How Long Does It Take To Prepare Taxes?

Most people spend about 13 hours preparing one year’s tax return. That is the IRS’s own estimate, not ours. A simple return with one W-2 and the standard deduction can be done in an hour or two. A self-employed return with a Schedule C runs far longer, and a small business return longer still. So the real answer to how long it takes to prepare taxes is that it depends on what sits on your return and how organized your records are before you start. The gap between a 2-hour return and a 20-hour one is mostly paperwork, not math.

How long does it take to prepare taxes? The IRS estimates the average filer spends about 13 hours per return: roughly 9 hours for people with no business income and about 24 hours for those who have it. Simple W-2 returns take a few hours. Business returns and back taxes take the most.

We handle the returns most people dread, the late ones and the ones tied to an IRS notice. So the times below are what we see in practice, not a sales pitch that everything is quick.

How long does it take to prepare taxes on average in 2026?

For a single current-year return, plan on a few hours to a full workday, depending on your income sources. The IRS’s Form 1040 instructions put the average taxpayer burden at about 13 hours per return. That figure blends two very different groups: nonbusiness filers at roughly 9 hours and business filers at about 24 hours. It counts recordkeeping and tax planning, not just the time you spend typing numbers into a form.

Here is how that breaks down by the kind of return you are filing.

Return type	What it usually includes	Typical prep time (general estimate)	IRS burden estimate
Simple return	one or two W-2s, standard deduction, no dependents’ extras	1 to 3 hours	about 9 hours (nonbusiness average)
Itemized or homeowner	mortgage interest, property tax, charitable and medical deductions	3 to 6 hours	about 9 hours (nonbusiness average)
Self-employed or 1099	Schedule C, business expenses, quarterly records, home office	6 to 12 hours	about 24 hours (business average)
Small business return	payroll, depreciation, multiple schedules, an S-corp or partnership	12 hours to multiple days	about 24 hours (business average)
Back taxes, several years	reconstructing records for each unfiled year	see the back-taxes section below	not covered by the single-year estimate

The “typical prep time” column is a general estimate for gathering and completing a return once your records are in hand. It is not a promise, and it varies by person. The IRS column is the sourced figure. (Austin & Larson can replace the middle column with its own client averages; see Specifics still needed.)

The 13-hour average hides a wide split

That average feels high to anyone who files a quick W-2 return, and low to anyone who runs a business, because it blends both. Half the country files a plain return in an afternoon. The other half runs a business, and those returns pull the average up.

The other reason it feels off: the IRS counts the whole year of recordkeeping, not just the weekend you sit down to file. Track mileage, sort receipts, or chase a missing 1099 in March, and that clock is running too. People who keep clean records all year land at the low end. People who start from a shoebox land at the high end.

What drives your prep time up

Four things drive your time up, and none of them is the math. First, income sources. One W-2 is fast; add a 1099, rental income, or investment sales and each one brings its own form. Second, itemizing. The standard deduction is quick, while itemizing means gathering and adding a year of receipts. Third, life changes: a marriage, a new baby, a home sale, or a move between states all add schedules. A move between two states means two state returns, not one.

Fourth, and the biggest one we see, missing documents. A return sits half-finished for days because a brokerage 1099 or a K-1 has not arrived. That is not prep time, that is waiting time, and it is why avoiding common filing mistakes starts with a full document list before you open any software.

How long does it take to prepare back taxes or multiple unfiled years?

Longer than most people expect, and for a reason that surprises them. Filing several years of back returns is not “years times 13 hours.” The typing is the fast part. The slow part is reconstructing what you earned and what was withheld for each year, then filing each year on that year’s forms with that year’s rules.

Here is the part the national how-long pages skip. To rebuild income for old years, you pull IRS wage and income transcripts, which report the W-2s and 1099s filed under your Social Security number. The IRS keeps those going back about 10 years. Once transcripts are in hand, preparing each year moves quickly. Getting them, and letting the IRS process the returns after you file, is where the calendar time goes.

The clock that matters most is the refund window. Under the IRS rules on filing past due tax returns, you generally have to file within three years of the original due date to still collect a refund for that year. Miss it and the money is gone, even though you still have to file. If you are years behind, start with the oldest year still inside the three-year refund window.

TDoes hiring a professional make tax prep faster?

Not always, and we would rather be honest about it than win a client who did not need us. For a simple W-2 return with the standard deduction, tax software is usually faster and cheaper than any professional. Hiring out does not drop your time to zero either; it shifts your time from doing the return to gathering documents and answering questions.

A professional is worth it on the returns where mistakes are hard to undo: self-employed filing with a Schedule C, business returns, anything with an IRS notice attached, and back taxes. On those, an experienced preparer is faster than you and less likely to trigger a problem later. If your return is a single W-2, do it yourself.

How can you cut the time it takes to prepare your taxes?

Gather everything before you start, because the wait for a missing form is what stretches prep over days. Pull last year’s return, then check off this year’s documents against it. Most delays come from one late arrival, not from the return itself.

Use this checklist before you open any software or hand anything to a preparer:

• Photo ID and Social Security numbers for everyone on the return
• Last year’s federal and state returns
• All income forms: W-2s, 1099s (NEC, INT, DIV, B, R), K-1s, and Social Security statements
• Deduction records: mortgage interest (1098), property tax, charitable receipts, medical bills, student loan interest
• Business records if self-employed: income totals, expense categories, mileage log, home-office square footage
• Bank details for direct deposit, and any IRS or state letters you received

Keeping records through the year is why filing early is faster, not just less stressful. You are not reconstructing anything; you are confirming it.

Prep time is not refund time

These are two different clocks, and people mix them up. Prep time is the hours it takes to get the return ready to file. Refund time is how long the IRS takes to send your money after you file. The IRS says most e-filed refunds go out within 21 days, while paper returns take longer. Preparing faster does not speed up the refund, and a slow refund does not mean your prep was wrong.

When being behind turns into an IRS problem

If you owe and have not filed, the meter is running, and the failure-to-file penalty is the expensive one. The IRS charges 5% of the unpaid tax per month for filing late, up to 25%, which is ten times the monthly failure-to-pay penalty. That is why we tell people to file even if they cannot pay in full.

Once the returns are filed, the amount you owe sets your options. You may qualify to settle for less through an offer in compromise, spread the balance over a monthly payment plan, or pause collection if paying would leave you unable to cover basic living needs. Preparing the returns is step one; getting help with the IRS problem is where the real timeline gets decided.

So how long does it take to prepare your taxes? A few hours for a clean W-2 return, a workday or more for a business, and a longer, transcript-driven timeline for back taxes. If you are current and organized, do it yourself this weekend. If you are behind, the sooner you start pulling transcripts, the more of your refunds you keep and the fewer penalties stack up. That is the part where a call is worth more than another hour with the software.

FAQs

How long does it take to prepare a simple tax return?

A simple return with one W-2 and the standard deduction usually takes 1 to 3 hours once your documents are in hand. The IRS puts the average for nonbusiness filers at about 9 hours, which includes a year of recordkeeping, not just the time you spend filling out the return.

How long does it take to prepare taxes for a small business?

Plan on 12 hours to multiple days for a small business return. The IRS estimates business filers spend about 24 hours per return, driven by payroll, depreciation, and the extra schedules an S-corp or partnership needs.

How long does it take to prepare back taxes for multiple years?

The prep itself is quick once you have the records. The time goes into pulling IRS wage and income transcripts for each year, filing each year on its own forms, and waiting for the IRS to process them. Order all transcripts at once and prepare the years in parallel to move faster.

How long does it take an accountant to do your taxes?

Your hands-on time drops, but the calendar does not clear. You still spend time gathering documents and answering questions, and the accountant needs a few days to a few weeks in season. A professional pays off most on 1099, business, and back-tax returns, less so on a single W-2.

How far back can you file taxes and still get a refund?

You can file older returns any time, but to collect a refund you generally must file within three years of the original due date. After that the refund is forfeited even though the filing obligation remains, per IRS rules on past-due returns.

How long after filing until you get your refund?

The IRS says most e-filed refunds go out within 21 days, while paper returns take longer. That refund clock is separate from how long it takes to prepare your taxes, so filing faster does not speed up the payment.