W-2

Is it worth paying someone to do my taxes?

Free software isn't free if your evening costs $600. The honest math on doing it yourself, the few cases where you should, and the mistakes that cost high earners money.

Updated October 2026 · 6 min read

You're good at your job, you make good money, and every spring you lose a weekend to a tax interview that asks you the same forty questions as last year. Whether that's worth it is a math problem, and most people never actually do the math.

The real cost of doing it yourself

Add up three things, not one:

• –Your time. A W-2 return with a stock sale, a 401(k), and some interest takes most people 3 to 5 hours once you count finding the forms, logging into every brokerage, and second-guessing the screens. At $200 an hour, that's $600 to $1,000.
• –The software. The free tier stops at the simple return. Stock sales, rental income, or a second state each move you up a tier, and the state return is usually its own charge. $100 to $250 is common for this kind of return.
• –The mistakes. This is the line nobody budgets for, and for high earners it is often the biggest one. The next section covers the usual ones.

Next to that, a flat-fee tool that reads your documents and does the math for you is often the cheaper option, not the luxury one.

The mistakes that cost high earners money

• –Paying tax twice on stock compensation. When RSUs vest or you sell ESPP shares, the income is already on your W-2. The 1099-B from the broker often shows a cost basis of $0, and software that trusts it taxes the same dollars again.
• –Getting surprised by a balance due. Bonuses and RSU vests are usually withheld at a flat 22%, but at $240,000 of salary you're in the 32% bracket for 2025. Our guide on why W-2 employees owe explains the gap.
• –Missing the Additional Medicare Tax. It's 0.9% on wages over $200,000 single or $250,000 married filing jointly. Two earners making $150,000 each owe it, and neither employer withholds a cent of it.
• –Missing the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax. It applies to investment income once your income is over the same $200,000 / $250,000 lines, so your first big stock sale can trigger it.
• –Contributing to a Roth IRA over the income limit. The IRS charges 6% a year on the excess until you fix it.

When doing it yourself is the right call

Be honest with yourself here. If you had one W-2, no stock sales, no side income, and you take the standard deduction, your return is simple. IRS Free File (if your income is under its limit) or a low-cost tool like FreeTaxUSA will do it well, and paying anyone is a waste. The math above only flips once your year gets more complicated.

What to look for if you hand it over

1. 01A price you know up front. Hourly billing and per-form pricing is how a $200 return becomes $700.
2. 02You see the finished return before you pay. Every line, refund or balance included.
3. 03Every number shows its source. You should be able to check where each line came from before you sign.
4. 04You don't type your W-2. Uploading the document should be the whole job.