For most people, the IRS now has all the information it needs to estimate how much you owe in taxes, or how much of a refund you are due. So why is the burden on you to tell the federal government this same information? It may have something to do with the millions of dollars that H&R Block, Intuit (maker of TurboTax), and others have spent lobbying to maintain their exclusive arrangement with the IRS. [More]
H&R Block
Sen. Elizabeth Warren Proposes Requiring That IRS Offer Free Tax Filing & Prep Services
By 4.13.16
With the clock officially ticking down on the 2016 tax season, lawmakers are already looking for ways to simplify the process next year by introducing legislation that would, among other things, develop a free, online tax preparation and filing service that taxpayers can use to prepare and file their taxes directly with the federal government. [More]
Tax Software Uses Surge Pricing, Takes Advantage Of Later Filers
By 3.15.16
One of the many innovations that ride-hailing service Uber has given the world is that it popularized the phrase “surge pricing,” which means raising the price for something as demand for it goes up. Lots of industries do this, but filing taxes is something that everyone has to do. [More]
CFPB, Navajo Nation Team Up To Put An End To Tax Scheme Targeting Low-Income Consumers
By 4.14.15
For many low-income consumers, tax time provides an opportunity to catch up on bills and get back on track financially. Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous companies out there that aim to make money of these same consumers by pointing them in the direction of high-cost tax-refund-anticipation loans. That appears to be the case for the owner of New Mexico-based H&R Block franchises and a tax-time loan company operating an alleged illegal tax-refund scheme. [More]
H&R Block Will E-Mail Your Tax Info To Just Anyone
By 2.24.15
Tax returns contain some pretty sensitive information. You would think that when a tax preparer collects your e-mail address, they might verify to make sure that it is your correct e-mail address. If that’s your assumption, clearly you are not H&R Block, which doesn’t particularly care whether they’re sending your personal information to you or not. [More]
H&R Block Sending $25 To Customers Impacted By Filing Delay
By 4.25.13
Last month the Internal Revenue Service said H&R Block had bungled over 600,000 tax returns, potentially causing refund delays for those customers. The tax preparation firm says to make up for that glitch, it’ll be sending out $25 gift cards to any customers who filed their taxes at company-owned H&R Block locations and were impacted by the processing delay. [More]
IRS: H&R Block Causing Refund Delays After Bungling 600,000 Tax Returns
By 3.12.13
Many of us find the Internal Revenue Service’s income tax return pretty darn difficult to figure out, which is why companies like H&R Block exist — ostensibly, to help customers maneuver the complicated forms and get them a nice tax refund if possible. But it seems H&R finds those forms confusing, too. [More]
No More Refund Anticipation Loans After This Tax Season
By 2.29.12
We’ve been warning people for years to steer clear of the “refund anticipation loans” that get you your tax refund ASAP but at the cost of usurious interest rates and fees. And between growing consumer awareness that RALs are a bad deal and the bigger banks dropping out of the business, only one bank has been backing the loans — and that’s all about to end. [More]
H&R Block Goofs On My Tax Return, Won't Honor Guarantee To Reimburse Me After IRS Audit
By 9.23.11
Bambi has been getting her taxes done by H&R Block for decades with no problem. But when a recent audit turned up a small error that required Bambi pay $725 in additional taxes, folks at the tax-preparation service seemed to go out of its way, including telling her complete falsehoods about why her claim was being denied, to not make good on its guarantee to reimburse her for the $725. [More]
Jackson Hewitt Sues H&R Block Over "Trash Talk"
By 2.1.11
It probably goes without saying that I love a good cat fight, that’s why I’m licking my paws and purring with delight over the news that Jackson Hewitt has bared its claws to take on the biggest feline of them all, H&R Block. [More]
H&R Block Revives AOL Business Plan, Blankets Nation With Unwanted CDs
By 1.26.11
If you had a pulse and/or a mailbox in the ’90s, you received some AOL disks in the mail. They promoted a free trial, but everyone knows their real purpose: to have their labels peeled off and to be used for file storage. AOL eventually switched to read-only CDs, then switched to total irrelevance. But their familiar promotional tactic is back: adopted by tax preparers H&R Block to distribute their income tax software. [More]
H&R Block's Virtual Operators Have Feelings Too
By 3.24.10
Consumerist reader Kevin had done his taxes online through H&R Block, but when he found out he might have accidentally included something he shouldn’t have, he turned to the site’s automated answering system for help. And when the discussion got a bit heated, well… let’s just say that H&R Block’s artificial intelligence has some very real emotional responses. [More]
H&R Block Upsells Tax Service, But Won't Downgrade
By 2.13.10
Tax Cat here with a reminder about using a free service to prepare your taxes. Beware sneaky upsells on “free” tax preparation options for people with simple tax returns. We’ve already seen a Consumerist reader get charged for this unawares with TurboTax, and now reader Shane reports that If you miss an option on H&R Block’s form, you’ll be paying extra for access to your own data. [More]
IRS Opens Can Of Whoopass On Paid Tax Preparers
By 1.4.10
Tax Cat here! Calling it a “game changing event for the tax system”, the IRS announced in a press conference call, that they invited me, a tax cat, to that they’re launching 6 sweeping regulatory reforms to clean up the paid tax prep industry. The IRS is not naming names but I’m growling at you, H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. Numero uno: [More]
H&R Block's Refund Anticipation Loan Card Eats Your Refund
By 3.28.09
Poor Sam didn’t take our advice. He let H&R Block do his taxes and then took out a refund anticipation loan. The money, which was deposited on an H&R Block Emerald Card, is now tied up by several inexplicable holds for transactions he didn’t make. The companies supposedly holding the funds have no clue who Sam is, or why they’d be holding his money. H&R Block’s only response is to charge Sam $2 whenever he calls their customer service line for help.
H&R Block Screwup Costs You $10,000
By 3.15.09
Last year H&R Block told the IRS that reader Tuyen made $33,000 in charitable donations. Tuyen, who earns $60,000 per year, collected a huge rebate, but when he returned to H&R Block this year, he learned that thanks to the screwup he now owes the IRS $10,000 in back taxes.
By 2.10.09
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H&R Block now has a Twitter account. You can send your problems/mundane wisps of reality their way via @hrblock .
H&R Block Offering $100 Coupons Or Free Software To Same-Sex Couples Who Were Denied Online Service
By 7.17.08
It’s too late for this year’s tax season (unless you’re doing it wrong), but H&R has issued an apology of sorts by announcing it will give a $100 coupon or free TaxCut software to gay couples who were shut out of their online programs this year due to a programming oversight. Don’t expect to take advantage of the offer if you were turned away online and went elsewhere, though—the offer is only good for “civil union, domestic and same sex partner clients, who started with TaxCut online and then completed their returns in one of our retail offices.” If you fit that requirement, you can request the coupon or software here.
