Getting Overcharged at Our Income Tax Place

Hi L. - I'm sorry to hear about your father-in-law and the difficult time that your family is having as a result. He is blessed to have family like you and your husband who care so much about him.

As for your tax situation, it does sound like you are being overcharged based on my experience of hiring different tax preparers over the years. I currently pay about $200 to have mine done, and I know even that is at the higher end of the pricing scale for the person who does mine, since he has told me that (I have a relatively complicated tax situation). I highly recommend that you contact the person I use - he is full of knowledge and advice, works out of a home office so has low overhead, and is also a financial planner. I contact him througout the year with tax-related and other financial questions, and he always has the answers or researches them and gets back to me the same day, if not immediately - and he has never charged me a penny for any of that, just my annual tax preparation. (In fact, we just exchanged e-mails this morning - yes, early Saturday morning - in response to a question I have about my 4Q 2009 estimated tax payments that are due to the IRS and IL on Jan. 15.) He is an amazingly kind, patient and wonderful man - I promise you won't be disappointed with him. Here is his contact info:

Harold Templeton, CFP®
Cornerstone Financial Planners, Inc.
330 Flagstaff Lane
Hoffman Estates, IL 60169-3228
###-###-#### Fax ###-###-####
____@____.com
http://www.cfp-online.net/

BTW, although Harold came to my home to meet with me the first time that I hired him to do my taxes about 9 years ago, in the years after that, I have given him all of my information via e-mail, phone and fax to do my taxes, so don't worry that Darien is about 26 miles or so from his office in Hoffman Estates.

Good luck,
L.

L.-
Consider yourself a cash cow for your tax preparers!! I would shop around. A CPA firm will cost more, but you should expect a little better service and advice. A company like H&R block will be less expensive, but the people there may not be as knowledgeable and you might or might not get consistent results. If you consider yourself savvy at all financially and your situation hasn't changed much from year to year - turbo tax is definitely a good option and not difficult to use. It walks you through everything and possible deductions you may not have thought of. You don't need to buy a CD either, you can just do it online. http://turbotax.intuit.com/ If you want to try it, you don't have to pay until you file -- so if you don't like it or feel it is too confusing or difficult, you can just stop at anytime. There are other simlar tax preparation software programs available too, and you can check them out at Best Buy or other places that sell software. Good luck!

I use the H&R Block online service. It walks you through everything and gives advice at the end. You can also choose which service would fit your needs. I even used it when my husband had a small business. My inlaws have a busniess and the guy files all the business forms as well as their individual forms, charges about $300. It depends on how complex and how many forms but I would take a look at the break down of the charges. I know people that pay an outstanding amount just for electronic filing and that really doesn't cost the tax person anything. The IRS is going to start regulating tax people next year since it is too late for 2009 filing because some really don't know what they are doing and some are charging exorbitant fees.

Hi L.,
I can't give you any advise on taxes but I can tell you that my heart goes out to you and your family. My father was diagnosed with mesothelioma in April of '99 and died in June of '99. He had only one chemo treatment and suffered a heart attack. He was on life support for a week when we were told there was nothing more they could do for him and we took him off life support (we felt that he would not have wanted us to keep him in that state any longer). I know exactly what you are going through and it isn't easy. My prayers are with you and your family.

My father worked for Western Electric (in Cicero) for almost 40 years. They believe he was exposed to asbestos sometime in the late '50s, early '60s and it took that long for the cancer to appear.

Take care L..

M.

We drive almost an hour one-way to have our taxes done by our tax preparer. We have a mortgage, husband is self-employed, and I work. She only charges $125, but we've been clients for more than 10 years so it might be more for a new person. If you are willing to drive a long way, she's in Morton Grove - Robin Reizner, ###-###-####. Or keep asking around until you find someone recommended by a friend who is closer. I don't think $450 is totally out of line from what I've heard other people pay, but I think you can do better. (or you could try a service like H&R Block)

We use a small firm in the city and they usually charge about $100 for each of us. But I think it can depend on what you have going on- when I was getting divorced, my taxes were more complex that year, etc. But $450 does sound like a lot. I don't think you should automatically do them yourself, but it sounds like shopping around might be a good idea! Good luck!

Hi L., I use turbotax for business. I agree with earlier posts to just get the software at a discount from costco if you have the membership. You may be able to download it online and buy it online. Understand that it will download to one computer that you use and you will keep getting updates as we get closer to April 15th...so you cannot immediately file your taxes because it may not contain all the 2010 forms today...because it keeps getting updated. Everytime you go back into your tax files to add W2s etc, it will ask you about updating itself (no extra fee for this). In the past, the software for one state has been bundled in with the business edition. I don't know about 2010 yet.

If you make your house more energy efficient, you may get a tax credit but I agree with the posts that state fixing your roof does not get counted. Part of owning your house is setting aside money to have roofing changes every 10 years...if you convert to more efficient furnace you may be able to have a tax credit.

I am very sorry about your father!
C. L

I use Turbo Tax and I own a home daycare so my taxes are complicated, but even in the most complicated year it was not hard at all. I'll do YOUR taxes if you give me $300, lol. I mean really it's so easy, try it yourself. You are paying a per form fee, so every extra form you have is more money. Stop wasting your money and try it on your own, the program walks you through it every little step of the way. Then it has audit alerts, things you might have missed and even tips on how to get a bigger return this year or next.

wow...sounds like a lot too me, perhaps see what other posters write. we get charged 100 -125 every year. we are a family of three, own a home and work full time.

good luck with everything and may you find the answers you need.

That sounds WAY too high. We paid $115 last year. I have my own business, my husband works for 3 different companies, we own our own home - there are a lot of documents we send to our tax guy to get our return prepared. If your guy is charging that much money he better be giving you some really good advice for deductions. Find a new tax preparer!

I go to a tax attorney in Wheaton. I like him very much because he knows the LAW as well as how to do a good tax return. Last few years he has charged us $200.00 for an itemized return. (Don't know if he's raised his price or not, but I doubt it) His name is John Pleviak...don't have his # handy, but he's the only one in Wheaton on Willow St.
Worth the drive from Darien!

I've used Turbo-Tax CD and it's pretty easy to use. They will ask a bunch of questions for you. They define everything with a click of a button. You can look up what is deductible.

That 450 fee is tax deductible.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

turbo tax deluxe all the way!!! it is incredibly easy and i have zero background in this. it walks you through it....my husband is self employed, we buy/sell stocks, we have a vacation home, and own our home here and it is still so simple!!! you can get it at costco for about 75.00 (the deluxe for state/federal/ business owners . promise you- you can do this!!!!

I consulted with husband whom has his own tax practice and he says typically fees are based on the complexity of your tax return. So if you both work for employers receiving
W-2s plus the National Guard your fee does seem high. However if you are a business owner that adds complexity to your returns which will increase your fees. (Nationl Guard income in Illinois is not deductible, which is a common error.)

As for your roof. Roofs are not tax deductible however a credit is available for certain energy efficient reflective asphalt shingles.

My husband would be happy to review your prior to return and provide you an estimate for this years return. He is CPA with 16 yrs experience specializing in tax planning & preparation for individuals & small businesses. This can be done by fax, email, mail, or in person. His rates are competitively priced with the national chains, but the similarities stop there...

Please review his website for more information

www.mytaxaccountant.net

Michael J. L.
1368 Yorkshire Lane
Carol Stream, IL
Phone ###-###-####
Fax 866-547-0067
Email ____@____.com

Hope this helps! Will keep your family in our prayers, (we can relate with an ill loved one as well).

T.

That sounds too high. I recently asked on this forum who is good to prepare income taxes in the Aurora/Oswego area since we just moved here a couple of years ago and had been having an out-of-town guy do them still. I got a lot of responses. If you look at the Requests and Responses section and go into the Income Tax section, you might be able to find my original response. I'll also try to send it to you. Most of the responses were between 150 to 200 dollars I believe.