Tax preparation is priced by what your return contains, not by how long it takes. A 1040 with a state return runs about $220 on the standard deduction and about $323 itemized, and each extra schedule adds: roughly $192 for self employment, $145 for rental income, $118 for capital gains. A corporate return averages just under $1,000. Hourly work runs $100 to $200, more for a CPA.
| Service | Typical |
|---|---|
| Individual tax returnNational range | $220 to $800 per job |
| Corporate tax returnNational range | $900 to $1,100 per job |
Ranges last checked September 2026. They come down automatically when they are due to be rechecked.
Every figure above comes from a named source we can link to, with the date we last checked it. We publish ranges rather than single prices because a range is what a provider will actually give you: the same job moves with what is being worked on, the materials, how hard it is to get at and how busy the trade is locally. Treat these as the order of magnitude to expect before you call, not as a quote.
The figures here are national. Where a source publishes figures state by state, the state pages carry that local figure instead of this one. We do not scale a national number by a multiplier of our own invention.
Every range carries a review date. When that date passes the number comes down until it is rechecked, rather than sitting here undated.
Checked September 2026, and the useful thing about these numbers is that they add up rather than average out.
Someone self employed who itemizes, sold shares and owns a rental lands near the top of the range in the table above. Not because the preparer worked longer, but because the return carries four more forms.
Hourly work outside a return runs $100 to $200, and more for a CPA.
Anyone with a preparer tax identification number can file a return for payment, and plenty of them are good at it. The distinction is what happens when something goes wrong.
A CPA holds a state license, sits under a state board of accountancy, and can represent you before the IRS without limit. So can an enrolled agent, who is credentialed federally rather than by a state. An unenrolled preparer generally cannot.
For a straightforward return that distinction may never matter. For a business, a rental portfolio, or anything with a chance of being questioned later, it is the whole reason to pay more.
Tax preparation quotes assume your records arrive in a usable state. If the books are not closed, if the bank feeds are unreconciled, or if a year of receipts turns up in a box, that is bookkeeping, and bookkeeping is billed separately and by the hour.
That is where a $400 quote becomes a $1,200 invoice. Not dishonesty, just a different job appearing underneath the one that was priced. Ask what condition the records need to be in for the quote to hold.
A preparer whose fee rises with the size of your refund has an interest in the refund being large, and you are the one who signs the return. You carry the liability for what is on it regardless of who prepared it.
Two other things worth noticing. A preparer who will not sign the return they prepared, and one who wants the refund routed through their own account rather than straight to yours.
CPAs are licensed by state boards of accountancy, each of which publishes a license lookup. The state pages carry which board and where.
An individual return runs about $220 to $800 nationally, and a corporate return sits just under $1,000 on average, recorded here as $900 to $1,100.
The schedules it needs. Schedule C for self employment adds about $192, Schedule D for capital gains about $118, and Schedule E for rental income about $145. Itemizing rather than taking the standard deduction moves a 1040 with a state return from about $220 to about $323.
No. Bookkeeping to get the records ready, amended returns, audit representation and tax planning through the year are all quoted separately. How organized the records are when they arrive also moves the preparation fee itself.
Yes, on this data, for both individual and corporate returns. Whether that is the right choice depends on the return; the price difference is real either way.