So I was thinking my CPA overcharged me, I paid $1,000 to get my tax return done and no book keeping service or anything else. I also had to correct my CPA many times (used the wrong form, put in wrong number...) and there is no Extra works other than put in the number I gave. Also my gain is less than 100k a year. I am not sure the service is charged based on the works of the CPA or based on my gain. So I want to ask to have the ideas of the reasonable charge a CPA should ask. How much do you guys pay for your CPA? Thanks for your sharing.
Depends upon how complicated your taxes are. If you're correcting the CPA inputs, why don't you do them yourself? I've never hired a CPA to do my taxes and I ran a sole proprietor business for more than 10 years. I occasionally get something wrong but the IRS catches the mistakes and invoices or refunds me
I did it myself but I am not a CPA so I think 2 brains will work better than 1 so that is why I let the CPA help me in case I make a mistake. Do you use any software? Or just paper filing?
Paper filing only. No software. IRS website has all the forms and instructions needed. If your taxes are very similar from one year to the next, that makes it easy to just look at the previous year for guidance.
If you are a serious trader you use a CPA if you want to avoid a tax audit. You are attempting to do something above your level of expertise.
I pay for my main CPA $1,500. I feel he is a bit overpriced but I've used him for the past 15 years and there is a comfort level. My returns are a bit complicated as there are 3 different LLCs and a K1 from a trading partnership (but the K1 is done by another specialist CPA). Even if I switched from my main CPA I could probably only save about $500-$700 per year - not worth the hassle.
The gain/loss should have no bearing on the fee! My wife is a former CPA with a tax specialty. She never dealt with traders, except myself who trades in IRA's mostly. The usual fee reflects the time required to go through your trading records! How organized are you? If you prepare everything yourself, then you can haggle for a lower fee, but also the deductions and write-offs are often borderline and some CPA might get you in trouble. Shop around!(especially if he/she used the wrong form...)
If you end up with an audit because of theCPA's mistakes or over his aggressiveness on your return you overpaid no matter how you little paid for preparing the return.