How Much Does It Cost to Have My Taxes Prepared?

What it costs to have your taxes prepared can run from free to a few thousand dollars, and the number on the invoice is only half of the story. The other half is what you get for it. Here is an honest look at the options for 2026, what drives the price, and which one fits which situation.

The number you see most often online, a few hundred dollars, is the fee for a basic Form 1040. The 2025 NATP fee study put that at $185 to $280 depending on the preparer’s credentials. The moment you have self-employment income, the return gets bigger: a Schedule C adds another $123 to $135 on average, and a state return and the supporting forms add more on top. Here is how it looks once the situations are comparable:

Your Situation	Typical Professional Fee
Simple personal return (W-2, standard deduction)	About $185 to $280 for a base return, or $0 to roughly $140 with tax software, plus state fees
Self-employed with a Schedule C and a state return	About $400 to $600 is typical, and surveys show $475 to $900 as business revenue grows. One survey of preparers put the average itemized return with a Schedule C and state return at $457
S-corp or partnership, plus the owner’s personal return	About $1,200 to $3,500 for an S-corp and $1,500 to $3,000 for a small partnership. A basic S-corp filing alone commonly runs $800 to $1,200 before the personal return is added

If you prefer assisted software, TurboTax Live Full Service has run roughly $219 to $409 plus about $64 per state, while H&R Block’s self-employed online product starts around $85 plus $37 per state. Software prices change every season, so treat all of these as a snapshot. The takeaway is that a self-employed filer should be comparing against roughly $450 to $900, not $280, and a business owner should be comparing against well over $1,000.

We will be straightforward about where we land. For a basic Schedule C, our $900 starting price is at the high end of that range. For an S-corp or partnership, our $2,000 starting price sits comfortably inside it. What the higher price buys is covered in the sections below.

Whoever prepares your return, the cost follows the same logic. It is based on the number of forms and schedules your situation requires, not on your income alone. These are the usual things that push a return up:

• Rental properties, investments, or more than one business
• K-1s from partnerships or S-corps
• Stock options, cryptocurrency, or foreign income
• Selling a business, rental, or other major asset
• Returns in more than one state
• Big changes from last year, like a new business, a marriage, or a move

This is why we do not publish a one-size quote. Once we have looked at your prior-year return, we give you a real number rather than a guess.

When you work for yourself, you pay income tax and self-employment tax on your profit, so every dollar of deductions you miss costs you roughly 30 cents or more at many income levels. Here is what that looks like in a single, ordinary example:

Mileage is only one of the usual suspects. The self-employed health insurance deduction, retirement plan contributions, the qualified business income deduction, business use of your phone and internet, and a properly documented home office are all commonly missed, and each one can be worth hundreds of dollars on its own. This is an illustration, not a promise, since your savings depend entirely on your situation. But it shows why the cheapest return is only cheaper if it catches the same deductions.

There is a cost on the other side, too. If a return is found to be wrong because of negligence, the IRS accuracy-related penalty is 20% of the underpayment, on top of the tax and interest. A second pair of eyes on every return is meant to prevent exactly that.

Every AdminBooks return, personal or business, includes federal and state preparation, a two-preparer review, secure e-filing, and a complimentary review meeting for first-time clients. Business returns cover S-corps, C-corps, partnerships, and LLCs, including K-1s for owners and partners. From there, you choose how much support you want during the year:

Package	What You Get
Essentials	Return preparation and e-filing, two-preparer review, secure portal access, estimated tax vouchers, and monthly educational articles
Full Service	Everything in Essentials, plus a 25-minute return review meeting, review of any IRS or FTB tax letters, and a mid-year tax projection with two tax professionals
Premium Support	Everything in Full Service, plus three more 25-minute consultations (June, September, and December), an updated projection with recommendations, and unlimited email support all year

If you only want advice and not a return, our standalone strategy sessions start at $125. You can also add services at any time, so you are never locked into more than you need.

The return that costs the least is not always the one that costs you the least.

If your taxes are a W-2 and a standard deduction, software or a local preparer is a perfectly reasonable choice, and we will tell you so. Our Do I need a tax preparer? quiz is a quick way to check, and our comparison of DIY taxes vs. hiring a tax preparer goes deeper.

The picture changes once you own a business or work for yourself. A missed deduction or a misclassified expense can easily cost more than the preparer’s fee, and a mid-year projection can stop a surprise bill before it happens. That is the situation we are built for. If you are weighing options, our guide to finding the right tax professional covers the questions worth asking anyone you are considering.

A few practical notes on timing and fit. Documents in by February 1 typically take two to four weeks, by March 1 closer to four weeks or more, and anything arriving around April 1 will likely be extended and completed after the deadline. We are based in Placerville and work with clients nationwide through a secure online portal. We do not prepare estate or trust returns.