California tax preparation
Your taxes, done by a real person. One flat price.
Upload your W-2 and see your price before you pay. A CTEC-registered preparer files your federal and California returns.
Every return is prepared and signed by a CTEC-registered preparer.
Taxes, made simpleFiling taxes shouldn’t feel like a test. Here’s how we do it: one flat price, a real person, and nothing hidden.
From $99
Flat price, shown before you pay
Fed + CA
Both returns in one price
60 hours
Tax education CTEC requires of every preparer
$5,000
The surety bond CTEC requires
Price check
See your price in 20 seconds.
Three questions and you see what your return costs. No account, no documents, and you decide after you see it.
Every price includes
Receipt
- Federal returnIncluded
- California returnIncluded
- E-file and your copyIncluded
- Preparer signature and PTINIncluded
- Questions by text or phoneIncluded
Price check
No sign-up, no documents
01Were you paid on a W-2?
Most employees get one in January.
02Dependents or credits?
Kids, child tax credit, earned income credit.
03Side income, rentals or investments?
1099s, rental property, stocks or crypto.
Your price
$ – –
Answer the three questions and your flat price prints here.
Plans
One price for your return.
Draft prices for review. Federal and California are always included, and the price you are quoted is the price you pay.
Simple
$99per return
One W-2 and the standard deduction.
- Federal and California returns
- Prepared and signed by a CTEC-registered preparer
- Secure document upload and e-signature
- E-filing and a copy for your records
- Most common
Plus
$149per return
Dependents, child tax credit, earned income credit or head of household.
- Everything in Simple
- Credits and dependents checked line by line
- Questions answered by text or phone
- A second look before we file
Everything else
Customquoted first
Side income, rentals, investments or a small business.
- Everything in Plus
- You see the price before we start
- Quoted after we read your documents
Upgrades on the way
Add them to any plan once they launch.
- Coming soon
AI tax assistant
Ask questions about your return in plain language, any hour. Your preparer still signs the return.
- Coming soon
Letter help
Got a notice from the IRS or FTB? We help you read it and plan a reply.
- Coming soon
Priority preparation
Move to the front of the line when your documents are in.
Coming soon
Ask your return anything, any hour.
An assistant that knows your return and explains it in plain words. Your preparer still reviews and signs every return.
Explains every line
What each number means and where it came from.
Answers in seconds
Day or night, without waiting for a call back.
Hands off to a person
Anything tricky goes straight to your preparer.
Tax assistant
Preview of a feature in development
Tax was taken out of every paycheck. Why would I get a refund?
Your employer withholds tax all year as an estimate. When we file, we compare what was withheld with what you actually owe. If more was withheld than you owe, the difference comes back to you as a refund.
What does head of household mean?
It is a filing status for unmarried people who pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for a qualifying person, like a child. It usually comes with a bigger standard deduction than filing single.
The honest version
Free software, or a flat price and a person?
TurboTax’s own site says roughly 37% of taxpayers are eligible for its free edition (turbotax.intuit.com). Everyone else starts free and gets asked to upgrade once something changes.
Free software
Works when your year is simple
- One W-2 and the standard deduction
- You are fine clicking through it alone
- Nothing changes partway through
QuoteMoto Tax
Fits when you want it checked
- You have kids or claim credits
- You want someone to check it before it is filed
- You want the price before you start
- A side gig or a 1099 showed up this year
Rentals, a business, more than one state, or an IRS or FTB notice? Send us what you have and we will tell you straight if we are the right fit yet.
Who prepares your return
What CTEC registration takes.
Every return is prepared and signed by a CTEC-registered tax preparer, with their IRS preparer number (PTIN) on it.
60 hours of tax education
Federal and California tax law, from a CTEC-approved provider, finished before registering.
Background check
Fingerprints go to the California Department of Justice.
$5,000 surety bond
Required by California for every registered preparer.
Look up any preparer
CTEC keeps a public Verify a Tax Preparer page.
Questions
Straight answers.
Is the price final?
For the Simple and Plus plans, yes. If your documents show something that changes the return, we tell you the new price before we go further and you decide whether to continue.
Do I need to come in?
No. You upload, review and sign online, from your phone if you like.
Does this touch my insurance quote?
No. Your tax documents stay with your return. They are not added to any insurance quote request, and we do not use them to market insurance to you.
What if I get a letter from the IRS or California later?
Send it to us and we will explain what it says and what your options are. We do not offer audit representation yet.
What does CTEC-registered mean?
California requires paid tax preparers to finish 60 hours of tax education, pass a background check and carry a $5,000 bond, then register with the California Tax Education Council. Attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents are exempt from that registration.
When can I file?
The IRS opens e-filing in late January, and most W-2s arrive by January 31. Join the early list and we’ll reach out when we start preparing returns.
Tax season early list
Filing opens in January. Get on the list.
Leave your name and how to reach you. When the IRS opens e-filing, we reach out and you see your price before anything else.
- NowSave your spot. Nothing to pay, nothing to upload.
- JanuaryW-2s arrive by January 31. We send you the secure upload link.
- Filing opensWe prepare your return, you review and sign, and we e-file.
Tax preparation is a separate service from QuoteMoto’s insurance comparison.