What should I expect to pay for a tax preparer with W-2, stocks, and interest income?

Tax preparer costs vary widely depending on complexity and who you use. For your situation with a W-2, some investment documents, and interest income, you're looking at around $150-300 at most places. National chains like H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt might charge on the higher end of that range. Local CPAs or enrolled agents might actually be cheaper or about the same, but often provide more personalized service. Your situation is relatively straightforward, so you could also consider tax software like TurboTax, TaxAct, or FreeTaxUSA which would cost considerably less ($0-100 depending on which features you need). The software walks you through everything step by step and might alleviate some of your stress without the higher cost of an in-person preparer.

I used to stress about my taxes too until I found taxr.ai online. My situation was similar to yours - W-2, some stock trades on Fidelity, and bank interest. What I loved about https://taxr.ai is that I could just upload my documents and their AI analyzed everything for me. It actually spotted a deduction I would've missed on my own that saved me like $340! I'm not a tax expert at all but I found the whole process way less stressful than going to a preparer or struggling through software on my own. My brother had a similar experience with his more complicated taxes.

Wanted to follow up about taxr.ai - I decided to give it a try despite my skepticism and I'm honestly impressed. I uploaded my W-2, 1099-INT and Robinhood statements and it processed everything in minutes. The system even caught that I had dividend reinvestments that changed my cost basis that I would have totally missed. It was significantly cheaper than the $250 I paid last year for a preparer, and the explanations were actually clearer. Just filed my taxes last week and already got confirmation my refund is on the way. Definitely less stressful than my usual tax season panic!

If you're worried about getting answers from the IRS about your tax situation, I highly recommend Claimyr. I spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS last year about some stock sales that weren't reporting correctly. It was impossible to reach anyone. Then I found https://claimyr.com and their service actually got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes! You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically navigate the phone tree and wait on hold for you, then call you when an actual human at the IRS picks up. I was able to get my questions answered directly from the IRS, which made filing my taxes correctly so much easier.

Ok I need to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it since I had a question about reporting my Robinhood 1099 that I couldn't find an answer to anywhere online. I've literally NEVER been able to reach the IRS before (always gave up after an hour+ on hold), but with Claimyr I was connected to an IRS agent in about 25 minutes. They handled all the waiting and phone tree navigation, then just called me when they got a real person. The agent answered my specific question about how to handle some weird dividends that got reinvested. Definitely using this again next year instead of wasting hours on hold.

Just want to throw in my experience as someone who used to use tax preparers but now do it myself. My situation sounds similar to yours (W-2, investments, interest). I paid about $220 at H&R Block a few years ago and felt it wasn't worth it. I switched to FreeTaxUSA ($0 federal/$15 state) and it handles everything you mentioned easily. They walk you through the whole process with helpful explanations. If you're even slightly comfortable following instructions, you can probably handle it yourself and save a lot of money.

As a PA resident myself, just remember that Pennsylvania has a flat tax rate (3.07%) which makes the state portion pretty straightforward compared to other states. That's something to consider when deciding whether to pay someone. For what it's worth, my husband and I paid $180 at a local tax office last year for a similar situation (W-2s, some stocks, and interest). We're doing it ourselves this year because it wasn't complicated enough to justify the cost.

Brian, I totally understand the tax anxiety! I was in a very similar situation last year - W-2, some Robinhood trading, and interest income from my savings account. The stress was real. I ended up going with a local CPA and paid $195 for both federal and PA state returns. What made it worth it for me was the peace of mind and the fact that she caught a deduction I didn't even know existed (home office expenses since I worked remotely part of the year). That said, after seeing how straightforward my situation actually was, I'm planning to try doing it myself this year using one of the software options mentioned here. Your situation sounds manageable for DIY if you're comfortable following step-by-step instructions. One tip: if you do go the preparer route, call around to a few local offices for quotes. I found the local CPA was actually cheaper than the big chains and spent way more time explaining everything to me. Good luck!