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Willy of Thonotosassa FL (04/08/08)
Did you receive a mail from H&R Block that promise you a FREE filing but at the end are asked to pay $14.95? So did I.This is how I got around: call:1-888-482-9288 and explain the situation.You will be asked a few things like how much your gross income was for 2007.If you qualified before(2006),you will qualify again and will get a KEY CODE. Go to the filing page where is asked how to pay the $14.95 and choose KEY CODE(bottom one),then click NEXT. Fill in the KEY CODE and click NEXT.Now you'll see the $14.95 is deducted and the filing is FREE. GOOD LUCK.
Malissa of Hudson CO (02/15/08)
I was sent a FREE copy of H&R Tax Cut in the mail. I decided to try it. I went through the whole process to find out it was going to cost me around $75.00 to file my taxes. I went ahead and did it because I was in dire need of the money and had already spent many hours working on it. Now come to find out that they are holding my tax refund for 2 business days with out any justification other than the fact they want to squeeze some more money out of me by getting interest on as much money as possible. If they are holding everyone's refunds, they are making money on what is rightfully mine. I will never again use H&R Block for anything!
Our mortgage is going to be late because I was checking the website to see when my refund was coming. It said it was available today, and we needed a washer. The whole family has had the flu, and we were without a washing machine; so I bought one because the IRS website said my funds were released. I finally got an email saying H&R Block has my money but won't be giving it to me for a couple of days. The cheating liars!
Susan of Portland ME (01/29/08)
I filed my 2005 and 2006 federal returns through H&R Block's Web site after the IRS decided to no longer provide electronic filing services. The first two years the returns were filed free, since I meet certain income and age guidelines specified by the IRS. For the 2007 return everything went as usual (visited the site, signed in, provided the W-2 information) until just before filing when the site insisted I provide a credit card number or bank account information for a fee of $14.95. Information on the pages stated that if the IRS accepted the return, e-filing was free. At this point I just wanted to get the return filed, and because I knew I met the free filing guidelines didn't think the charge would process so I gave the information. Within about 24-36 hours, I received a message that the IRS had accepted the return. However, Block did process the payment. I backtracked and explored their help topics while trying to find some contact information (which is not provided in their online filing area) and found that they claim that users must visit the site through a specific link provided in an e-mail invitation for free filers.
Well, I didn't receive any such invitation this year, and when I clicked on the link provided on the help page to the free filing topic area, the Web site returned a 404 Not Found error. I tried calling their 888 number but was told by a recorded voice, "We are sorry, but your call cannot be completed at this time," and Block hung up on me. Thereafter I found an e-mail contact form which I filled out (including day and night phone numbers) to demand a refund. According to their site I'll be contacted within 48 hours. It has now been 24 hours and I haven't heard a peep via e-mail or telephone. If I don't receive a refund of this fee, which is at least twice as much as other tax preparers listed on the IRS' providers page, I'm going straight to the state Attorney General, the Better Business Bureau, and the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility.
Block unfairly charged me $14.95 for a tax return that should have been filed free of charge with the IRS. It is clear from information I provided in the return (date of birth and income level) that I meet the IRS guidelines for free e-filing. The way Block's Web site is set up you either provide payment information or you don't file. This is unprofessional and unethical, not to mention possibly unlawful. I wonder how many people who are not as tenacious as I am just hand over the money?
Ravi of Austin TX (01/31/07)
I have used H&R Block's online free file service for the last 3 years. This year, I entered through the IRS.gov free file alliance website as usual, logged in with my existing username, and filled out my return. At the end, before filing, I was told that I had to pay $9.95 for e-filing (this is the price of H&R Block's usual Basic tax e-file product).
After making sure that I did qualify for free filing, I contacted one of H&R Block's online live agents. The agent told me that H&R Block knows that people who have existing accounts can't free file, but that "we don't know when we will fix this problem". His solution was to create a new username and re-enter all of the tax info for this year.
Martin of Chapel Hill NC (05/22/06)
I got to the H&R Block online software through the IRS's website. H&R (and other companies) advertised offering free filing for those earing less than $50000. That was the only condition. After I had entered all of my information into the H&R Block software (which took a long time, because I had a lot of stock trades last year) it said I had to get a paid professional to finish filing. I tried to opt out but my form was locked and I was unable to access it. Since it was the weekend before the tax deadline, I went ahead, because I was worried I wouldn't otherwise have time to complete my taxes.
The financial damage was $179 (the initial estimate was $119), even though I had entered all information. Also, the incompetent H&R agent screwed up two forms, before my taxes could be filed. I ended up spending 2 days calling H&R and getting the problems rectified. Additionally, I had a $20 coupon, which also could not be applied, even though it was valid (and H&R admitted it was valid).
Chris of New London CT (02/02/06)
I used their "free" file service this year linked to from the IRS website. This is the third year in a row I have used their free service and I have never had a problem with it before. At the beginning of the session, they asked if I wanted my refund to go to a special debit card. I read far enough into the terms & conditions to see that fees applied and went back and said no to the “offer”.
After going through the whole process of entering my taxes I kept waiting for the screen where they ask how I wanted to receive my refund- check, direct deposit or put some in an IRA. That screen had been there every previous year. After clicking on the ‘next’ button one time too many, apparently they filed my taxes without asking how I wanted my refund. When I looked at my printout there was a bank routing number and account number already filled in which I did not recognize. After calling and spending hours on the phone- and being told to call the IRS despite this being H&R Block’s problem- supposedly by filing for free the only way I can receive my refund is on their HSBC debit card. This despite the fact I specifically said I did not want it.
I did call the IRS and there is nothing they can do to stop my return from being processed or my refund from being hijacked by HSBC. The person I talked to did say that this year he has received more calls complaining about H&R block doing this to people than people calling about tax questions. So beware and do NOT use H&R block to free file.
Brian of Knoxville TN (02/01/06)
I've tried multiple times to access their 'Free File' link from the IRS website, and with different browsers - Mozilla, Firefox, Internet Explorer - and I keep getting the same error message, 'Session Timed Out'. Funny thing about this is, I noticed that the signin page directs you to this page automatically, without trying to load anything else - and then kicks you out to their main web page, where they offer to file your 1040EZ for 5.95. Attempts to contact H&R Block via their complaint form proved to be useless - the server handling complaints apparently has had issues for 2 weeks now.
Linda of Altoona IA (2/2/05):
H&R Block charged my daughter for filing her taxes when they knew there was a glitch in their link from the IRS free tax filing site, and they refuse to reimburse her the fees. I contacted the online tech support when they tried to do the same to me.
Lisa of Sparks NV (2/18/04):
H&R's "free file" is absolutely awful. Unless you enter through the IRS link from irs.gov, H&R will stick you for full e-filing/tax prep charges on their website. I got around that by creating a new username/account after entering through the IRS portal, AFTER I'd spent HOURS entering the data through the regular link, assuming that the regular site was the same. I'm not a tax prep idiot, either.
It took hours to enter in all the information because the server is dead slow. I'd enter an item, click, wait wait wait...repeat ad nauseam. It took about four hours to enter all the data -- just so that I could file for free. I suppose you get what you pay for, but H&R block seems to be doing everything it can to appear to be a "good" IRS free-file provider while making it nearly impossible to USE that service.
Damage Resulting: No economic or physical damages, unless you count boredom and irritation as damaging to my neural architecture.
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