phone: 503.236.1040
Clarity Tax Service's "No Secrets" Pricing System
Curious about what it's going to cost you to have your tax returns prepared this year? Most people are ... yet they find that some major tax preparation chains will provide no more than vague estimates or deceptively low “starts at” figures.
It's true that because family and business tax situations vary almost endlessly, it's not possible to offer a “one size fits all” price. This is why most accountants charge by the hour, while the big chains have massive price lists with every form (and lines within forms) priced separately.
Here at Clarity we do it a little differently. Our flat-price levels cover over 85% of all individuals and small businesses we prepare returns for. Occasionally complex tax situations, rarely-used forms, excessive numbers of source documents, or poorly-organized source documents require exceptional amounts of time. In such cases, we add for our time (at our normal hourly rates), or a per-form additional charge.
Flat-Rate Tax Prep Package pricing. ALL Packages include:
Federal 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ
and Oregon Form 40, 40S or 40P forms
Complimentary E-Filing, state and federal (when available)
Copy of return in paper format OR as a PDF file on compact disk
All other states: $75 each
City returns (outside Oregon): $50 each
RDP (Registered Domestic Partners: see Other Items
Note: we do not do state returns alone. They are always done only as part of a federal return.
Click any package below to open and view pricing and features, click again to close:
| Basic Individual / Family Package: |
| $125 |
| 1040EZ, 1040A, and 1040 |
| Unlimited W2s |
| All Dependents |
| Child Tax Credits |
| Earned Income Credit |
| Advance EIC Payments |
| Retirement Savings Tax Credit (from W-2 only) |
| Oregon 40 or 40S |
| Oregon Working Family Child Care Credit |
| Standard Individual / Family Package: |
| $199 |
| Everything in the Basic Package, plus: |
| Schedule A |
| (except Form 2106 and Non-Cash Charitable Over $500) |
| Up to three 1099-R Forms |
| Social Security |
| Interest & Dividends – up to five items |
| Taxable Refunds of State & Local Taxes |
| Alimony |
| Jury duty, prizes, and other miscellaneous income without deductions |
| Unemployment |
| Student Loan Interest |
| Tuition & Fees – Optimized |
| Underpayment Penalty |
| Child Care Credit |
| Gambling income up to $1,000 (no losses) (Includes 5 W2-Gs. $2 per W2-G for 6 or more) |
| Educator Expenses (front of 1040 only) |
| Retirement Savings Tax Credit (any source) |
| One K-1 Form (Additional K-1 Forms at $25 each) (Includes Sch. E when required) |
| Penalty for early IRA / SEP Withdrawal |
| Oregon Form 10 – Underpayment |
| Oregon 40 ES Vouchers |
| Oregon Child Care & Disabled Credits |
| Advanced Individual / Family Package: |
| $249 |
| Everything in the Standard Package, plus: |
| All Schedule A Deductions |
| Up to six 1099-R Forms |
| Interest & Dividends – up to 10 items |
| Moving expenses |
| Deduction for Clean Fuel Vehicles |
| Gambling income over $1,000, or any amount with losses (Includes 10 W2-Gs. $2 per W2-G for 11 or more) |
| 1099 Form HAS / MSA |
| 1099 Long Term Care |
| Foreign Tax Credit (one country) |
| Exception on Early Withdrawal Penalties on IRAs / MSAs |
| Employee Expenses, Form 2106 |
| Vehicle Expenses (up to two vehicles) |
| Residential Energy Credits |
| Schedule D – Capital Gains, up to five items |
| Home Office, Form 8829 (inc. home depreciation) |
| Other Oregon subtractions and credits |
| Small Business + Individual / Family Basic Package |
| $349 |
| Includes everything in our Advanced Package, plus: |
| Schedule D – Up to 20 items |
| Unlimited 1099-R Forms |
| Interest & Dividends, up to 20 items |
| Foreign Tax Credit – Unlimited Countries |
| One of the following: |
| One Schedule C Sole-Proprietor or Single-Member LLC, or |
| One Schedule E property |
| One Schedule F farm |
| Each additional Sch. C or F: $100 |
| Each additional Sch. E property: $50 |
| Note: accounting, when required, is billed hourly. These prices assume complete books in good order. |
| Self-Employed Tax Deduction |
| Self-Employment Tax |
| Self-Employed SEP & Simple Plans |
| Self-Employed Health Insurance Credits / Deductions |
| Business Asset Depreciation – up to 10 items (additional items at $2/each) |
| Simple Installment Sale – one asset |
| Tri-Met TR |
| Portland City / Multnomah Co. Business License |
| Corporate & Fiduciary Package |
| $500 and up |
| Note: pricing on these returns start at $500, but can vary widely based on the work required. All accounting work beyond tax prep is billed at hourly rates. Note: we do not do C-Corporations. |
| LLC Returns with more than one member / owner |
| 1065 / 1020S |
| Partnership returns - Form 1065 |
| S-Corporation tax returns – Form 1120S |
| Basic not-for-profit organizations |
| (Note: we do not do Homeowner Associations) |
| Basic estate and trust returns |
| 1031 Exchanges |
| Installment sales (simple ones may be less than $500) |
| Other Items / Accounting Services |
| Amended returns: |
| If we did the original return: $50, federal and/or state |
| If we did NOT do the original return: cost as if new, plus $50 |
| Interest & Dividends over base: $2 each |
| K-1 forms over base: $15-$25 each |
| Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, Form 2555: $100 to $150 |
| 1040 NR starting at $250 |
| Resident Alien OPT FICA Rebate: $200 |
| FBAR Foreign Account Reporting: $150 and up |
| Extensions: $50, applicable toward preparation fees for the tax year. |
| Disorganized or excessive numbers of source documents: Our flat-rate pricing system cannot accommodate exceptional numbers of source documents (such as receipts, un-booked bank statements, individual charitable gifts, gambling winning W2-Gs, and so forth) that we must sort and record. In these cases, we either add a per-form charge or hourly fees. We can sometimes reduce our fees if records are available in specific electronic formats from banks, brokerages, casinos, vendors, and so on. We will tell you when this may be possible. Representation: Any time we must contact the IRS or other revenue agency on your behalf, other than e-filing your return, we class it as “representation.” If done at your request, or as a exceptional-but-necessary step in order to complete your return, we bill at our normal hourly rate with a 30 minute minimum. If the cause is due to an error on our part, there is no charge. If it is due to an error or misunderstanding by the IRS or other agency, or by you, then again we charge at our normal hourly rate. |
| RDP – Registered Domestic Partners – Cost of two returns, plus $50 |
| Unfortunately, RDP returns require considerably more work than Married Filing Joint returns, and our pricing must reflect that. To do an RDP return, we prepare two federal returns, then merge them to create a unique state return. No, we don’t think it’s fair ... but only Congress can change it. We charge the normal rate for each of the two federal returns, plus $50 for the RDP-joint state return. |