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Respectfully, eff him. Don't feel guilty. You don't want to pay that, and him calling you to complain should not change your opinion. Maybe next time he'll be more upfront lmao
They havent filed yet just did the tax prep is what he mentioned
Don't feel bad. They should have discussed fees with you beforehand if it were that much effort. Their policy if I remember correctly is that you don't owe anything unless they file. I worked for them over a tax season (before I went into accounting) and have people walk away after learning how much their refund amount would be.
As a CPA, they can’t deny you getting all your tax information (W2s and such) back from them - regardless of if you owe them money or not. Did you sign an engagement letter stating fees based on time and materials?
@Tax Manager 2- they should be doing it themselves. But if they want to pay someone else to do it, they can’t expect to pay less than $50-$75 an hour for the time specific professional service. With any amount of data entry and decision analysis, you can hit 10-15 hours pretty quickly.
I feel like you're leaving out some key facts. Like why did you give them your w-2 in the first place?
You need to upload docs before appointment
Don’t pay. It’s not your problem they did the work prior to you agreeing to the terms
How did they not agree on a fee with you before they started? If they prepared it and gave you a return but just haven’t filed it, I would think you owe them for the time spent. Did you ask them to prepare the return or not?
If you never asked them to prepare the return and they just did it, that is on them. If you asked them to do it and just didn’t like the price, that is on both of you.
Thank you so much friends, all these comments make me feel better❤️
Yes, maam. You do not have to file with them. Even if they prepared your taxes. Do not sign any paperwork if you do not agree with their price. You have every right to back out. I am an Enrolled Agent. I have been in the business for 35+ years.
$500 is a lot for your average taxpayer but most top 50 CPA firm will charge $1500 or more, even for a basic 1040.
Most people don't go to large public accounting firms for tax prep because it's out of their price range. But many closely held businesses want a one stop shop and they will pay premium for it.
I can confirm this is what we charge at the various firms I've worked at (all top 25).
Tax partner here…. We won’t touch a return for less than $1,500- $2,000. Average being $3-5k. But then if you just have a w-2 we send you to places like H&R
That’s just due to the whole process we have in place that makes it take us so long to do simple returns that we just typically reject and leave them to go to local or smaller preparer firms … not that we’re are ‘so special’ …
Sorry just saying, as it sounds like the comment insinuates a level of ‘class’ in returns and not that our processes are just OTT (meaning for simple returns taxpayers should not be paying us so much when they can get it done for free at freeUSAtax for example or with a local cpa).
H&R Block is total rip off. I sent my dad there one year - last year I took his over. I could not believe the pricing they charged. He has basically nothing, simple form and it was also $500. They charged ~$100 for a mortgage statement (wtf?), $150 for a K-1 investment with literally like 1 line of information (I can understand there are complex K-1s but this was not one of them) and then fed + state.
Anyhow, did it myself in H&R Block’s online platform for less than half of the cost.
For what it’s worth, I use TurboTax for my own and TurboTax is much more user friendly than H&R Block.
Seconding FreeTaxUsa. It was $15 plus tax. Someone said, what FTUSA doesn't have is that Turbo "holds your hand more" but FTUSA gave me some pretty good instructions and tips too. Worth a try?
If you know how to read file your own tax return for free at Free Tax USA. They will file your federal for free and charge $14.99 to do your state return. https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjSs7P-6veEAxX_SEcBHe5vCA0YABAAGgJxdQ&ae=2&gclid=CjwKCAjw48-vBhBbEiwAzqrZVJXEHekDZOQc9B-HZHzwvKSKZWeYsNtyd2M3lWEI0gzOCWxOQP8SLxoCLUQQAvD_BwE&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESV-D2X7GJtLeE1h9RWa9pSczrtndSEI2dRzdNzk50f8tEbgZjlVkWkX-hcnOnPiy1Jjocj3fs-iueFVJj8OR4ssh-5I4cS0HmVGqCsHBW1hG82SXC3R1OiA&sig=AOD64_21aXh9mU1CmKZlaW6zv2yijnQ9jg&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwjPsa7-6veEAxVPFVkFHV6oCD4Q0Qx6BAgEEAE
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How do they have your information to prepare the return if you don’t have an EL, fee estimate, plan to use them, etc?
I’ll do it for you but $500 is only getting you 30 mins!
Freetaxusa.com
Just don’t sign Form 8879 e-filing authorization. Nobody can force you to file your taxes without a signature on Form 8879. Otherwise it would be a huge violation for any tax preparation firm.
Nothing in this story adds up.
It’s H&R Block eff them and use TurboTax. Shouldn’t have done the work before communicating with you the price of the return. I don’t know what your return includes but generally that is the bare minimum to have someone do them for you. I use a person that does it for 350 but generally my minimum fee depending on firm has been as low as 1,500 and as high as 5,000, just for perspective
They already did all the work. You should pay them. You could ask for a small courtesy discount. You will know better next year to ask about fees up front.
If there is no agreement, I wouldn't pay. What if he did it and asks $5,000? It's a one sided deal and they messed up.
You can buy h&r block software and file yourself for under $100 including state taxes and electronic filing with a guarantee from the same company to get your best refund/lowest taxes. Unless you're afraid to do it, I'd go that route. I've used their software for over 20 years.
If you haven’t signed (agreeing to the price or T&M), you don’t need to pay.
I imagine gone your return is quite complex which it why the preparer had taken a long time. Sometimes tax prep requires research. Tax professionals, whether they are licensed by the state or are an Enrolled Agent, have to have so many hours of annual continuing education credits, or CE’s. This requirement for rehire at H and R Block is 18 hours annually, and 24 hours annually for an enrolled agent. So you are paying for someone’s expertise and you will not find a better price with the guarantee the return has been accurately completed. The price includes filing and if your return is complex as it sounds, you want to efile since the IRS can make errors when they have a human (we all make errors) typing your paper filed info into their system. You also get a standard guarantee with your return prepared by H and R Block in which the company pays you any penalties and interest assessed. If you purchase Peace of Mind, which also pays additional tax up to $6,000 if the preparer (or software) makes an error, it covers your return for three years federal and four years state. You cannot get better prepared or more knowledgeable preparers elsewhere.