Perspective on Pricing of a 2025 Individual Tax Return

Forum|Forum|2 months ago
April 27, 2026
5 replies
21 views

I am seeking your professional opinion on whether $500 is a reasonable fee to charge for preparing a 2025 Individual Tax Return, given the following complexities:

- Filing Status: Self-employed, Head of Household with three dependent children under age 17.
- Timing and Delays: The taxpayer did not provide documentation until the week of April 12th, necessitating filing an extension.
- Revisions: Multiple updates required for business income and expenses.
- E-filing Issues: We had to wait for the taxpayer to obtain a dependent IP PIN to allow for electronic filing instead of paper filing.
- State Requirements: The Oklahoma state return required the preparation and attachment of three additional PDF documents.

I would appreciate your perspective on this pricing.

ProConnect Tax

BobKamman

Level 15

How much time was spent explaining to the client before you started that your fee is for the amount of work involved, not for the number of pages in the final product?

Looks like a new client. How much did they pay last year (if self-employed, at least some of it would be deductible)? Why were they looking for a new preparer this year? As if I have to ask.

If this is the worst client you had this year, you had a good year.

George4Tacks

Level 15

AND what part of the country do you live in?

Answers are easy. Questions are hard!

IRonMaN

Level 15

Reasonable is in the eye of the beholder. As Bob mentioned, the first question would be how much did they pay last year? Sounds like you inherited a problem child. Did the prior preparer have a big grin when he or she found out they weren't coming back? I bill by the hour. If I had that much time into the return I would bill it, but I would do a little of what you are doing as to second guessing if I would bill $300 for a similar return without the extra gymnastics. If I thought the client was a nice person and just needed to do a little more learning on being prepared, I might ratchet the fee down a little. If I thought the client was a pain in the neck, and not worth all of the effort, I would bill the $500 and not think twice.

Slava Ukraini!

IRonMaN

Level 15

Your additional post popped up while I was typing. What did you bill her last year?

Slava Ukraini!

BobKamman

Level 15

You've probably been letting her get away with expecting a little more work at no extra cost, every year since 2020. That's the problem with Oklahomans, they're too nice. It's not like Minnesota Mean.

B

BRUCERYCH

Level 3

I won't look at any return for less than $650.

IRonMaN

Level 15

Well, that's good for you, but we all don't live in the same area and have the same level of client sophistication. There are some folks that won't look at a return for less than $65 and others that won't look at a return for less than $1,000. Different strokes for different folks.

Slava Ukraini!

BobKamman

Level 15

@IRonMaN What I have found is that I can do three returns for $250 in the time it takes me to do one for $650. Back when I was looking for post-April 15 work, that also meant three times the likelihood of referrals. And, have you noticed that some of the $650 clients aren't as nice as the $250 clients? Not always the case, but sometimes those with complicated returns are also ones with complicated attitudes about how we should do our work and how much we deserve to be paid.