Tammy Kissinger’s tax form is what one could call pretty simple.

She doesn’t have complicated deductions or peculiar sources of income. She just makes her modest wage and claims herself and her two children as deductions.

In the past, Kissinger had gone to Connie Wells, an accountant on Calhoun Street, to get her taxes done, but Wells died a couple of years ago. Since then, Kissinger, who works long hours and doesn’t have a computer to do the taxes herself, has used storefront tax preparation services.

For people like Kissinger, it’s not necessary to even hire someone to do their taxes. Low- to modest-income people can get their returns done for free at any number of places, including libraries and community centers, or they can use a library computer to do the taxes themselves.

Because Kissinger worked until the evening, though, she was unable to take advantage of some of those free services. She could have gone to the library and filed her return herself using software that is free online, but that would have involved reserving a computer and being able to complete her work within an hour.

So last month she took her W-2 and other documents to a storefront shop on Calhoun Street and asked what it cost to get her taxes done. She says she was told it was $138, so she went ahead and had her taxes done. It took about 15 minutes, she said.

Because Kissinger didn’t pay for the preparation up front, her refund was sent to the preparer, which then subtracted its fees and deposited the rest in Kissinger’s bank account.

When Kissinger looked at her refund, though, she was shocked to see it was far smaller than she had expected and that she’d been charged far more than she was originally told.

Kissinger said she went to the tax preparer to complain, but she says she was told that everyone knows what the fees will be when they leave. She was told her total preparation fees were $661.

It was only then, Kissinger says, that she got an accounting of the charges:

$20 check fee

$39 account processing fee

$24.95 technology fee

$19.90 refund estimate fee

$277 tax preparation fee

$59 for e-filing

$81 for bank documents

$17 transmission fee

$100 for something called a service bureau fee

That, however, adds up to $531, not the $661 Kissinger claims.

But there is even more confusion. The form Kissinger was given shows she was getting a total of $6,778 in federal and state refunds, but she says she got only $6,056 in her bank account. That would suggest she actually paid as much as $722.

Regardless, the tax preparation fees were pretty steep for what Kissinger says was just a few minutes of work.

Kissinger knows that in her case what’s done is done. But it serves as a bit of advice for others, she says. People should get in writing in advance what preparation fees will be.

I talked to the Indiana Attorney General’s Office about Kissinger’s experience. I was told the office gets few complaints about tax preparers. If a person feels she has been deceived by a tax preparer, though, she could file a complaint with the attorney general.

“It’s important for people to ask questions,” said Abigail Kuzma, head of the consumer protection division with the attorney general. “It’s important to shop around, just like anything else.”

There are little traps that people can find themselves in, Kuzma said. One is understanding what a rapid refund is. In some cases, that can be what amounts to a short-term loan with fees and high interest rates.

That’s particularly dangerous if a person’s tax refund is attached by the state because, say, the taxpayer is behind on child support or some other obligation. A person could end up owing the tax preparer the entire instant refund plus interest.

Kuzma recommends checking out tax preparers with the Better Business Bureau or Angie’s List and offers a reminder that people of moderate income can usually get their taxes done for free. There is a program called VITA, or Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, and the locations where one can get help are available by calling 211.