Are you raising prices this year -- if yes, how much?

[Black Bart]

Just checking the pulse of the board. I'm holding the line with no increases; reason being I'm a little gun-shy after gauging the prevailing mood of walk-in customers lately.

Everybody seems to be very much cost-conscious and some are cutting ties with overpriced vendors. They're scrimping, saving, and slicing every expense that can be whacked off. Many are dropping things which were just a convenience in past flush years, but now are considered excess baggage. Come to think of it, I'm doing much the same.

Also I saw some drastic price-shopping right here in the office the other day -- a client called her insurance agent of 30 years, said Geico/Progressive/whoever was 25% cheaper overall, and cancelled all her policies. I'm sure the old-time agent was flabbergasted and I'm thinking this can happen to anybody (including you-know-who) in this economy -- TurboTax may hit the jackpot this year.

So...I'm steady as she goes with most clients this season and for a selected few, ahem, frugal types, I may even drop their write-up 20 bucks or so while waiting for the sun to emerge again. Hopefully that's not four years away (Sorry; I couldn't resist ).

[Lion]

My price increases last year did not really cover my time and hassle with the new capital gains reporting, so I am increasing prices again on those forms. And, higher prices for those who sell some or all of their shares in a PTP; those are a hassle also with adjustments to ordinary income and tracking information in the K-1 package with what appears on the broker statement.

Other than those two price jumps, I think I'm continuing my "minor price increases for everyone every year" method for a while. That probably results in only a 1-2-3% increase for many but a 5-10% or greater jump for some of my more complex investors. I guessed that might average out to a 5% increase when I voted.

[DTS]

I raise a little each year, but had a substantial increase last year, so I will hold to that for now. Like Lion, my area of concern is the stock reporting and if I do raise prices it will only be in that area.

[JohnH]

I'm telling them 10% in the client letter, but will probably average out to 6-8% depending upon client history, PITA status, presence of nuisance forms, etc. So I voted 10% because that's my official line.

[JoshinNC]

EIC returns

Each EIC return I prepare will have an additional $500 fee added to compensate me for the risk of a preparer penalty if the client flat out lies to me and I don't catch it. Otherwise, probably go up 5-25%, depending upon the form.

[Kram BergGold]

D and EIC

The posts ahead of mine made me think about my fees.
I will be charging a little more for EIC and for adjustments on Schedule D like the sale of PTP's and any asset where I have to do a basis adjustment. Other than that I think my charges are fine.

[erchess]

Interesting ant timely thread

I went to a straight hourly charge last year of $150 per. That's working really well for me but I raised from $150 to 175 in August so I won't go up again. I like Josh's idea regarding EIC and I will adopt it if I ever get another EIC client who is not in my circle of friends. I currently have only two EIC clients and of them one may no longer qualify for 2012. The real point is that I know these taxpayers well enough to know that they do qualify. I get very few EIC returns because I do not offer bank products. The other concerns that have been raised here are very relevant for those who charge by the Form.

[Brian EA]

I have not raised my fees for the last 6 years. Too many street corner preparers. I am hoping one day Uncle Sam will move to Florida and take care of some of these unethical and unprofessional so called preparers.

[AZ-Tax]

I am tempted but plan on waiting one more tax season

I am very tempted but will probably wait till Jan 2014. Unless the IRS extends the competency date and if that happens, I will probably still raise them.

[Jiggers]

I will probably change my fee for the 8812 (now 2 pages long and not a form 8812), 8867, and 8863.

But I haven't determined how much yet. I want to work through a few of these forms by hand and will set my fee for these after that.

And depending on what happens with the AMT, I may increase that if there is not a fix, because I am going to have to explain to my clients why they have that this year and not in the past. That takes time to do.

[kpangelinan]

Voted 10%

I haven't gone up on my fees since the 2008 crash for reasons already discussed on this board. I'm happy with the clients I have and don't think it'll affect my business at all as I'm already at more than capacity for what my office can handle and WILL NOT hire anyone else.

I'm also increasing my fee for the EIC forms, also mentioned here already.