H&R Block / HRB Digital
reviews and complaints

I am a Status Indian working on reserve. I do not pay taxes, however my non status husband does. We went to H & R Block because my husband had gone there for many years. I was told in March 2010, at H & R Block, that i would be recieving my CPP Payments and EI Payments as a refund. I am not a tax professional and have never claimed to be, which is why i relied on H & R Block to do my taxes correctly. I was then deducted $1400 of my so-called refund because i owed CRA. I was ok with that, and left me with $1200 after H & R Block deductions. Then in April of 2010 i was sent a letter from the CRA claiming i still owed $1400. Then in December of 2010, i was sent a letter from H & R Block Collections Department saying i owed $1222.39. More than they even gave me!
I have since spoken to a Canada Revenue Agent and it was explained very clearly to me that H & R Block should NOT have given me any refund and they did my taxes wrong. The CPP and EI payments i make every year, can and will be beneficial to me in the future. H & R Block should have known, that if they refund me my CPP and EI, I will never be eligible to use these services in the future. I absolutely will need a Pension plan and collecting Unemployment Insurance is an absolute option i must have, especially with todays economy, or if i were to take maternity leave or am unable to work for any reason. I am now being hassled and will be charged 24% interest if i continue to delay this collection from H & R Block. I spoke to a representative from H & R Block and he said they did not make a mistake and i will have to pay immediately. This is where i am at now. Any informatiom will be extremly helpful to me at this time.

I went to h&r block with my father, and the lady who did our taxes recomended that emerald mastercard, said they money would be there quicker, said money would be on there by the 3/25/11, i called the number on the back of the card and the accnt balace was zero. talked with a operator and she said that it wont be there till sometime in april.. i asked if there was some way to get it sooner only to get a phone number, , i am so ###ing fed up with these piece of ### people who call themselves professionals they can even get ther ### straight, i had already mad plans for the money i thought was goning to be here, but now to go and borrow money so i wont fall behind, i wish i could complain on their website, ###ing idiots...

We went to H & R block last year and we received a letter from IRS that we owe 891.00. When we went to H & R block they found that they messed up and missed read w2s but yet they will not pay the 891.00 even tho admitt that they messed up. it took theo 2 weeks to respond to any phone calls and their policy says they will pay for albitatary but yet they will not give us information about it. I cannot beleive that they are not held accountable for thier actions, they are signing since we sign the taxes we agreed to it.

I've been reading the articles complaining about HR Block's Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs) and the allegation that they target low income tax payers, those that receive EITC. I worked one season at Block many years ago and "sold" many RAL's to customers. I can personally attest to the following:

1) We were never told to target anyone or any group.

2) We were told to offer the RAL to everyone receiving a refund.

3) We always explained that it was a loan that would be paid off by the refund - one of the papers was the loan app, another was the authorization for the IRS to pay the loan off (I think it was a direct deposit to the loan account).

4) We, at least I, always explained the the fees associated with the RAL, how much their refund should be, and how much they would be getting back.

5) It was the customer's option whether to pay for the preparation fees from the refund via the RAL. They could have paid for the preparation by any means.

6) Some of the low income people I served probably would not understand adjusting withholding; probably not trust changing the amount to have more during the year; and probably not change it if they thought it would reduce their IRS refund. I really don't think many of them understood what was going on.

We sold the RALs with all information up front, we are not the low income people's keepers, it is their responsibility to make decisions, we informed them of the facts, nobody twisted their arms. How far will society go to protect people from themselves?
I also have this to say...

The group of people these articles say were victimized may very well have been desperate for money, so much so that the difference between the 2 day RAL and the 4 to 6 weeks for the check was going to make real difference to them. The 2 week direct deposit was NOT an option for many of these customers as they often did not have a bank account, as odd as that sounds. Also, these are people who are used to cashing checks at check cashing businesses which charge outrageous fees, so HRB's RAL rate was probably not unusual.

As for the high rates, they probably could be lowered, but there is a probably small risk with RALs, such as the IRS have court-ordered withholding for child support or other reason. Again, such actions are probably taken against low-income people more often than not.

There is cause and effect here, but I believe that the low-income people are not being victimized by HRB, at least not any more than any other business. If the government wants to help raise people out of poverty, then create jobs for them, lower their tax liability, etc.

This morning my son had a 10 a.m. appointment. We got him there in plenty of time.. Well, he waited for 2.5 hours before he even got seen and it was not with the person it was made with. Then it only took 15 minutes. We kept asking and watching people come in after us and go right back. I just wanted to walk out and go somewhere else but my son kept saying we are next. It Was with H&R Block in Gaylord Mi. Then the worst thing the lady who did it acted like she was high and didn't know what she was doing.. I think it's time to start going somewhere else and have them done by people who know how to treat people and not lie about the charges. He didn't make much last summer. I stayed cause my son wanted them done and over with or we would have been gone 30 minutes after the time we were supposed to be seen.. If it was that busy they should have said something and not lied to us about your next.. To me your next means your next. Not watching people walk in and out that came in way after you for 2.5 hours. So next year we are going to really think about who will be doing our taxes for us..

We filed our taxes online with HR BLOCK. We paid to have our fee taken out of our direct deposit for our taxes. They fail to inform you that when IRS deposits the money to their account that it is another THREE DAYS before you receive your money! Direct Deposit means exactly what it means...immediate...not three days later. After talking to several people at HR Block, I got nowhere at all. Just I'm sorry to inconvinence you and with a run around about how ACH is direct deposit. It just takes three days to process. Bunch of crap.

I had my taxes done at HnR Block and they recommended the RAC as the fastest way to receive my money. I went on the IRS website this morning and discovered that HnR Block has received my tax return, but I will not receive their "rapid anticipation loan" (my late refund minus their huge fee) for 4 more days. It is not rapid, it is not in anticipation of anything since they have received MY money already, and it is not a loan. I payed them 400 bucks to delay my refund by an additional 4 days. All the customer service worker could say was "sorry" and "I understand your anger". I will never go there again. I am so mad I would like to picket in front of their local branch. Hate em.

Have your taxes done by a private tax preparer. While my tax man was completing my tax forms, he called HR Block and asked for an estimate on how much someone would have to pay for completion of the forms he was telling them (the forms he filled out for me). HR Block quoted over DOUBLE the amount this tax preparer charged me. DO NOT go to HR Block. They overcharge! HR Block is the OLD way of doing taxes. Look at other means of this service (outside tax preparers/software programs). You sit with a preparer and there is no privacy between cubicles.

After having our taxes done for a few years now at H&R Block and paying the astronomical fees for years, this year we really needed to save those fees to help towards other troubled areas in our life. My husband went as normal to get them prepared at H&R Block and when it came time to file he told the woman that he has been dealing with for years.. that this year we wanted to send them in the good old fashion way so we could save the money. She told him it doesn't matter what way he files the costs are the same $355! Next year we will be going else where my stomach is SICK and the unfortunate thing is 2011 tax year we probably would have went back to filing as normal paying $3++ but with the lack of OPTIONS to file on your own once they are prepared and compassion to those that just cannot afford it has been a real turn off.

I went to H&R Block today to have my taxes done. The service was friendly and seemed professional. When it came time to file my taxes after they had been done I was asked to sign a piece of paper to file the taxes. Before I signed I asked if there were any fees if so what were they. I was told my fees were $340 after being given a first time user discount. I asked her what the fees were for and she gave me a laundry list of the fees and their reasoning. After explaining to the woman that I did not have that kind of money and could not afford to have that kind of money to come out of my taxes she continued to pressure me to filing because I didn't know how to do my own taxes and I've taken up her time(she was with me for a total of 10 minutes) and it would be rude not to file. It made me very uncomfortable and I had to insist that she not file them because that was a large amount of money for me and I had to at least mull over the decision before I made that large of a purchase for my taxes. I told her I had no issue paying for the $29 dollar consultation fee that was posted on the wall that said if I didn't file I had to pay the fee. She then grabbed my cash and led me up to the front of the busy office where she started to hollar to the lady at the front desk that I needed change because I wasn't filing and then started laughing to herself that she was sick of people wasting her time. I turned to her and told her that I was sorry if she felt I wasted her time but that in this economy especially in Michigan I would hope she would understand that $340 is a lot for a single mother of two to be shelling out for anything. She turned and stormed off shaking her head. I have never felt so embarassed in my entire life and I didn't do anything wrong. The sign clearly states that you have the option to not file and I chose that option and made no issue of paying the fee. I feel I was treated very unfairly. And I find the fees a bit outrageous considering my parents taxes are much more complicated than mine and they pay their accountant less than $300 to prepare theirs. I hope others shop around before they commit to any tax company, not just H&R block and truly make sure you're getting the best deal possible.

Professional Tax Service? I don't think so!

Upon our first initial visit with our local H&R Block office, the atmosphere seemed to be professional.

We met with someone who started to prepare our tax return. Once finished my wife and I signed everything and then went home.

The next day we received a phone call from the lady who prepared our taxes for us and she stated that the IRS had rejected our return. Further into the conversation I found out that they had placed the wrong last name down for my wife.

I gave the correct information to the lady as requested and even spelled it out for her, and then the call ended.

A day later we received yet another call, this time from a different tax lady who claimed that our return had yet again been rejected. She stated that the name this time had been misspelled. I corrected the spelling yet again and the call ended.

The day that we were supposed to receive our refund my wife and I contacted the bank to check on the deposit, and guess what, NO MONEY WAS DEPOSITIED.

With concern, my wife and I contacted the IRS to find out what was going on. Upon speaking with the IRS we found out that due to the tax people at H&R Block making all these errors that our refund had been sent to the error department for verification and would take an additional one to two weeks for processing.

At this time my wife and I were very upset so we contacted the Amelia office to inform them of the situation.

They had stated that since they had already given us a discount the day that we had filed our return, that they would not be able to discount any other fees. When we asked about the Guarantee that H&R Block has, the lady changed the topic and stated that they would not be able to help us. I then demanded to be contacted by the Manger or Franchise Owner, the lady then told me that she was just a Tax Associate (Teddy) and that she would have the franchise owner Karen contact us later that evening.

The lady that contacted us was very rude and was only trying to protect H&R Block and had no interest in us, the consumer. She not once admitted the blame that the IRS had confirmed to be the fault of H&R Block!

My suggestion would be to not use H&R Block. You can google their name and find countless complaints about them. It is best to use TaxACT or some other at home filing program so that this does not happen to you!

My state check come first H&R block took out there fees which was 273.50 and today H&R block took out more money from my federal check, the rep told me that H&R block ready took out all the fees from my state check, so why did H&R block take more money from my federal and why did.I have to pay 20.00 on top of that just for a check?.And I also brouht in a customer for H&R block, I should have recived some type of discount like jackson hewitt do!.H&R block charge me way to much money just to do my taxs, I must say that H&R block can and will lose customers next year if this overcharge behavior don't stop.And I would like a refund of the check fees.Thank You

I applied for and was approved for an emerald advance based on my estimated refund, the loan was for 900 and the refund was to be 4700. Wrong. Way wrong. The funny thing is... None of my income verification changed from the day of the estimate/loan to the day I had the taxes actually filed. I am not complaining about the outrageous interest, fees, ect. Just the fact that they lied about my refund so that I would borrow money I wasnt actually due to get back. I think it is fraud to mislead people in that way. I plan to do more than just complain.

My wife took her taxes to h&r block on 1/29/11. She used itemized deductions. (This is the key) she was told her refund of almost $3000 would be available between feb 8th and 11th. Today being the 9th she called the block office here to get the number to check the status. She was given the irs's number. She called a second time and was give the block #. It said that her return had not been accepted by the irs.
Later in the day she called the local block office and was told that the irs was not accepting itemized filings until feb 15th, and it would probably be another two weeks after that when they would put the money of her h&r block emerald card.
This all wouldn't be a real big deal except for when you expect to get your money by a certian date, you make plans for that money. Unfortunately the plans we made were keeping our electric, water, cable, internet, telephones, rent payment and a few other frivolous things like buying food and maybe some gas for the car.
I tried to call block about it, but since it is my wife's return they wouldn't even let me start a complaint.

So if you plan on itemizing deductions you need to wait until after the 15th. All tax preparers should be aware of this, since it came out in the december tax laws. I guess our preparer was absent the day they went over the new laws.

H & R Block has been providing free tax services for people who use Form 1040EZ. Most preparer work on commission and H & R Block does not pay them for doing these returns. There for the prices are raised for those who have to pay. Another case of those who have some people having to pay so the others can get something free.

I have purchased H&R Block the last 2 years and Tax Cut before that. The box says +State. Which means state tax program included. Which the way it has always been. I purchased H&R Block Deluxe becasue it has everything I need. Well when I go to the state part I was required to purchase a state program which I had to do because I could not return what I bought because I had opened it. I am extremely dissappointed with this program. They cheated me out of $39.95. I ended up paying all most twice as much. This is not right with the economy the way it is nobody can afford to pay more for things and this was very sneaky on there part. Please let everyone know about this and maybe we can stop it from happening next year.

I went to Hr Block to get the rapid 24-48 hour refund to get a car quick to get back and forth to work. After signing all of my papers agreeing to pay the 368.00 prep fee and the 32.00 bank fee, she then tells me that they have changed policy to every one having to wait 8-15 days for your return and still called it a refund anticipation. The thing that bothered me was that I told her that I needed my refund asap to get a car and she still waited until I agreed to pay to tell me this. I will not be going back as I see that as dishonest.

H and R block is advertising free simple refunds.Mine is as simple as you can get, Im single no children, live in an apt. and have no school loans. After doing my taxes they said they could not do mine for free because they helped me get an 87 dollar tax credit.So what did they charge me for helping with this 87 dollar tax credit, a wopping one hundred dollars.It took them a whole 10 minutes to do my whole taxes and then they would not refund my 100.00 because they said they had allready filed it.Liars cheats and false advertising.Avoid them at all cost.