Simple return
W-2 income, the standard deduction, no dependents or a straightforward one.
from$245
- Federal 1040
- PA-40
- Local earned income tax return
Fairhaven Ledger Co. · Brookline, Pittsburgh
Tax preparation in Pittsburgh, with your local return in the same price.
Your federal return, your PA-40 and your local earned income tax return, prepared by one named preparer in one office on Brookline Boulevard. You see the price before we start, and you sit with us before you sign.
W-2From your employerReady
PA-40Pennsylvania returnFiled
Local EITEarned income tax, Jordan Tax ServiceFiled
1099-NECSide incomeReady
Why one sit-down
Most households in Pittsburgh file three returns every spring: one to the IRS, one to Harrisburg and one to the local collector. Software does the first two and leaves the third to you. We do all three at the same table, from the same papers, so the numbers agree, the credits carry across, and nothing arrives in May asking why.
How a return moves
Five steps, and you only climb the first one.
Most people put their taxes off because the whole thing looks steep from the bottom. It is not, once it is broken into steps and someone else carries the heavy ones.
- Step 1
Book the sit-down
Thirty minutes, at the office on Brookline Boulevard or by video. Bring last year's return and we tell you your price in writing before you leave.
- Step 2
Gather with a checklist
You get a short list built from last year's return, not a generic one: the W-2s, the 1099s, the daycare receipts, the form from Jordan Tax Service.
- Step 3
We prepare all three
Your preparer does the federal, the PA-40 and the local return together, so the income, the credits and the withholding line up across all of them.
- Step 4
Review it together
Before anything is filed you sit with your preparer and go through what changed from last year and why. Nothing is signed until it makes sense to you.
- Step 5
File and keep copies
We e-file what can be e-filed, send you a full copy, and keep ours. If a letter arrives later, you bring it to the person who did the return.
Which year are you having?
Six situations we see every season, each with its own page.
Pick the one that sounds like your year. Every return includes the federal, the PA-40 and the local return, and every price is published on the pricing page.
01 of 6
Self-employed and side income
Schedule C, 1099-NEC and 1099-K sorted, with next year's quarterly estimates set up.
From $575 illustrative
See how it works
02 of 6
Families
Dependents, child care and education credits, PA Tax Forgiveness and the Working PA credit.
From $395 illustrative
See how it works
03 of 6
Retirees
Social Security, pensions and IRA withdrawals, and the rent or property tax rebate filed with it.
From $245 illustrative
See how it works
04 of 6
Amended and prior-year returns
A missed credit claimed, a wrong form fixed, back years filed in order.
From $225 illustrative
See how it works
05 of 6
Notice help
A letter from the IRS, Harrisburg or the local collector, read, explained and answered.
From $165 illustrative
See how it works
06 of 6
Local tax returns
Your Pittsburgh earned income tax return filed with the rest, plus the LST refund if you are owed one.
From $245 illustrative
See how it worksWho we help
Kitchen tables all over the South Hills.
Households above the free-filing income range with more than one moving part: two jobs, a side business, a new baby, a first year of retirement, a year that never got filed, or a letter nobody wants to open.
Families
Dependents, daycare, a kid off to college, and every credit with its own rule.
Freelancers and side income
A 1099, a shoebox of receipts and an April bill nobody warned you about.
Retirees
The first year of a pension, and the rent or property tax rebate filed with it.
Catching up
A missed credit, a late 1099, or a year you never got round to filing.
In numbers
A few figures worth knowing before April.
3
Returns in every price: federal, PA-40 and your local earned income tax return.
$52
The yearly Local Services Tax. Earn under $12,000 from all sources and you can ask for it back; we file that request for you.
1,400+
Returns our three preparers file in a season. Illustrative figure for a concept site.
Prices, published
Three returns, one price, in writing.
The federal, the PA-40 and the local return are in every tier. The rent or property tax rebate application and the LST refund request come at no extra charge. Illustrative prices for a concept site.
Most households
Family or itemized
Dependents, child care, education credits, a home, or itemized deductions.
from$395
- Everything in Simple
- Dependent and child care credits
- PA Tax Forgiveness checked
Self-employed
A business or side income on Schedule C, 1099-NEC or 1099-K.
from$575
- Everything in Family
- One Schedule C (each extra $125)
- PA Schedule C and local business income
The preparers
Three names, and one of them is yours all season.
The preparer at your sit-down is the preparer who does your return and the one who answers when you call in July.
Claire Dunmore
Founder and Senior Preparer
Leads family returns and notice help. Writes the Tax Forgiveness guide.
Elliot Varga
Senior Preparer
Leads self-employed and side-income returns and local returns. Writes the earned income tax guide.
Hannah Mehta
Tax Preparer
Leads retiree returns and amended and prior-year returns.
A composite story
The year the local bill stopped arriving.
A couple in Beechview, two jobs, one of them in Mt. Lebanon. For three springs running, a letter arrived from the local collector in early summer with a balance due. Each year they paid it and wondered what they had done wrong.
At the sit-down we found the answer in ten minutes: one employer had been withholding the wrong local rate for a City resident. We filed the local return with the federal and the PA-40, set up a corrected withholding form for the employer, and answered the last letter with them through notice help.
The next spring there was no letter. Illustrative composite; not a real client.
Illustrative composite. Not a client; no real household or figures.
Before you book
Questions people ask before they book
Something else? Call (412) 555-0163 and a preparer will answer.
What should I bring to the sit-down?
Last year's return is the most useful thing you can bring, federal, PA and local if you have them. From that we build your checklist for this year. If you are coming about a letter, bring the letter and the return it refers to.
How long does it take?
The sit-down is thirty minutes. Once we have your papers, most returns are ready to review within ten working days in February and March, a little longer in the final two weeks of the season. Self-employed returns can take longer the first year.
Do you really do my local return too?
Yes, on every return. Pittsburgh residents owe a 3% earned income tax, 1% to the City and 2% to the school district, collected by Jordan Tax Service. If you live outside the City we file with your own municipality and school district. See local tax returns.
Should I use a free program instead?
If your income is within the VITA or AARP Tax-Aide range and your return is simple, those programs are good and free; call 211 to find a site. We are a fit when there is more than one moving part, and our prices are published so you can compare. Retirees get the Pennsylvania rebate application filed with the return at no extra charge.
Can you promise me a bigger refund?
No, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Your refund depends on your income, your withholding and the credits you qualify for. What we promise is that we check every credit your situation allows, including the ones on the family return people most often miss.
Can we do it all by video?
Yes. Many clients never come in: you upload your papers through a secure link, the sit-down and the review happen by video, and you sign electronically. The price is the same.
Next step
Take the first step this week.
Book a 30-minute sit-down online or call. A preparer looks at last year's return with you, tells you what to gather and gives you the price before any work starts.