What do you pay to have your taxes done?

[marius97]

I've always done my own taxes via HR Block's online program. Never a problem...but now I'm in school to become an accountant and I discovered a problem. We own a rental home and we should have been depreciating the value all along. Now we have to do a catch up depreciation on it. I don't know that the online programs can handle that and I'm sure that I don't know enough to do it. What do others pay when you go into an HR Block, Jackson Hewitt type place to get your taxes done? We are a married couple, three kids, college tuition interest, home owners, plus the mess with the home we rent out.

 

[PrincessAnnabell]

We pay $175.

 

[travelbug]

$100. Best money I spend.

 

[nboicepardee]

$280.

 

[TB'sWidow]

Don't go into HR block they charged me $287 and that was just for the easy form and they waited until we were just about done to inform me of this price. I wanted to walk out but felt obligated since she had completed it. I will never do that again and I have actually sent there corporate office an email of my experience. Mary

 

[sherry7]

I've always done my own taxes via HR Block's online program. Never a problem...but now I'm in school to become an accountant and I discovered a problem. We own a rental home and we should have been depreciating the value all along. Now we have to do a catch up depreciation on it. I don't know that the online programs can handle that and I'm sure that I don't know enough to do it. What do others pay when you go into an HR Block, Jackson Hewitt type place to get your taxes done? We are a married couple, three kids, college tuition interest, home owners, plus the mess with the home we rent out.

I pay $95 for a long form federal, state, and local. That's for a CPA. I seriously doubt that most of the employees at H&R Block would know how to fix your problem, since they only receive 2 weeks of training when they're hired.

 

[HM]

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[LoriKutchey]

$l00.00 and we have an accountant do it.

 

[Poohbug]

$20 or nothing. I know people.

 

[daughtersrus]

I seriously doubt that most of the employees at H&R Block would know how to fix your problem, since they only receive 2 weeks of training when they're hired.

I was going to say the same thing.

 

[girli565]

My husband and I have an accountant do ours, we pay $130 each. We don't file jointly because I claim my disabled mother.

 

[Ed J]

275 and he comes to the house. Been doing business with him for close to 20 years.

 

[Cynt]

I would try doing a dummy run online. I use Turbo Tax and see if it will let you do the depreciation. It's free to go through the whole tax form. You only pay at the end when you actually file. I only pay $29.99 when I actually file. And if it doesn't let you do it - no loss.

 

[KarenAylwood]

MIL is a CPA and IL's own a tax/financial planning business... so $0

Although I'm not gonna lie, once DH and I get a little more money under our belts I don't know how comfortable I'll be having the IL's do this for us, even for free.

 

[tinka-belle]

This may not be a matter of "catch up depreciation". You can only deduct what is allowed each year, and if you've been renting it for several years past tax returns will have to be amended. I believe you can go back three years to amend returns.

So you may have one return for 2011 done including current depreciation, but a few other past years of amended returns to deal with. Check with a real CPA or tax professional and ask about approximate cost upfront for your particular situation including the amended returns, most should be able to give you a ballpark but the actual cost will depend on the time they put into it. Have all your old returns, as well as paperwork for the house purchase and any major improvements available to save time and cost. The OP is right that the storefront places only get a few weeks of training and may not able to handle your needs.

You can put any reasonable depreciation number into an online program and it will take it, but that doesn't mean it meets IRS guidelines for depreciation or is the the correct way to do it. Backup on how you computed your depreciation isn't sent with your actual return, but if the IRS should question it or ask for the computations you'd be in a much bigger mess.

 

[mommy2mygirls]

I personally don't work for any of the "box" tax places nor would I suggest using them because I do believe they charge way more than is necessary. But as for the comment about the people that work there only getting 2 weeks of training - I have been doing taxes for people for years but decided to take a class from H&R Block just to make sure I was current on tax law changes and so forth and it was much more extensive than a 2 week course. It ran from August until November, 3 days a week. It didn't cover more complex things such as estates and corporations, but for anything and individual would encounter, tax professionals learn it. Don't be so quick to judge until you've taken the class.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I may be a little biased, as I work for a CPA, but if I were you, I would definitely seek out a CPA to help you with this. You're going to have to amend your previous years' returns and a CPA is going to have the software to do this. It will cost you a bit now, but you should get back refunds from the IRS that will help off-set the cost. Then going forward you know it will be correct.

Right now would be a good time to gather your previous years' tax returns and call a CPA (ask friends and family members for recommendations). Ask if you can make an appt as soon as possible. Right now is kind of a slow time in our office - we've finished preparing W-2s and 1099s for our corporate clients, but tax clients haven't brought their stuff in yet. So if you have your information in good order, you might be able to get it all done quickly.

Good luck!

 

[DVC-Don]

$350. We have a small business and property in two states. We used to use H&R as they had a store front two doors down from us, but they messed up big times on our buiness and in 2011 the manager went to jail for ID theft. Seems she was redirecting refunds to her.

 

[Lex33]

Don't assume all H&R Block employees are lousy. I had been preparing our taxes for over 15 years first by hand and then using Turbo Tax, when a few years ago we had a few funky items. I just didn't feel comfortable filing myself. The woman I work with has been doing taxes for over 20 years and is great. They do charge by the form so depending on what you are dealing with, it could get a little pricey. For me it's not worth haggling over a few bucks to find someone a little cheaper.

 

[Fly4free]

I personally don't work for any of the "box" tax places nor would I suggest using them because I do believe they charge way more than is necessary. But as for the comment about the people that work there only getting 2 weeks of training - I have been doing taxes for people for years but decided to take a class from H&R Block just to make sure I was current on tax law changes and so forth and it was much more extensive than a 2 week course. It ran from August until November, 3 days a week. It didn't cover more complex things such as estates and corporations, but for anything and individual would encounter, tax professionals learn it. Don't be so quick to judge until you've taken the class.

H&R Block does have a very comprehensive training course. I worked for them seasonally many years ago. I worked with a lot of very seasoned tax preparers there and learned a lot from them. Many have been there for many many years. I would def. ask for a well experienced tax preparer before turning my taxes over.

Also I do feel HR Block overcharges and in a situation such as yours I would probably look for a CPA or private tax preparer. Don't be afraid to ask about the fees for this upfront, as amended tax returns are expensive.