  THAT won't be reflected/shown by just looking at the final tax returns.   $ 850 sounds high... but there may be 'more to the story'.  

Altho the above facts likely don't apply to HRB - unless it's one of those open all year.

/off my soap box now 🙂

IMO the simple W-2 is not the problem (which is probably why the "partner" got a much cheaper rate).  I would charge a minimum of [looks up the current penalty amount] $635 for the DueDoo related to the EIC and CTC.  If there's a partner instead of a spouse that leads to a whole lot more questions that need to be asked, answered, and documented.  Not to mention copies of any documents "relied upon" in determining the credit.

That said, I'm a little more strict in terms of documentation when it comes to due diligence for first year clients.  In subsequent years I can choose not to rely on documentation by asking a question such as "In $earlieryear you were able to provide documentation supporting the fact that the kids lived with you, would you be able to provide similar documentation if audited by the IRS for $thisyear?"

Rick