Average Cost of Tax Preparation by a CPA (2026 Data)

The average CPA charges $280 to prepare a basic Form 1040, according to the 2025 fee study from the National Association of Tax Professionals, reported by Accounting Today. Enrolled agents average $228 for the same return and non-credentialed preparers about $185. Those are base prices. Each schedule adds to the bill (a Schedule C for a business adds $123 to $135 on average), and business returns start at an average minimum of $634. The IRS’s own estimate, printed in the Form 1040 instructions, is that the average taxpayer spends $290 a year and 12 hours getting a return filed, and a taxpayer with business income spends $610 and 21 hours.

What does a CPA charge for an individual tax return?

A basic individual return runs $220 to $280 on average, and each schedule you need stacks on top. The two best public data sets are the NATP 2025 fee study and the National Society of Accountants Income and Fees Survey, whose 2020-2021 edition is the last one with public form-by-form averages. The NSA’s 2024 survey summary, drawn from 183 practices, gives ranges only: $300 to $600 for an itemized Form 1040 and $750 to $1,250 for a Form 1120.

Return or schedule	NSA 2020-2021 average	NATP 2025 average
Form 1040, not itemized (NSA figure includes a state return)	$220	$280 CPA, $228 EA, about $185 non-credentialed
Form 1040 with Schedule A, itemized	$323	Schedule A adds $53 to $61
Schedule C, sole proprietor business	adds $192	adds $123 to $135
Schedule E, rental property	adds $145	not reported
Schedule D and Form 8949, investment sales	adds $118	adds $56 to $66
Schedule F, farm	adds $200	not reported

You’ll see blogs quote the $220 and $323 figures as “2023 NSA data” or “2024 NSA data.” The NSA’s own trend table files them under 2020. They’re still useful as a floor, because fees have only gone one direction since: in a 2024 pricing survey of 345 firms reported by CPA Practice Advisor, 90% said they were raising individual return fees for the next season.

What does a CPA charge for a business tax return?

Business returns cost roughly three to four times what a basic personal return costs, because the return is built from a full set of books. The NSA survey put the average partnership return at $733, the average S corporation return at $903, and the average C corporation return at $913. The NATP 2025 study reports an average minimum fee of $634 for business returns of any kind.

Business return	NSA 2020-2021 average
Form 1065, partnership or multi-member LLC	$733
Form 1120-S, S corporation	$903
Form 1120, C corporation	$913
Form 990, nonprofit	$735
Form 1041, trust or estate	$576

Those averages come from NSA member practices, most of them small firms. Revenue, the number of owners, the number of states, and the condition of the books all move the fee. A late business return is also expensive in its own right: a partnership or S corporation return due in 2026 that’s filed late draws a penalty of $255 per owner per month, for up to 12 months, under Rev. Proc. 2024-40. A three-owner LLC that files four months late owes $3,060 before anyone looks at the tax. If you own an LLC, the LLC tax preparation cost guide covers how the entity’s tax classification sets the price.

Do CPAs charge by the hour or by the return?

Most quote a fixed fee per return, and the fee is built from an hourly rate underneath. In the 2024 pricing survey, 54% of firms priced tax preparation on a fixed or value basis. The NATP 2025 study put the average hourly rate for tax work at $182, up from $179 in 2023, with half of preparers charging between $129 and $250 an hour.

The NSA survey shows how the two connect. Its hourly-equivalent fee for an itemized 1040 was $161, which means the $323 average return took about two hours of billed time. An S corporation return at $903 and $180 an hour is about five hours. When a quote comes in well above the averages, the usual reason is hours: more forms, more states, or records that need work before the return can start.

What pushes the price above the average?

Records come first. In the 2020-2021 NSA survey, 78.1% of preparers charged extra for disorganized or incomplete files, and the average surcharge was $165.82. In the 2024 summary it was 67% of firms, at $100 to $200. A shoebox of receipts, a year of uncategorized bank transactions, or a missing prior-year return all turn into billed time.

• More schedules. A rental adds Schedule E, a side business adds Schedule C, stock sales add Schedule D and Form 8949. Each one is priced separately at most firms.
• More states. A move mid-year or remote work for an out-of-state employer means two state returns. Our published price is $125 per extra state.
• K-1s. Each partnership or S corporation K-1 you receive has to be entered and its basis tracked.
• Foreign accounts and income. FBAR, Form 8938, foreign tax credits, and treaty positions move a return into a different price class entirely. Our cross-border return cost guide puts a typical both-country filing at $2,000 to $5,000.
• Late or amended filings. Catching up old years, or amending a return already filed, is separate work with its own fee.

Is a CPA worth the extra cost over a cheaper preparer?

For a W-2 and the standard deduction, a CPA and a storefront preparer produce the same return, and the $95 average gap between them in the NATP data buys you little. The gap starts paying for itself when the return involves judgment: a business, a rental, equity compensation, a multi-state year, or an IRS notice.

A CPA also has unlimited rights to represent you before the IRS if the return is questioned. Under the IRS’s preparer credential rules, a preparer with no credential has no authority to represent clients at all, unless they’ve completed the IRS’s Annual Filing Season Program, and then only on returns they prepared and signed.

The IRS burden numbers are a useful way to think about it. A taxpayer with business income spends an average of 21 hours and $610 a year on the return. Most of the 21 hours is record-keeping and tax planning the owner does alone. A CPA’s fee is partly a trade for those hours, and the guide on when to hire a CPA walks through where the trade makes sense.

What does Blue Cloud CPA charge?

Our prices are published, fixed, and quoted in writing before any work starts. Individual returns start at $275 for a W-2 return with one state, $495 for an itemized return or one with a rental or side business, and $895 for multiple rentals, K-1s, multi-state, or foreign items. Business returns start at $1,295 for an S corporation or partnership and $2,495 for a C corporation. Every return is prepared and signed by a CPA, and the full list, add-ons included, is on the tax preparation page and the pricing page.

Those are starting prices. The exact fee depends on the schedules, states, and records involved, and you see the number before you commit.

What should I do next?

Pull last year’s return and count the schedules. The form list on page one of the PDF tells you which rows of the tables above apply, and adding them up gives you a realistic number to compare quotes against. Then ask any preparer three things: is the fee fixed or hourly, what’s included (state returns, e-filing, a year-end question or two), and what triggers an extra charge.

• The CPA cost guide covers hourly rates, monthly retainers, and what a CPA costs across tax, bookkeeping, and advisory work.
• The small business accountant cost guide breaks down annual accounting budgets by business size.
• The LLC tax preparation cost guide explains why the same LLC can cost $200 or $1,300 to file, depending on its tax classification.

This guide is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation. Which points apply, and how, depends on your facts.