H&R Block / HRB Digital
Reviews and Complaints

H & R block made 2 math errors on my 2001 and 2003 tax returns to the total of $5000 and now are telling me that they can't help me! I owe the IRS this money and have to ammend both tax returns. If anyone knows if I can sue let me know rushfamily2405@comcast.net

i did the mistake of doing the advance with h+r block and it completely ruined my refund. according to them you would only be approved for the refund if ur tax return was a large sum, if it wasnt then you wouldnt be approved for a line of credit. so when i went they told me my refund would be about 2, 045 for 2008. and that i was approved for 500. so in my mind i thought when it came time to do my taxes i would be able to pay it back and still have enough left over to catch up on some bills. needless to say when it came tax time the person who did my loan messed up with the figures and i was only getting back 692.00 in that case i wouldnt have been approved for the line of 500.00 if my refund was that small. so they ended up taking 527.00 for the loan which was supposed to be 500.00 and then took out another fee of 78.00 and then having to pay the state 164.00 so i ended up walking away with 57.00 at the end of it all. i have used h+r block for years and never had a problem with them until now, and ever since this experience i wont be returning to them.

I agree. In your complaint, at the end, you mentioned that you didn't expect this from "tax professionals". I needed to say that H&R Block are not tax professionals. They are merely just housewives, or those alike, that use that job as part time employment and just do the taxes off software, much like Turbo Tax or something thereof. Most of them only know certain information because they've done it for years, but still, they do not have a degree in accounting or anything like that, sad to say. (I'm using Turbo Tax from this day forward)

Wal-Mart does not cash checks for people that have passed bad checks there before. How is that Block's fault? How is Block supposed to deal with the fact that you don't have a bank to cash your checks like regular people do? And all Americans who did not have their refund deposited into their own bank account got a paper check. Block did not make up that rule, the government did. You can not go back to Block, but exactly the same thing would have happened to you at Jackson Hewitt, Liberty Tax, or any other tax office in the country.

I went to H and R block to do my taxes, never been there before I had a very simple tax preparation it took all of 15 to 20minutes and they charged me $300.15 and my refund was only going to come to a little over $300.00 what a rip off ...do not go to H and R block

Bob your complaint is the one I hear the most. While H&R Block's pricing is very competitive
with Jackson Hewitt and Liberty Tax Service, H&R Block can not and probably never will be able to compete on price with mom&pop shops and some local accountants. Each area of the county is different but in my local area (not a large city) CPA firms charge $350 per hour not $100. You mentioned depreciation and rental housing and said you spent nearly 2 hours.
That sounds about right. H&R Block has no way of importing data from your accountant, so
everything has to be entered again. That takes time. Unfortunately, most people expect every
preparer to be an expert. I wish that was true but in reality H&R Block hires and fires just like everyone else. Demand a Senior Tax Advisor 5 or better yet an Enrolled Agent, whenever you have something beyond a basic return.

In the past H&R Block did not give price quotes. This year they have price ranges, but frankly the ranges are so broad I believe they are of little value to most clients. In your case, I would have told you I will input the information, show you the results, answer your questions, and then if you are not happy with the price, you are under no obligation to pay. I can't be more fair than that.

Frankly, if you believed you preparer was incompetent you should have collected your documents and walked. The last thing you should do is sign and pay.

Regarding Peace of Mind: In my experience, the clients that need it the most are the ones least likely to buy it. Peace of Mind covers the errors I make and the errors the computer makes, provided you make a timely claim. I can't tell you the number of times people have come in with a letter from IRS that they have sat on for 6 to 9 months. At that point, if the IRS's position is legit there is nothing I can do except advise you to pay what is due.

LOL, I love your last paragraph where you say it is a rip off but indicate you might come to work for H&R Block. Priceless!

In all seriousness, you should sign up for the tax course, every taxpayer should.

i have always used h&r block, other than the high cost i never had a problem. i became un able to work and filed for my dissability the year before. i told my friend he could claim as a dependent. i took all the paper work to h&r block gave it to the worker explained that my friend was claiming me as a dependant. to make a long story short.when i went to the clinic they denied me my health care and meds because the h&r block put me down as a spouse instead of dependant like i told him. this if not corrected will hurt me on my dissabilityalso. oh yes, i also had to correct him on his work when he said he was getting about 300.00. isaid you need to figure that again he said oh i made a mistake your refund is 2756.00. that should have been my first clue

H & R Block charged me $554.00 to do taxes that took my previous accountant (now moved out of State) 1 hour to do, out the door. I am a very good bookeeper and am informed before going to the preparer, but like to have other's coomplete my taxes because they supposedly "know the tax program".

My previous accountant / tax preparer charged $100 / hour. Asking H & R block up front of what cost should be they can not give you an answer other than "after we put everything in then we will know". Of Course, at the end of session you can choose not to have prepared document submitted. What a crock! My wife and I spent nearly 2 hours with the preparer that had to make numerous phone calls to another office because she could not figure how depreciation and rental housing went into their system. This from a 5 year H & R Block Vetran! After, spending 2 hours with this office in Midland, Michigan, wasting time with incompetance and coached the preparer along in their own program to complete. I was ready to leave. Questioning the fee of $542.00 I was shocked. I tried negotiating with office manager and was advised to contact the District Manager about the unfairness of the charge. All I got was lip service. Figuring we already put too much time into the 2008 returns we paid and got out. After settling a bit, I called corporate business office in Kansas made a formal complaint with no response back. Of course I called to check status 3 or 4 times and get "I will upgrade your complaint status to priority, you should here back from somebody in a couple of days". It would have been satisfied with paying up to $250.00 - but, not happy.

The peace of mind I agree that is a scam. That only does cover their mistakes in calculations. Not entry errors or your errors.

I will never use this rip off service again. A matter of fact I might even apply for a job at H & R Block. Side note! My family owns a dairy farm and has very complicated taxes. They go to a privatley owned H & R Block and were charged $380.00. Wow... most Lawyers charge $200 / hour is this place really that good?

You know, I am have been using H and R for ten years, I had a baby last year and so I didnt file but I convinced my fiancee to go to them, we moved to a new town recently and used the local H and R block location Carthage, Missouri. I've never in my life have had to deal with service this bad, not just as far as H and R is concerned but businesses as a whole. First of all, we brought in last years return to get our childrens social security numbers off of, they entered our daughters in incorrectly, seriously delaying the return, then when we finally got notification from the IRS that the return would be here on the 17th, the IRS sent us a notice apologizing for the delay and told us two key tax credits were missed by the preparer, that increased our refund by over 1200 dollars. We complained to the office about the social security number error and they blamed us, even though the preparer read it directly from last years return. Everything that happened was our fault, according to our tax professional ( and I use the word preofessional as loosely as possible). So we didn't even bother contact them about missing the tax credits, because we knew that would somehow be our fault as well.

Above all this, they were not even friendly at the store, I would compare the atmosphere and their attitudes to that of a fast food chain with unhappy teenagers that are annoyed with you for coming to their restaurant and making them work. I will never use H and R block again, even though I recieved good service from their other stores, if they allow one store to get away with that type of behavior and have people working with customers taxes that do not know what they are doing, they are not the kind of company I am going to give my business to.

Jenny Black
Carthage, Missouri

the amount you received for your stimulus payment has to be inputed on your tax return no matter who does it. they might have been misinformed but even if they but the amount in the software they use would not have made a deductions. everyone is freaking out cause they have to put how much they got on this years return and the only reason is so that if you didn't get the full amount or your status changed last year you would qualify for more. i am sorry they were wrong but it wouldn't have affected your return.

I am so disgusted. I have had my taxes prepared through H&R Block for 12 years. I went to an office in Clewiston, Florida. The first words out of their mouths were that everybody had to pay back the stimulus check they received last year. I knew this was ridiculous. So I checked around with other H&R Blocks. They told me Clewiston, Florida's H&R Block was misunderstood. They would inform them that they were not supposed to deduct the stimulus check. I waited 2 weeks before returning to file taxes and asked if they were still deducting the stimulus checks. They said yes. I said your not supposed to because I checked around. They laughed at me. I am happy to say that I went to Jackson Hewitt and they gave us an extra $600.00 stimulus check.

i'm sorry that they had such an bad experience with the tax professional i just think they went to the wrong block office because block have some very qualify preparers i should know because i am one of those preparers and i been working for them for 16 years. i have always advise my clients to look for preparers with experience to do their taxes.

So, you include not taxable combat pay, making it taxable, pay the tax, to get the refund? If you wait til O8 you get the rebate, with out having to pay any extra tax.

Was the non taxable combat pay your only source of income? You qualify for the rebate if you have at least $3000 of income, but you don't get any more regardless of your income. As a matter of fact, if your income is too high, your rebate actually gets reduced. If you had $3000 of other source income (did you have a job?) then you will get a stimulus rebate regardless of your combat income being left off the return. Maybe it just hasn't been processed yet. Many of the rebates will go out in June and July. If you didn't have any other income, it perplexes me as to why you were filing a tax return.

I paid h and r block over 500.00 dollars for my taxes and still nothing. When I filed they said that I would receive my taxes is 20 days, but 2 months later nothing. I am so mad. When you try and call no one is there they left and when you contact IRS all they say is "working on it". I feel that I should not have to pay next year or receive my money back. Why did I pay 500.00 no one can answer my question. I only have one job and my husband is unemployed and just had twin girls. Nothing very hard, I will never use h and r block again.

10 years of service does not mean the preparer is an expert at anything.

Demonstrated experience is a great criteria but unfortunately most of us do not prepare all 50
states in a given year.

If you want the best H&R Block has to offer, then insist that an Enrolled Agent (EA) prepare your return. We don't have EAs in my area, so your next best bet is a Senior Tax Advisor V.

If you go to an H&R Block office and have a unique situation, call ahead and ask to have an appointment made with a tax pro that has at least 10 years of service with the company as well as demonstrated experience in the areas you are concerned about (multi-state income, for example). An HRB office is a mix of seasoned veterans and "newbs", all able to do different things. I can't say anything that makes better past, bad experiences, but neither can I indict all preparers that work for HRB as charlatans.

I have done my own taxes since I bought my first home in 1982. This year I worked in two different states, bought a home and had moving expenses so I thought it might be best to get a "professional" to do my taxes this year. Boy did I get screwed...the lady did not know what form to fill out for the second state and most of my refund went to them despite the fact I had so many deductions. I filed a complaint with BBB only to find out H&R Block are NOT members. Nor did they respond to the many request of the BBB Investigator.
Never again, it does not pay to do the right thing if H&R Block does your taxes! RUN FORREST, RUN

You stated you paid your fee upfront for a loan... that is completly untrue. When you apply for a loan, H&R Block fees are paid from the bank to them. They don't receive a fee for preparing your taxes until you are paid under the conditions you stated. They do taxes, and that is what you pay for. The "loan" you requested is done because customers demand them. They don't force you to take them, and most preparers would prefer you didn't ask for them because they require mounds of paperwork (for which the preparers are NOT paid a dime) just so you can get money quick. The only people who make extra money for the service (loan) are working at the bank. H&R Block does NOT approve the loan, or even have a say in the approval process. It is done by the bank. Most people who apply for the loan have little money, and many are desperate for quick cash. They will go anywhere they can to get it. There are only a few tax business that offer these loans and I wish nobody did. You demand it. You get it. You pay for it. One of the last parts of preparing the tax return is to ask if the customer is satisified with the job the professional did. If you are not, you are free to take your documents and leave and go somewhere else. Next time do them a favor and go somewhere else. Maybe you can ask you local CPA for a loan. Good luck.

If you get denied from HSBC bank then your money will still go on the card in 8-15 business days. I've heard that this this year has been the worst. They're not training their "tax professionals" and people are getting charged fees for instant money never being told they have to go through HSBC. And then they tell they're cutomers they're approved even if they dont know. They never get an update on their $$ status...So thats when they call into the call center which costs $2 per call...only to find out from the reps they're not approved...Thats supposed to be the banks job!

This same thing happened to my fiance.He also paid what you did and they said he would have his money within a day or two!That is crap he has been waiting 3 weeks now since he has filed and has not received a penny from it! Do you think he should get a lawyer and find out what can be done?

I AGREE WITH ALL STATEMENTS! GOOD BYE H&R BLOCK! YOU SAY NONE OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT, WELL THE ONLY FAULT I TAKE IS PAYING 377.00 FOR A TAX RETURN I HAD TO WAIT ON. MAYBE YOU AND OR YOUR BANK WILL GET THINGS STRAIGHT. I GUESS NOONE HAVING ANSWERS FOR YOUR PAYING CUSTOMERS WILL SURELY HURT BOTH YOUR POCKETS. I WAS HOW EVER OFFERED A 50.00 GIFT CARD OFF OF NEXT YEAR TAXES...LOL. WHAT A JOKE! 50.00? NO I THINK I WILL TRY TURBO TAX AS WELL. HOW HARD IS IT TO LOOK AT YOUR W2 AND TYPE.

i have been going to hr block for about 7 years, even though its expensive, i get my money pretty quick...not this year...i was told i was denied the same day advance, so i paid the extra 60 bucks for the 1 to 2 day advance...well after 5 days still no refund...so called them, now they said i was denied for the 2 to 3 day advance.after it said i was approved for it on their computers...also its free to call them for questions...but if you call them 3 times, on that 3rd call they charge you 2 dollars...thats why during my first two calls all they would say ...dont worry you were approved it will be on there...its all a scam...my brother is going to start doing it on turbo tax...it cost my brother 10 bucks, and he get his money in 7 to 10 days...hr block is a rip off...turbo tax is the way to go! if you make under 30 thousand it cost $10.60 with turbo tax...and they did his state all for a grand total 0f nothing, e-file was free...turbo tax will walk you through step by step...good bye hr block go rip someone else off, not me ever again...i hope you get sued again, i would love to be part off that class action lawsuit...

I get mt payroll check direct deposited every two weeks. then on this past tuesday which was the 28th of april i checked my balance and it was 31$ short! They had taken it appond themselves to take my money with out my concent! i never even applied for this theft thing and now i am extremly upset bout them stealing my money with out my permission! and they better refund my money back or i will be getting ahold of a laywer asap! i have my rights! i even had a rep. on the phone and all she could tell me was to go online and i will get myrefund back! but what i did not understand is i had this person on the phone and she would not even try to fix the problem. just wanted to waste more time and go online. which is not good enough. they need to fix this problem. I have three kids to feed and take care of! and will not be treated like this! it is not right for some company to take your money with out your consent! And i will be switching banks that is a for sure thing!

i had the same problem now i cant get the advance this year for christmas because it says i owe money even though i have a statement with a confirmation number showing it was payed in full

A flat tax rate and this kind of thing would never happen. Imagine, a industry has sprung up because the tax laws are so confusing and they are also confused. Who knew? The IRS is also known to give out bad advice. The surreal is real. Kafka make more sense than the tax codes at all levels.

mistakes yes, h&r block made big time mistakes on my 06 taxes now i will have to pay around $5, 000.00 ( just my church offering thay put 4, 100.00 and the paper that was from the church was 1, 400.00 ) that will cost me $750.00 and that is a start .if you know any way to get h&r block to pay can you e-mail me at rmitchms@aol.com thank you, richard

It's hard to tell from your complaint what happened. Filing two tax returns will not get you two refunds. Everyone would be filing dozens of returns if this were the case.

Hard to believe that H&R Block is 'mum on the issue'. What does that mean? Dead silence when you ask them about it? They all duck out the back door when you walk in? They hang up on you when you call? All unlikely.

It would be interesting to hear H&R Block's side of the story. Do they disagree that there was a mistake? What kind of a mistake would cause you to 'lose' your refund. Why were two returns filed?

You took your complaint to a lot of places, but did you go to H&R Block's District level? Mistakes can be corrected with amended returns, so if you don't trust H&R Block, take your copy(s) of the return(s) and have another preparation company fix them and since you already have a lawyer, sue H&R Block for the charges of correcting the mistake.

A H&R Block employee made a huge error on my taxes! The error cost me an audit and I now owe the IRS $6000.00! The "Tax Pro" said I could claim my girlfriend's kids since they have lived with me for at least 6 months. She was wrong, it's 12months not 6! Now I just finished my audit and I was over paid on my return. H&R Block said they would pay for the penalties but I am responible for the $6000.00 error. H&R Block did my taxes, H&R Block told me what to do and H&R Block made the blunder! So, why am I responible for H&R Block's mistake? I was a H&R Block customer for over 15 years! $6000.00 is alot of money for a single income family of 4!

HR BLOCK and HSBC despite having recieved their ral loan payoff from the IRS are refusing to send me my the remander of my tax refund I called them both and HSBC keeps refusing to talk.

HR block and HSBC dispite recieving ther loan payoff from thr IRS are refusing and delaying my tax refund, I keep calling and they keep refusing to answer questions.

H&r block sucks ****. I v done my taxes for five years with h&r sucks. Allways got my money as soon as I left the spot. This year. They did my taxes in 15min. Told me ok we r dome you ll get your money from now till two days. Like a dumass I beleived him. Its been two days and nothing. I call this morning and he told me that the bank dint approve me and he dint know why. I'm so mad cause I couldof save me 300 bucks and done it my self. The only reason I whent to them was because I would get money on the spot. They just lost a client. I got a feeling that next year they are going out of business. H&R sucks****.

I am having problems with my car so I did a RAL for H&R block, I have done this in the past but this year I was denied the RAL could not get explanation over the phone from HSBC. Well if I am going to get denied I would have done the taxes myself and saved $300. If HSBC not going to approve then loan right there and then then this should be offerd by H&R block. I have also had problems with Jackson Hewitt with giving me a check and I deposited it into the bank and started wriiting checks to pay bills, only to find out that the money from the check would not be deposited into my account for 10 days well I had checks bounce all over and Threat to sue my bank and Jackson Hewitt, well needless to say I got my money for filling taxes through Jackson hewitt and got my overdraft fees dropped from my bank.