My CPA charged me $350 to do my regular taxes, and another $250 for the trust taxes. Last year H&R Block charged me $310 for the regular taxes, and my daughter did the trust taxes.

I pay 250.00 for regular taxes. There are bilions of dollars lost every year by people who do it on their own and don't know the new rulings or extras that they could use. Since the fee is tax deductible the next year I see no reason to do it myself.

I think it might not be useful info to compare prices one person to another, because peoples tax situations are so variable. I think charges are somewhat based on how many forms/schedules are added to the basic 1040.

I would agree w/ you since you now have a trust, to have a professional do your taxes. Then perhaps next year your dh could use that as a guide & go back to TT.

Ours last year were pretty simple, cost ~$130, which I thought was a bit over priced. It was our first year on SS & pensions, w/ some IRA thrown in, so I had some Q's. She DID save us some money tho, so it was worth the price.

sleeperblues, having a revocable living trust has no impact at all on your income tax situation. Your tax liability is the same with or without one.

The only "impact", if you want to call it that, is that (if done correctly) the title to assets and accounts was changed from your own names to "The Anderson Living Trust" or whatever you named it. That's no different than if you decided to change your name from Phyllis to Pamela - the name changed, the ownership is the same. It's all yours for income tax purposes, as before.

Thanks, Snidely, that helps!

I would not do my own taxes on a bet.

I own a small business, and IRS audits of small businesses are way, way up. They're going after small businesses (under $250,000 gross) because we are the low-hanging fruit. We don't have full time bookkeepers and it's easy to find a mistake or two in a small business return.

We survived the audit and our return was found to be 100% correct, but that's largely due to the fact that we hire someone to do our taxes each year.

The audit was very, VERY stressful but our accountant was nonplussed and he helped us navigate the mess.

I pay $400 to have my taxes done by my CPA. I expect it to be a bit more this year, because the cost of everything seems to have gone up.

Our taxes are done by a tax attorney/CPA and it costs about $800 each year. In the past we have had complicated corporate stock issues, and some of that remains and will come out in future years. But some years, our stocks are quite simple.

I pay extra on the simple years to have to on-going professional relationship and an excellent record. It's worth it.

I'm certainly no expert on trusts (or taxes), and maybe my trust is different from yours, Sleeperblues. But I've been told my trust has a high tax liability. When I wanted to add to it a few years ago I was advised not to do it for that reason.

I'm sorry to hear your accountant was nonplussed, Rosemary. :-)

Hey Alisande,

I just did a double-take on your post and looked up "nonplussed." Seems it has *two* definitions, which are the diametric opposite of one another!

What a head-scratcher!

In my case, I was intending to say that my accountant was "unperturbed."!

:)

And I learned something new today!!

Rose

We pay about $1,800, but that is for federal and two states. We pay extra for DH's office return and more for my family farm return (but they also do some year end bookkeeping type stuff for the farm -- bringing the GL up to date, etc. and preparing the W-2 for our one employee, my brother). And we often have other matters to discuss with our CPA thought the year.

As far as revocable living trusts are concerned, Snidley is right on. It is pretty simple. My mom put all her assets in such a trust, and the only problem was that since we did it mid year, she got two 1099s from the same sources - on for the interest or dividends paid un the first part of the year in her name and another for the income after the stick or account was transferred. However both were reported on he SSN and it was easy to handle. The next year the 1099s were issued in the name of the trust. All RLT income is reported on her individual return. The RLT's primary (really only) benefit is that it avoids probate (but will not escape estate tax liability-that will depend on the total of her assets at the time of her death, less deductions to her unified credit (for gifts over tie annual exclusion) She also has a separate irrevocable trust from my Dad's estate that must file a tax return as a separate entity. It is more complicated, but even then the tax goes into her personal return. This one avoids probate and the estate taxes were paid when dad died so it will pass to us outright.

Alisande, your trust may have tax consequences after you die, but unless your trust has a tax number and pays taxes separately from your personal income taxes, then you should not worry about annual income taxes. Ask your tax/legal profession to explain the differences to you.

In Canada, in vivos trusts (set up during your lifetime) and testamentary trusts are taxed differently.

o j