Individual tax
A standard return is $300.
You shouldn’t need a discovery call just to find out whether we’re in your budget. That’s why our starting prices are published. If your situation requires something different, we’ll tell you before the work begins.
Published September 5, 2026 for tax year 2026.
On this page
The standard return
Standard, defined line by line.
A standard return is a federal Form 1040 and your Arizona Form 140 as a full-year resident, prepared from complete documents, e-filed, and explained. If you live in another state, one full-year resident state return is included in place of Arizona when it follows the federal return without state-specific credits or adjustments. Otherwise it is priced at the additional-state rate ($125).
- $300
- a standard federal and Arizona return
- 1
- business day, every reply
Included
Income
- Wages on Forms W-2 for you and your spouse, including the 2026 box 12 codes for tips and overtime.
- Interest and dividends on Forms 1099-INT and 1099-DIV, with Schedule B when required and Form 8995 for Section 199A dividends reported by your broker.
- Retirement and Social Security on Forms 1099-R and SSA-1099, including the taxable-benefit computation.
- Unemployment (Form 1099-G) and other income reported on Schedule 1.
Deductions and adjustments
- The federal standard deduction ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household for 2026) and the additional amount for age 65 or blindness, with the Arizona standard deduction on Form 140.
- Schedule 1-A deductions for qualified tips, qualified overtime, and the $6,000 senior deduction, with the matching Arizona subtractions.
- The federal charitable deduction for filers who do not itemize (up to $1,000 single, $2,000 married filing jointly) and Arizona's matching subtraction, with the same caps. Gifts that generate Arizona credits are not deducted federally; the credit is worth more, and we claim it instead.
- Schedule 1 adjustments for student loan interest, educator expenses, and deductible IRA contributions.
Dependents
- Child tax credit and credit for other dependents (Schedule 8812), the earned income credit (Schedule EIC), the Arizona dependent credit, and the due-diligence documentation the IRS requires (Form 8867).
Arizona credits
- Form 301 with the credit forms for your gifts to qualifying charities, foster care organizations, public schools, and school tuition organizations (Forms 321, 352, 322, 323, and 348). Carryforwards are included, and so are gifts made January 1 through April 15, 2027 that you choose to claim on your 2026 return.
Filing and follow-through
- Federal and Arizona e-file after you sign Forms 8879 and AZ-8879. Direct deposit or direct debit set up as you direct.
- Credits and computations that follow from the documents above, including the saver's credit (Form 8880), the underpayment computation (Form 2210), and Form 5695 carryforwards.
- Safe-harbor estimated payment vouchers (Forms 1040-ES and 140ES) when the rules require payments next year.
- A one-page return summary: your refund or balance due, what changed from last year, and what is due and when. It also states what we recommend you decide before next year and at least one tax or process improvement we recommend for next year (your annual opportunity review).
- A 15-minute delivery call on request.
- A response to the first IRS or Arizona notice about this return as we filed it, at no charge.
- Acknowledgment of every upload and question within one business day, and a visible status for your return from receipt to acceptance.
- Daniel McCreary, CPA, is your point of contact from intake to delivery and reviews and signs every return.
- If an IRS or Arizona notice results from our error, we correct it at no charge and pay any penalty our error caused.
Not in the standard return
- Itemized deductions
- Investment sales
- A home sale
- Rental property
- Self-employment or business income
- K-1s
- Additional states or a part-year Arizona return
- Dependent care, education, and health savings account forms
- Car loan interest
- Marketplace health insurance
- Foreign accounts
- Prior-year or amended returns
- Documents that need sorting or totaling before we can begin
- Each is priced on our add-on schedule, which we send with your written quote before we begin; the common categories are published below.
What you provide
- Your complete documents through our secure upload by the document deadline
- Answers to our organizer
- Your prior-year return when you are new to us
- Your signature on the e-file forms
- We do not deduct fees from refunds and do not offer refund advances.
Add-ons
What moves the fee, and by how much.
Common add-ons. Each is a separate line on your written quote, so you see your fee before we begin.
| Add-on | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Itemized deductionsSchedule A with the Arizona adjustments | $100 | What this covers, and extrasIf your mortgage interest, taxes, gifts, and medical costs exceed the standard deduction, we itemize on both returns. |
| Investment salesA broker statement with cost basis reported | $125 per brokerage account | What this covers, and extrasAny number of trades. |
| Investment sales, complexMissing basis, employer stock, digital assets, partnership sales | Quoted, from $250 | What this covers, and extrasWe quote after we see the statements. |
| Sale of your homeForm 1099-S | $75 | What this covers, and extrasWe compute your gain and the exclusion from your closing statements. |
| Rental propertySchedule E, from your income and expense summary | $200 first property, $150 each additional | What this covers, and extrasFirst year: +$100 per property. Short-term rental: +$75. Sale of a rental: quoted, from $250. |
| Business activitySchedule C, from your income and expense summary | $250 first business, $200 each additional | What this covers, and extrasWith employees or inventory: +$100. If no summary exists, see the annual write-up. |
| Annual write-upWe total your year from bank and card statements because no summary exists | $450 for one account and up to 300 transactions; $750 for two accounts and up to 600 | What this covers, and extrasApproved before we begin. Quoted above that. |
| K-1sSchedule K-1 from a partnership, S corporation, estate, or trust | $100 each; $0 for any K-1 we prepared | What this covers, and extrasThe $0 is not a discount. We already have the K-1 and the basis schedule; there is no re-work to charge for. |
| K-1s, complexK-1s with basis, passive, or at-risk limits, or nonresident state sourcing | Quoted, from $200 per K-1 | What this covers, and extrasForm 7203 is included when we prepare the entity and maintain the basis schedule. |
| A second stateA second resident or nonresident return | $125 for a single-source return; $200 when you moved during the year or earned income in more than one state | What this covers, and extrasArizona part-year or nonresident form in place of Form 140: +$75. City returns: $75 each. |
Other federal forms (dependent care, education credits, HSA, IRA basis, marketplace health insurance, car loan interest, and similar): $50 each; household employee (Schedule H): $100.
A price marked “from” is the published starting point for the scope beside it, fixed in your written quote before work begins. A price without “from” is the price.
The process
From your first upload to an accepted return.
Four moments between your first upload and an accepted return. Each names what happens, what we need from you, and the fee decision made there.
Intake
You receive a simple organizer, a secure upload route, visible status, and a firm document deadline.
The feeNothing yet. The standard return is $300; the schedule above shows what your documents would add.
File complete
, Your written quoteYour file is complete when every item on your organizer has arrived and we have confirmed it. Files complete by Friday, March 12, 2027 will be ready for your signature by April 8 and e-filed by April 15 once you sign. We will tell you within one business day of your last upload whether your file is complete or what is missing.
The feeAfter you upload your documents, we send a written quote: the standard return plus each add-on your documents trigger. That quote is your fee unless something new arrives. If it does, we tell you what changed and what it costs before we continue.
Signature
We explain your refund or balance due, key changes, deadlines, and planning opportunities in plain language.
The feeWe confirm your fee from this schedule before we start. Your fee is due when we deliver your return for signature, before e-file. Card or bank transfer. We do not deduct fees from refunds.
A document that arrives after we deliver your draft reopens the return: $50. After e-file, the amended-return fee applies instead.
E-file and acceptance
Federal and Arizona e-file after you sign Forms 8879 and AZ-8879. Direct deposit or direct debit set up as you direct. Every upload and message is acknowledged within one business day, even when the answer takes longer. If anything delays your return, we tell you early, name the impact, and give you the revised date.
The feeA document that arrives after e-file means an amended return: from $400 for a return we prepared. If the change corrects our error: no charge.
Open a step to read it.
MCR Tax & Advisory
No mystery pricing.
Fit
Not every return is ours to prepare.
Who this is for
We fit clients who value clean records and direct recommendations, respond to document requests, and want a defined scope for a stated fee.
Who this is not for
- Work that requires a position we cannot support with the law and the facts
- Records we are asked not to substantiate
- Documentation the law requires that is not available
- Timelines we cannot meet at our standard
How we tell you
Some returns and industries sit outside our practice this year; we say so at the introductory call and, where we can, name someone who may fit. When our season roster is full, we say so and offer the next available slot.
Next step
Know where you stand.
An introductory call covers your situation, the scope we recommend, and what happens next. We reply to every inquiry within one business day.