About Me

jIM

I am a 35yo married and father of twins. I will update the photos once in a while. They were born 3 months early in March of 2008 and went through a tough first 4 months. They are now doing well.

Retirement checkpoints
( ) $1.5 M needed age 53 2026
( ) $750k needed age 45 2018
( ) $375k needed age 37 2010
( ) $180k needed age 29 2002

I had 200k before the drop in 2008. I need to set aside around 200k in next 2.5 years to get early retirement.

[ ] max 401k for me
[ ] max 401k for wife
[x] max Roth for me
[x] max Roth for wife
[x] start taxable portfolio
[ ] 3 months expenses in EF
[ ] 9 months expenses in taxable account
[ ] open college savings account for kids
[ ] dividend income equals half of annual expenses
[ ] pay off 2nd mortgage by 2013
[ ] pay off 1st mortgage by 2026
[ ] finance next car for 3 years or less
[ ] pay cash for my next car around 2016
[ ] start a TIPs 10 year bond ladder by 2016.

How much do you pay for tax return?

November 3rd, 2008 at 04:51 pm

I am about to start moonlighting as a tax preparer. Curious how much everyone out there pays for preparing their tax return?

Posted in retirement | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “How much do you pay for tax return?”

swimgirl Says:
November 3rd, 2008 at 05:10 pm

Mine was QUITE complicated one year... we owned a retail business, had lots of stock action, my husband was laid off (so we had a package there), we bought a house, sold a house, etc. It was just too much for me to think about, and I didn't want to make a mistake. We paid a CPA $300, which I thought was too much. I had done most of the work for him... he asked me about 2 questions and it was done.

I guess the main reason I thought it was too much was because he had quoted me $200. Then when it was done, he claimed it was more work that he had thought. I have never gone back. I reviewed what he did, and it was nothing more than what I did.

Good luck with that little side job. I've thought about doing that...
whitestripe Says:
November 3rd, 2008 at 05:43 pm

i do it myself, so i pay $0
but if i were to pay for it, for some reason or another, i would pay no more than $100.
disneysteve Says:
November 3rd, 2008 at 06:17 pm

I pay $125 but my accountant is my cousin and he and his brother now run the firm that his father and my father started, so I know I'm getting a substantial discount.
creditcardfree Says:
November 3rd, 2008 at 08:23 pm

Best wishes on the side job! We prepare ourselves and can usually find free software, but there are plenty of people who need help in that area. Again, good luck!
dmontngrey Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 11:03 am

Nothing! Prepare it myself. I don't care how complicated it gets, I don't plan on ever paying someone. I love learning about this stuff and I'd rather do it myself.
NJDebbie Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 02:25 pm

$185.00 includes our rental home deductions.
Analise Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 03:12 pm

We pay between $875 ans $1,000. We have a complicated return.
ceejay74 Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 03:24 pm

Nothing, but I worked at H&R a couple years ago and they charged anywhere from $80 to $350 depending on the level of complexity. (They probably charged a lot more than that for really complicated ones; I'm just talking about the ones they would let a newbie prepare.)

I usually charge friends dinner or drinks with me to do their taxes.

jIM_Ohio is Investing to retire early

Instead of making retirement a question, make it a sport- can I do it and how fast?

How much do you pay for tax return?

8 Responses to “How much do you pay for tax return?”

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