How much are you going to charge for 2018 tax returns?

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#1
Keyad22  
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Bay Area, California
Hello Pros,

We are thinking about fee/charge for 2018 tax returns. One of the instructors at CPE seminars said it should be up 30% for 2018 tax returns since there are more schedule and forms after tax reform. The charge from the software company is up as well. So we definitely will raise the charge to client. However, it is such a competitive business. I think 30% increase will scare the client away.

What is your opinion?

Thank you!
 

#2
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394
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13-Sep-2014 1:26pm
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New York
I'm all for raising fees but 30% you'll spend more time fighting with clients over fees than doing any work. my goal is to do an across the board flat increase of $25 but now I'm leaning towards $35 which on averag is about an 8% to 10% increase. also, like this topic a lot. fyi, I think it should be moved to the business growth forum though.
 

#3
JR1  
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I probably ended up about 10-15%...
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Remembering our son, Ben Jan 22, 1992 to Aug 26, 2011.
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#4
opacpa  
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AL
I just mailed a letter increasing fees 15-30%.
If not this year, then when?
 

#5
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Northern MI and Coastal SC
Likely around 10% for me, though I always bump up $25-75/year depending on the return. Some may go down if they get kicked out of itemization because of increased standard deduction, or at least remain the same as last year.

I profit from tax prep software fees I charge to clients, so not worried about that. I actually decreased the "software recovery fee" for this filing season that I build into the tax prep fee.
 

#6
ATSMAN  
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I agree. This is the season to do a major pricing revision. Based on views of other professionals that I respect I have categorized my clients into three broad categories:

1) Clients with no price increase.

2) Clients with some price increase.

3) Clients with significant price increase.

I will dwell on the third category for now. These are taxpayers with QBI eligibility. I am going to price them on an hourly rate for now until I get some more "experience" under my belt and see how it goes the first season we will be dealing with QBI issues. As a matter of fact, I may have to disengage some clients if the tasks and research involved makes it unfeasible for my one person with an assistant setup :(
 

#7
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ATSMAN wrote:
3) Clients with significant price increase.

I will dwell on the third category for now. These are taxpayers with QBI eligibility. I am going to price them on an hourly rate for now until I get some more "experience" under my belt and see how it goes the first season we will be dealing with QBI issues. As a matter of fact, I may have to disengage some clients if the tasks and research involved makes it unfeasible for my one person with an assistant setup :(


Same approach for me, though basically all of my clients are eligible for QBI (I can think of only a handful of exceptions). I do always enter time on an hourly basis, and then bill higher, lower, or based on actual time depending on scope of work and prior years. I like knowing exactly what I am putting into the work, even if I rarely actually bill hourly.

Several CPAs have flat out retired or stopped doing tax work in my area because of TCJA. An interesting year, certainly...
 

#8
ATSMAN  
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Several CPAs have flat out retired or stopped doing tax work in my area because of TCJA. An interesting year, certainly...


Agreed! I was on a webinar today and I think some practitioners are going to have a niche practice dealing with tax saving opportunities for business owners who just missed the QBI??
 


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