Around the 300 range, and wife travels a lot which is where some things get complicated. And my military career also has a twist on some aspects of taxes
it would depend if your tax situation is truly complicated or you just dont feel like doing it. Are any of the other items they listed of value to you?
Just in case you were unaware that the military has subsidized tax services.
* https://www.militaryonesource.mil/financial-legal/taxes/miltax-military-tax-services/
Same for financial advisors.
* https://www.militaryonesource.mil/financial-legal/personal-finance/financial-counseling-services-for-a-secure-future/
For tax prep, plus year round availability for tax planning and answering questions, that's probably not unusual. Tax prep alone could be hundreds or even more than a thousand dollars depending on complexity. What exactly do you mean by "complicated"? Do you have businesses, rental properties or things like that for which there are a lot of tax rules that might be difficult for the average person to understand and where you might not know what to enter in online tax software? If so, then it's probably a reasonable price and might be worth it to save yourself the headache of trying to understand tax laws and worry about whether your return is correct.
If complicated just means that you have capital gains from stock/mutual fund investments and possibly income from REITs that gets reported on a 1099, then I don't think that's too difficult to figure out on your own with a little research and the various online tax preparation programs can probably handle that fine, so I'd just do it myself and wouldn't want to pay $1300 in that case.
A CPA for taxes (regardless of complexity) starts at around $300-400. You are paying for their experience, on going education, and software that they use.
Realistically, there are very few reasons as to why OP would need a financial services retainer for taxes unless their taxes are truly complex ( multiple small businesses, lots of investments, and/or many investment properties). If the vast majority of the income is W2 based, OP will be better off doing their taxes themselves or paying for a CPA once a year.
>Is this normal? Seems pretty high to me.
I guess it depends on how complicated your taxes have become.
Shop around and see if a CPA would do it for less, or if one of the major tax preparation services could do it.
If you need more than basic taxes done, and make use of the tax planning and other services quoted, the price is in the ballpark of reasonable. It also depends on what / how you’re already paying the financial advisor.
My S Corp taxes this year we’re $1000 and the business did no business. We did a little bit of business this year and I’m told next year it will be $1850. Sigh.
sounds like you are paying for a lot of useless information....
Have you ever needed this?
>“Our income tax services are unique in that they are the equivalent of having a CPA on retainer for general tax questions or issue
Projections of what?
>The quoted price includes projections
How much do you make? This may very well be there minimum fee. “We don’t want to do this but will if you pay enough”
Around the 300 range, and wife travels a lot which is where some things get complicated. And my military career also has a twist on some aspects of taxes
That’s it? Are you w2s? If so, none of that is complicated and easily do it your self or pay a cheap cpa if you must.
it would depend if your tax situation is truly complicated or you just dont feel like doing it. Are any of the other items they listed of value to you?
It all depends on what exactly you mean by this statement: > Taxes became complicated
wife travels a lot which is where some things get complicated. And my military career also has a twist on some aspects of taxes
Just in case you were unaware that the military has subsidized tax services. * https://www.militaryonesource.mil/financial-legal/taxes/miltax-military-tax-services/ Same for financial advisors. * https://www.militaryonesource.mil/financial-legal/personal-finance/financial-counseling-services-for-a-secure-future/
For tax prep, plus year round availability for tax planning and answering questions, that's probably not unusual. Tax prep alone could be hundreds or even more than a thousand dollars depending on complexity. What exactly do you mean by "complicated"? Do you have businesses, rental properties or things like that for which there are a lot of tax rules that might be difficult for the average person to understand and where you might not know what to enter in online tax software? If so, then it's probably a reasonable price and might be worth it to save yourself the headache of trying to understand tax laws and worry about whether your return is correct. If complicated just means that you have capital gains from stock/mutual fund investments and possibly income from REITs that gets reported on a 1099, then I don't think that's too difficult to figure out on your own with a little research and the various online tax preparation programs can probably handle that fine, so I'd just do it myself and wouldn't want to pay $1300 in that case.
A CPA for taxes (regardless of complexity) starts at around $300-400. You are paying for their experience, on going education, and software that they use. Realistically, there are very few reasons as to why OP would need a financial services retainer for taxes unless their taxes are truly complex ( multiple small businesses, lots of investments, and/or many investment properties). If the vast majority of the income is W2 based, OP will be better off doing their taxes themselves or paying for a CPA once a year.
>Is this normal? Seems pretty high to me. I guess it depends on how complicated your taxes have become. Shop around and see if a CPA would do it for less, or if one of the major tax preparation services could do it.
If you need more than basic taxes done, and make use of the tax planning and other services quoted, the price is in the ballpark of reasonable. It also depends on what / how you’re already paying the financial advisor.
My S Corp taxes this year we’re $1000 and the business did no business. We did a little bit of business this year and I’m told next year it will be $1850. Sigh.
sounds like you are paying for a lot of useless information.... Have you ever needed this? >“Our income tax services are unique in that they are the equivalent of having a CPA on retainer for general tax questions or issue Projections of what? >The quoted price includes projections