H&R Block - Free Filing

I usually do my own returns, but decided this year that I would make my own life easier and pay a "professional" to take care of a task I'd never enjoyed. I dropped off all my financial records with an H&R Block accountant to have two returns prepared. The next day, I stopped into the office again to drop off an additional W2 and the accountant told me he'd have my returns done that day. I never heard from him again. Apparently, that office was a pop-up office, open only during tax season. I called nearly everyday after that trying to find out what was happening with my returns. I never reached anyone who knew anything and was promised everyday that someone would call me back. No one did.

Finally, I reached a regional office and the receptionist told me my paperwork was going to be delivered to another office and that would take over a week. I began contacting that office and again, never reached anyone who knew anything and no one called me back. I kept calling everyday. On April 30, a regional office manager named Jeanette called me and said that she had my paperwork - at a third, very inconveniently located office. I explained the situation and told her that I still needed the returns prepared, but that I certainly was not interested in paying for them. She suggested that I make an appointment to come in and see her and she herself would do my return.

On the day of our appointment, May 3, I trekked over to the office on the other side of town and met with Jeanette. At that time, she told me that the firm was not willing to do my returns for free, but that she was willing to give me a $50 discount. I told her no, thank you and left with my records. I still have to do my taxes!

I prepared my tax return online using the H&R Block's "free" version. When I completed the return, I was not allowed to print or file the return without paying $34.95. I have reviewed other complaints that confirm that this happens to many people who use this "free" service. What a scam. I would be more than happy to have an attorney contact me. I find this outrageous and they should be punished for their unfair and deceptive practice.

It has taken me all day sitting around trying to file my return and the website message keeps saying, "You have tried 3 times to sign in. Wait 20 minutes and try again." And I waited only to keep getting the same message even after they emailed link with info. It's so frustrating. They claim it's free but charge for state return before printing last year.

Website issues and clueless support - I filed last year online and overpaid for the convenience of filing online the day before tax day and I made the mistake of waiting too long to file this year. Luckily, I did not wait until the day before because it's taken me countless hours and 2 trips to the storefront help centers to finally get my taxes filed. I used the "free" version for Federal, which resulted in $63 in fees.

I was involved in 2 different online chats to try to resolve error messages. I kept getting on the faulty website, totaling 4 hours to get it all done and that didn't include previous sessions working on it. I have very simple tax paperwork. Simply plug in all the info when prompted and you're ready to file! Sounds easy, but their website made it near impossible. I'll never use it again.

I received a letter in the mail which said I would get my taxes done for free for the RAC which is the one- to two- day. We all know they don't have that anymore, not the 7-14 day crap. So they charged me for a simple return of $324.50. I have used them for 6 years, and I will never use H&R block again. They are the biggest ripoff out there. I will go to Amscot or Jackson Hewitt next year, and I hope the rest of you, taxpayers, do too. Again, do not trust H&R ripoff block.

Amy ** at Town & Country Shopping Center in Burnsville, MN prepared my 24-year-old son's simple income tax ($9000.00 gross income) and charged him $78.00! Here in MN, he qualified for free tax filing for both state and federal. When I called her on this, she said she was unaware of this. She should not be a tax preparer if she is unaware of MN basic filing rules. She, if ethical, would have told him he qualifies for free filing. Give him back his filing fee!

H&R Block was granted permission to visit my the break room at my place of work (you're welcome for allowing you access to over 300 potential clients), at which time the representatives distributed flyers for tax service specials, and explained the details of their available services. At no time did any representative indicate that there was a separate $40 charge for the state filing. After asking about my specific situation, I was told that I would fall into the 1040EZ category, which would qualify for a free service on or before February 29, 2012. I came to H&R Block on February 28th for service, and after waiting for over 30 minutes past my appointment time to be seen, my service was rendered. However, it was not until the end of the paperwork that I found myself in a horribly embarrassing and frustrating situation. I was told that I owed $140.00. I asked why, and I was informed for the first time that the state filing would be a separate charge, and that the savings bond that I had cashed and the Roth IRA that I had taken my contributions out of had cost me $100 to file. What?

Why would their representatives not have informed me while they were selling me on something else at my work, and why would their representative not have informed me at the beginning of the sit-down in-person meeting when I specifically mentioned everything I had going on, and then presented the coupon for the free service. If it was not going to be free, then that would have been okay if the representative had just simply let me know as soon as she heard what I had to present for paperwork and details. I felt very, very uncomfortable as I felt compelled to contribute to her commission (and because I know that I will see her around town at other onsite for work), and misled and lied to at the same time. The 'time saved' feature on the screen was also a lie in my case, because I waited very patiently for quite a while just to be seen after making an appointment. Since nothing was free, they did not save me time, money or peace of mind.

I will never recommend H&R to anyone again, nor will I return. If H&R Block ever re-visits the break room at my place of work (which will certainly not be set up by me again), I will be sure to inform the employees of the misleading sales practices that I encountered. Surely, I will not wait until next year. My word will be informing people properly as of immediately. This will be to protect others from throwing away money when they are not prepared to, and to protect my fellow co-workers from when they are not told that they will owe until they are in the very uncomfortable situation that I was in. I have been in sales for almost 15 years. This was a very intentional misleading business practice. Thank you much for teaching me a very expensive lesson, and for making me wait between 30 and 40 minutes beyond my appointment time to pay for that embarrassing, disappointing moment. I will make it a point to market the horrible business practices, as marketing is what I do for a living. It is the business practice of straightforward and honest marketing that has allowed for me to pay them for my experience.

Recently, I posted an incident at H&R Block and their Irvington, NJ was able to handle it and get my refund for this miscommunication. Natale, she was great and I thank her.

The H&R Block agent entered all of my tax information, had me sign, to only then tell me that "the computer", for some reason, would not file my taxes under the 104OEZ, and that I might want to file on my own, as it would cost $90 for H&R Block to file. I own my home. I am married. I have an income under $50,000, including my wife's social security payment. That's it, but the H&R Block agent was clueless, as to why the computer wouldn't file my return under 1040EZ, really. The H&R Block agents do not know in advance, on a simple return like mine whether it will or will not file under 1040EZ? So, I left the store without a copy of the return they prepared, because she said they would have to charge me to give me a copy. So, I will file online on my own. What a glorious waste of time!

I contacted Nutley, NJ H&R office and spoke to a rep. I was told I qualified for free filing of EZ 1040. When I got there and taxes were finished, they told me the price was $132.00 vs $39. I questioned why I was quoted another price and free filing. I was told due to the fact that I had an IRA Traditional vs a Roth, it did not qualify me. The preparer told me she "assumed it was a Roth" and she said "I have to make sure to find out next time before I quote a price". When she told me the lowest she could go is $100 and she could mail me back the $32 after tax season, I left in shock and reported it to the district office in Irvington, NJ and a gal named Natalie said she would take care of it. I am requesting that H&R honor their original quote of $39 and refund me $93.00 vs $32 immediately as an act of good faith.

I will wait to see if Natalie from the Irvington office who is handling this in lieu of Nyree **, the manager of the district office, and then if not satisfied, I will report to the BBB. I am very upset over this and H&R is guilty of what sounds like a "bait and switch", which is not a professional way of handling taxes and others' money.

My son who is 22 and in college (every penny counts) started the process of "Free Filing" total fees was $60.90! His taxes were not complicated, he had no itemized deductions. And after you spend a hour entering all the information they require, you get nailed with a Refund Deposit Account Fee of $32.95 and a free edition state return (M0) fee of $27.95! His total "Free" preparation fee of $60.90 was 12% Free Fee of his total return.

My husband took our letter to H&R Block that stated they would do our taxes for free, which I thought was fantastic. He came out of the office with H&R Block charging us a $158.95 fee and we will only receive a $535.00 refund. This was to do a simple return for a couple living on one making just above minimum wage & one on social security. This is the worst deceptive practice that I have seen in a very long time.

I have been using free file since 2009. This year, I filed my federal return with no problem. When I went to log in a few days later, to process my state return, all my information was gone. It was telling me to process everything again. I called on three different occasions, before being told there was nothing they could do, since I was using the free edition. I cannot have access to my previous returns, or the current one. However, they are able to see them on their end. I was told I will have to reprocess my 2011 return, and mail in the state form, because I wasn't going to be able to efile. I was also advised if I wanted copies of the previous year's federal returns, I would have to contact the IRS. It seems like there could have been a way for them to reset the program, so I could have access to it.

I have been working on my free-file for hours, but the programming is so bad. I cannot e-file and I can't make changes. There are glitches that keep entering that I have to claim Jury Duty payments received which is inaccurate! And also glitches that keep saying that I have to claim gambling wins, which is also inaccurate!

The thing is saying completed & that I have to mail it in! I am furious! I do not want the final version of the H & R block tax file & want to make changes & e-file. I am going round & round with this! I am so pissed off right now! And I have no intention of mailing my tax filing in! They also are having a problem e-filing! Also it is prompting me to clear up an error, but it will not bring me to the error to fix! Aaagh! Hours of this crap! And now it saying my return is complete!

I went to my local office to get my taxes done. The tax person told me it might be around $100.00 and I told her okay. At the end, she tells me my total that I owe is $201.00. My jaw dropped. I was upset but had to pay for services rendered. I don't think that is right to have to pay that much. I will not be going back to them again. Very dissatisfied. I would like to speak to someone about this.

I had my taxes done by H&R Block. My co-worker reviewed my form and asked me how much they charged me. I did not know, because my English is limited and the person who did my file did not explain nor informed me about it. My co-worker was so upset and he asked me to drive back to the place and speak with them. The person who did my file kept telling us that the reason they charged us is because she gave us a "bigger" return. The total time spent in preparing the taxes was about fifteen minutes and the charge was $453.00 for federal return. I had two w-2, make five thousand for my side job, and I have one dependent.

I am disappointed with the people complaining about H&R Block here. The lady who walks in waits a while, then fails to produce a coupon until the end of the process. She was being a bad consumer--a shady consumer, in fact. I am complaining about her and everyone like her. She should have walked in, produced the coupon and negotiated a rate before getting started. H&R Block did nothing wrong. A decade ago they did, and they went to court for racketeering. Not so much now.

On the Web page, you are one click from finding the state price. It says free. You can't be above driving age without knowing means that you better read about the catch. Sure enough, click Federal filing is free, but State is not. You have to look at a whopping 2 inches of text to see the words State additional fee. There are many options, I did them in high school. You walk to the library and get free tax forms. Or go to IRS.gov, get your free tax forms, prepare them yourself.

You are not entitled to free software made by a corporation. You are not entitled to a free professional tax person's time in their own office. I will bet you that the coupon received in the story here said *State filing extra. I bet it also said, "must be presented before consultation." You couldn't be troubled to spend 10-20 seconds reading.

This site is here to help people with real consumer fraud issues. I am appalled to see people coming in and complaining about problems with themselves. It is just lazy greed. Do you understand that you don't just have to read the fine print in other countries? You have to bribe people to take your taxes. You have to make sure you did it right many times so you don't get hit by the ** of a rifle. Seriously, grow up. You, guys, are abusing the power you wield as an American.

Well my boyfriend and I have been really strapped for cash. We each received a coupon in the mail for H&R Block, if you have a 1040ez you get it for free. So I called the 800 #, talked to the lady and made sure that since he has a 401 retirement plan and the amount is on w-2 that was she sure that it was free. The woman assured me that it would be and made us an appointment. So we get to our appointment at 3:50 and we sat like idiots till oh about 4:35 pm. Mind you, there was just us and the woman that was supposed to do our taxes had someone in her office.

There were two others there also. Well, the head lady finally decided to start it for my boyfriend." I believe that if your company is running a promotion that the first thing out of her mouth should of been did you receive a coupon in the mail? Well, she never said a thing about it and my boyfriend is not a people person so he didn't mention it. Well, it took about six or 7 minutes for them to prepare it and she says that will be 103.00. He told her, well I'm not signing anything and he handed her the coupon she said it was too late.

Well, I go in and asked her for the w-2 back. She said she can't give it to me that will be 35.00 dollars if I want it back for their time. Well, what about our time? We sat there almost 45 minutes to even see someone. Poor business tactics if you ask me not one word about the coupon. So went to go print another one out and it's gonna be a while till we get a new one.

So to top it off, I told her, look we are struggling right now and this is a small town and we both had our taxes done there before for a couple of years, although we go smart after how much money they charged and see how that remodeled their office. She said to me, oh everybody is broke right now. Well, she has a job and another business. She ain't hurting by no means. Well, I'm in wrong business if they're getting 35.00 for six minutes of their time. Well, she was rude and very nasty. I want the w-2 back now.

The software seems to be the same type wizard this year and every state site is advertising them as having "free state e-file". Well it "used to be free", it isn't any longer. In fact, it is $34.95 for each state return and they give you up to 3 state returns to file. I originally started out with the free version. Some student loan interest took me into the $14.95 range.

And if I choose to deduct the fees out of my check, they will also take $32.95 from my check. Where the heck is anything free? So much for H&R Block, think I will come out better buying TurboTax this year.

They claim on TV that if you are a poor person, they will do your simple tax return for free. But when I tried to file, they ask for a cell phone number, which I do not have as I can not afford it. When I called to complain, they just said sorry.

After having multiple year history with my H&R Block account after the IRS directed me to them for free filing. This year, after spending time doing my free federal tax filing, when I reached the end, it said I was in the $19.95 paid version. When I called up to complain that I started out as free version, they said at some point the software asks if I want to upgrade to $19.95 and if I don't decline, I'm automatically upgraded. I demanded that I be brought back to the free version and they said they are not setup to downgrade accounts back to free. If I want my free version, I have to create a new account without any history, start over, and make sure I don't fall into the same trap again. Their customer service say they are not equipped to fix this problem.

Wasted time and if I hadn't noticed this fraud, it would have cost me $19.95. The IRS should not direct people to such a deceptive practicing company. Now I have to find a new trustworthy place and have to restart my history.

I used H&R Block Free File for my Federal Taxes. I did E-File and everything went smoothly until I got to the end and it wouldn't let me finish my Federal unless I signed up to do my State (for $29.95). I was going to do my own State taxes and send them in. Finally, I said what the heck, I'll just do them now and have them E-Filed also. So I paid with my credit card $29.95 and did my State taxes. It said they were accepted, I gave all the information again for E-File to my checking account.

Then it comes back as rejected E-File status. I had no errors to correct. I went back through Federal and State again, everything was good. I have tried everything for over a month to figure out why it won't go through. This was back on February 2. Now I have to wait till June to get my refund. It's $19.95 if you want to ask any questions. That's ridiculous. I have used H&R Block for a few years now and have not had any trouble. I'm very disappointed. I will definitely use the IRS free service next year.

The free file program contains an error, which duplicates mortgage interest if you have a mortgage credit certificate! It carries over the mortgage from your 1098, and once you follow their directions for input, it doubles your mortgage amount on final return. It cost me $1,400 in penalties, and makes me look like a cheater! Now, I get to worry about the years following the one I was penalized for, because it did each year. It runs an error check for duplicate entries, but when you review, you won't find it, because you are following their directions, and you input what you are asked. It will come bite you a couple of years later. I want my money back! It cost me $1,400 on top of m,y taxes this year. I am in dire straights, as I am trying to maintain my mortgage after the death of my partner. I can look forward to more too, because I used this service for the last few years.

I filed my kids' taxes using H&R Block free file and found the state of Delaware has an error in it. It says on the return that the deposit is going into an account outside of the United States even though I checked that it is not. I entered the bank account info but it did not show up on the return either. I have called 4 different times and no one has been able to correct the problem or return my calls. I still have not filed the state returns because I don't want any errors. Make sure you look at your return before you file it.

I did my taxes through H&R Block Home Free edition. I have done this for three years with no trouble. I had no problems filing but could not print a copy of my return. The IRS accepted my return. I got my refund promptly. Here I am 7+ hours of my time later, five resolution numbers (we will contact you within 24-48 hours-which were escalated). I have not had any return calls and the problem has not been resolved. I was told on 2/8 I would be able to print on 2/10, nothing happened. All of my resolution numbers have been closed. I called again today and was given number 5. I have been hung up on three times in the past month. I've been told to go to the IRS website and request a copy which will only cost you $57 to obtain.

I have been using the H&R Block free tax filing service for three years now. I think it's a great service. You do have to be careful about the options you choose or you will be charged. The free filing only applies to e-file on your federal return. Certain income and age requirements apply. If you don't use the correct link, stating that you meet the requirements, the free filing can direct you to basic filing which will cost you.

It is a hassle if you accidentally direct yourself to a service you have to pay for, but overall it works out. If any charges come up, I just start over using a different link. The best way to start is to get the link directly from the IRS.gov page that lists free services. State taxes are never free and other services are offered for an additional fee.

I just saw an ad on line for free filling with H&R Block, but when I created an account it asked me to pay a fee of $14.95. What a joke! Then I wanted to talk to a real person online and it gave me automated messages! I wanted to know if they would be asking me for my credit card next, but I didn't go that far. I have used H&R Block for years (in person) but this online system is a joke!

Okay, there needs to be a lawsuit filed against these two companies for their misleading and false information and "flat out lies!" My husband and I have always used H&R Block except for last year. We used the Free IRS eFile on the government website. That return was received in about 7-10 days. Best thing is it was free! We filed on January 14, 2010. We were as always approved for rapid refund or a RAL and of course the emerald card. We chose the emerald card (my refund was over $9,000) and we only chose it because it was "the fastest way to receive your refund" and is $20 cheaper than your paper check.

However, if you add up all the money, you lose to access an ATM and those bank charges, you will lose a lot of money, much more than $20 when all you had to do was get a paper check and deposit it into your bank account! Anyways, my refund was supposed to be accessible on this emerald card no later than MLK day! Nope! I was not there today either. I started making calls and heard that we had been denied by HSBC bank. We use this HSBC bank every single year except for last year. My husband has a FICA score of 744 (woo hoo). Mine is around 680, give or take. So credit score was not the issue. We still do not know what the issue is.

I know that when I called H&R Block, I could not get a direct answer except for this, "You have been declined. We cannot tell you why because it is not our SS number!" So what did we pay the $29 in extra fees for? Peace of mind. Seeing how they do not know anything and cannot tell us anything. This is most certainly a rip off. They are stealing our money. Hey, the economy is bad. If they cannot give loans then they need to stop advertising that they can.

I did not desperately need my return in a two day period. I was however using the money to pay my deductible on my 9 year old daughter's braces. I think it should be illegal at the way they are going about getting their money, H&R Block as well. Some people could have used that extra $250 that was paid to H&R Block to buy food or pay a car payment or house payment, maybe got themselves a little caught up on bills and filed their taxes for free, free, free, free online and got their return in the same exact amount of time! Now my return will still be added to this *** emerald card that I do not need and I will still have to pay an arm and a leg to have all my refund transferred to my bank account.

I followed the link to HR Block Taxcut from the IRS website for free filing. Taxcut's link on the IRS website states that it is free if you are under 50 and your income is less than $56,000. I clicked the link and completed the free file federal return and when I tried to file, I was asked to pay $14.95. The online help stated that the free return if for 1040EZ only and the charge was because I had deductions. This is not stated on the IRS website or the HR Block website. Very deceptive and dishonest.

A lot of time and wasted completing a return that I will not file due to their deceptive charges.

I did my own taxes using the free TaxCut online service. I have used H&R Block for 12 years, without problem...of course that was in office paying their fees. Having gotten te Emerald Card last year, I chose to have my refund deposited onto the MASTERCARD this year. Here is everything I'v been through since the IRS confirmed my refund funds were released Thursday, February 5th at midnight. 8/6/2009

1. Customer service rep who said it would go on card between 7pm and midnight EST 2. Customer service rep, refused to let me speak with supervisor and transferred me to an automated line 3. Customer service rep transferred me to a supervisor AGT2914 Supervisor then said she could not help but would transfer me to the department above her who could Was on hold for 41 minutes and 37 second, then was hung up on when company closed for the night at 1am EST 4. Tried calling back two times, not knowing company was closed, and was charged $2.00 each time for the automated system to hang up on me. TAX CUT ONLINE SERVICES Ref# RES4978376 Customer Service Rep AGT# 510221 No help, was referred either back to Emerald Card or HSBC Bank

8/7/2009 1. Representative told me I was computer illiterate and needed someone else to look over information. Was then told that either myself or the IRS had done something wrong and would need to fix through them. H&R Block District Office, Vancouver WA 1. Spoke with R. McNaley, who was unable to help me at the time but was also so professional a assuring that it helped calm me down. Thought that the deposit would surely go through Monday or Tuesday and was anxious to hear back from me that a resolution was found.

8/9/2009 IRS SERVICES Verified all information with IRS, including routing number and account number of direct deposit. Verified that the funds had been released from IRS to H&R Block Bank on Thursday, February 5th evening to ensure deposit the following day. Was told if no deposit was seen and H&R Block continued to be unhelpful to call back on Friday, February 13th and a funds trace would be placed. If the trace came back that the funds were received by the bank a fraud claim regarding the bank and undelivered funds could be requested. EMERALD CARD SERVICES Called back and spoke directly with a manager. He could not assist me but would transfer me to the department who could. On hold for 1 hour 17 minutes Hold music abruptly ended and I was disconnected.

TAXCUT ONLINE Was told by representative that they can only verify my e-fie status had been accepted by the IRS and that they could see when checking their refund status site that it showed my funds deposited on February 6th. DROVE TO LOCAL TAX PREPERATION OFFICE TO SPEAK DIRECTLY WITH MANAGER. Asked to speak with manager, none was available Spoke with A. Steen and explained what was going on. She took me to her desk and within 5 minutes produced a photocopied piece of paper that explained to H&R Block employees that deposits anticipated to be made to the Emerald Card on February 6th would in fact be deposited on February 10th. Because it was there for me to see in black and white, and someone had actually listened, I left satisfied. I called and left a message for R. McNaley, expressing how happy I was that one person in the H&R Block company took five minutes to give me resolution.

8/10/2009 NO DEPOSIT MADE 8/11/2009 Attempted to call H&R Block bank directly, but was transferred to technical assistance. Went into local tax preparation office and spoke with A. Keener, Office Manager, Tax Advisor 3 I showed her this log and explained my problem and she immediately referred to something called a settlement sheet? According to the sheet, she said, my refund should be deposited to my Emerald Card by midnight on February 13th. She was very nice and as helpful as she could be, as there are no representatives available for the bank only tax advisors. She gave me her card and said she would like to hear from me, either way, on Saturday. OTHER NUMBERS I WAS GIVEN: CLIENT SERVICES, TECHNICAL SUPPORT.

If its not on my card by midnight tonight (02/13/09) I will not only call the IRS and file a federal fraud claim agaist H&R Block Bank, but I will write to K. BARNEY, CEO of H&R Block Bank and R. SMYTH, CEO of H&R Block letting them know what kind of legal action they should expect against their company. I WILL NEVER USE H&R BLOCK AGAIN, NOR WILL I REFER ANYONE. THEY ARE CROOKS, THEIVES AND FORIEGN CALL CENTER LIARS.

We are late on rent/electric/water sewer/phone/school payments for my 7 year old son/car payments and have had to cancel our wedding, as it is now only 2 months away and reservations have been lost due to non-payment on Feb. 7th). (Refund amounts were $3409 and $805)

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.

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!

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?

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.

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).

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.

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.