the 2026 filing season will have an increasingly uneven pricing structure.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
top-priced tax practices are driving typical annual client fees toward $3,000 and above this year, according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer survey, underscoring how rising costs are pressuring most firms even as a smaller group gains pricing power through scale, selectivity, and tighter engagement control.
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one cpa respondent put it bluntly: “we are raising rates again this year. some clients will leave. that’s fine. we can’t keep doing $400 returns when staff wages keep rising.” another practitioner described a more selective approach: “we didn’t raise everyone equally. we raised prices where the work was painful and left simpler clients mostly alone.”
the u.s. tax preparation market is entering the 2026 filing season with an increasingly uneven pricing structure. national fee benchmarks show a steady upward movement, while practitioner survey data reveal that the profession is still anchored, at the median, to relatively low-dollar client relationships. together, the two views capture a market in transition—one in which pricing ambition is rising faster than pricing reality.
the contrast is stark when the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer, a practitioner sentiment and operations survey, is read alongside the national association of tax professionals’ 2025 fee study, which documents posted and benchmarked prices across a wide range of return types and engagement structures. the natp data shows where prices should be, based on complexity, credentials, and market norms. the barometer shows where prices actually are, once legacy clients, volume economics, and pricing friction are factored in.
what practitioners say they actually charge
the busy season barometer, which collects responses from accounting firms nationwide, reports a median annual fee of $1,263 per client. skewing toward the low end, 63.6% report a typical client paying less than $1,500 per year, 16.4% report $1,500 to $2,999, 10.9% report $3,000 to $4,999, and 9.1% report $5,000 or more. the results suggest a market where the average client relationship is priced significantly below the headline figures often cited in national fee studies. that gap is not theoretical. it reflects the weight of long-standing client bases, bundled services, negotiated discounts, and the practical limits of what many firms believe their clients will tolerate—even as costs rise.
volume remains the economic counterweight.
client volume helps explain why median pricing remains modest. in the barometer, the median firm handles 463 total clients, combining individual, business, and nonprofit returns. many firms report far larger books, with some managing well over 1,000 clients.
the findings cut against a simplistic “boutique vs. mass market” narrative. in practice, many firms appear to be running hybrid models, maintaining scale while selectively increasing prices where complexity, staffing pressure, or risk justifies it.
pricing anxiety is widespread—and persistent.
if pricing discipline were fully established, concern would be receding. it is not.
in the barometer survey, 38.7% of all respondents indicate that pricing and billing rates are one of their primary concerns heading into the season. that anxiety shows up repeatedly in open-ended responses, often tied directly to staffing costs and workload strain. rather than uniform price increases, many respondents describe installing or raising minimum fees, declining low-margin cleanup work, and allowing price-sensitive clients to self-select out. the result is incremental economic rebalancing rather than a wholesale reset.
what the natp benchmarks show
the natp 2025 fee study paints a different—and complementary—picture.
according to natp’s national benchmarks, a basic form 1040 with common schedules now routinely exceeds $300. business returns frequently range from $800 to $2,500, depending on complexity. hourly rates for cpas and enrolled agents typically range from $150 to $400. and, minimum fees are increasingly standard, especially for new clients.
the natp suggests pricing discipline is strengthening, with firms responding rationally to inflation, labor shortages, and growing compliance complexity. yet benchmarks reflect posted or recommended pricing—not necessarily what firms collect across their entire client base.
the gap between aspiration and reality
read together, the two studies highlight a widening gap. natp data answers the question: what should firms charge for this work? the busy season barometer answers a harder one: what does the average client actually pay? as of today, the median answer to that second question remains closer to $1,200 than $3,000.
the divergence does not suggest that firms are ignoring benchmarks. instead, it highlights the difficulty is moving an entire book of business up the pricing curve. many firms appear to be navigating that shift client by client—raising fees where complexity, risk, or staffing pressure demand it, while maintaining lower pricing for simpler or long-standing relationships.
ai enters the pricing conversation.
artificial intelligence has begun to influence pricing strategy—but unevenly. ai optimism rises directionally with pricing tiers. firms reporting higher typical fees are more likely to see ai as a lever inside tax work itself, rather than merely a back-office efficiency tool.
the implication is subtle but important. higher-priced firms appear more likely to view ai as a way to protect professional time, reduce rework, and support pricing discipline. lower-priced, high-volume firms appear more cautious, possibly because efficiency gains alone do not solve client resistance to fee increases.
a profession in the middle of the shift
the combined picture that emerges from the natp benchmarks and the busy season barometer is not one of uniform repricing, but of segmentation.
at one end of the market, a growing group of firms is pushing typical annual client fees toward $3,000 and beyond, supported by minimum fees, selective client acceptance, and tighter scope control. at the other end, many firms remain dependent on volume, legacy pricing, and incremental adjustments.
between them lies the bulk of the profession, with firms raising prices cautiously, experimenting with minimums, absorbing some client attrition, and deciding, often in real time, how much pricing friction they can afford.
for now, the median numbers remain restrained. tax prep pricing today is less about inflation alone and more about which firms are willing and able to enforce the economics their benchmarks already assume.
one response to “outlook 2026: higher tax prices, rising strains, and a widening gap among firms”
frank stitely
the key to improving pricing is new client acquisition. that allows firms to continue growing while getting rid of low-paying clients. firms who don’t have much new client acquisition find there are limits to raising prices on an existing client base.