If you want to save money, perhaps preparing your own return using TurboTax might be the best solution. Turbo Tax for a simple personal return might be free to file online. The full service version for personal returns start at $129 (State filing additional) and a business return starts at $739.

If you don’t want to prepare your own return, H&R block is a great solution that provides convenience. A franchise company, like H&R Block, typically charge by the form and can cost up to $200+ for a federal/state return.

Outsourcing your tax preparation can also be another possibility. Companies like Pilot Tax charges $2,450 per year for a corporation that is not profitable or $5,400 for profitable businesses. 

If you are looking to get every tax deduction allowed, you may want to consider hiring a tax professional. 

Here at our firm, our minimum fee for preparing a personal return is $700. Our minimum fee for preparing a corporate return is $1800. Because our clients want to choose the frequency of meeting with us, additional fees are charged for tax planning. 

The first thing I would recommend is having a good understanding of what type of relationship you want with your tax pro. If you want to meet with them once a year to file the return, great, the cost will be less because the frequency is low. However, some people may want to interact with their accountant more than once a year, seeking advice and tax planning so there are no surprises of what is owed to the IRS. 

To ensure you hire the right professional for what you need, we always encourage to ask questions! Don't just ask any questions, though. Ensure you are asking the right questions to really gather all the information you need! If you would like help in figuring out what questions you should ask before hiring a professional, we've made it easy for you! Click the button below to view what we believe to be very important questions to ask any tax professional.