HR Block

[Gypsy]

Hi, how good are they? I know a lot of people do their own taxes but we aren''t going to. And our accountant has never been anything particularly special plus since we''ve moved she''s not really local and works strange hours. So, our taxes should be relatively easy this year and DH was just thinking we should use HR Block. But... well, I don''t know they always seemed like a... not very good place to go in terms of reputation.

Anyone have any experiences with them? Or recommend any other firm like them (that might have a nice local location).

 

[MichelleCarmen]

What about using Turbo Tax? You can do everything at home and it saves progress allowing you to do bits at a time, go back and double check things, etc. It might also be cheaper than H&R block depending upon your types of income (regular or investments and all the other stuff). I used it last year and this year. Before we had to go to a CPA and next year we will again due to change in form of income.

 

[katamari]

Try yelp. Even though they are a national franchise, I assume they vary tremendously by branch or location. My personal preference is to patronize local businesses, so I would always recommend finding a local CPA over using them. But, that also means I don''t have experience using them or similar services.

 

[jewelz617]

I have used H&R Block a couple times, this year I went with Jackson Hewitt (because I had a coupon hehe is that totally lame?)

I had a pretty good experience with them, but they sent me a check I couldn''t cash. It was something about the ink. I took it to my bank, Walmart and 2 check cashing places and no one could scan it. I had to take it back and wait for them to reissue me another. So that was a major headache.

But the people are very quick and friendly. Hopefully this year will be smoother as my husband and I have opted for direct deposit.

 

[Octavia]

The one time I used H&R Block instead of doing my own taxes, the woman literally plugged numbers into the same program I could have used at hone, and they took 10% of my refund for it. I was not impressed. DH and I need to find a good tax person because his stuff is really complex and I can''t do it, but it will definitely be a real accountant.

 

[marcy]

We used to take ours to H&R block and their interview is the same at Turbo Tax and Turbo Tax is a lot cheaper. I even had to file some adjusted returns when I used them because they missed somethings. Unless you have something really out of the ordinary I think Turbo Tax works fine.

 

[IdLikeToBuyAVal]

I do our returns because I am an accountant but if you''re interested in filing yourself and you have simple returns, you can go to www.irs.gov and see if you qualify for their free efile program. They link you to reputable online tax software vendors (H&R Block, TurboTax are both listed) and if you meet certain income requirements you can get free efiling from the companies (I think H&R Block''s software is free if your adjusted gross income is less than $57,000).

If your state participates in the program you can efile your state return for free too. Missouri didn''t participate but you can efile through the program for $9.95. Honestly the do it yourself programs are probably very similar to what the H&R Block agents use. They go step by step and ask questions about your income, deductions, and ask questions to see if you qualify for credits at the end. If you get stuck there are links that give you additional info on the topic, which IMO was very user friendly.

By the way, I would skip out on getting your tax return check from anyone but the IRS directly. It''s usually really expensive and doesn''t really save that much time. I got my federal return from the IRS direct deposited in 7 business days. FI''s return from the state was direct deposited in 3 and his federal should be here early next week (we''re on the 5th day for his).

 

[IdLikeToBuyAVal]

ETA Not all H&R Block associates are CPAs. If you have complicated taxing issues, you''re probably better off going to your local CPA, they''re better equipped to advise you with tax law specifics. Just something to be aware of.

 

[Gypsy]

Thank you everyone. We went with Turbo Tax. 1.5 hours. Under 50 bucks. And totally worth it. We''re converts. HR block was WAY too expensive when I called and grilled them a bit. No way.

 

[D&T]

Date: 2/6/2010 1:41:56 AM
Author: Gypsy
Thank you everyone. We went with Turbo Tax. 1.5 hours. Under 50 bucks. And totally worth it. We're converts. HR block was WAY too expensive when I called and grilled them a bit. No way.

glad you went with them, I was going to say NO way to H&R block- I was very disappointed when I had done all the figures and we moved and basically I just did their work for them, all they did was entered into the system and charged me over $200

... five years ago and that was the last time I will ever go to them or JH - (I had never downloaded any tax program and was nervous - since I used to do it all by hand) but after that experience, decided that I could do it just as well

myself again (I think I was just nervous moving to a different state and was not something I had done before)

I also recoomend Taxact.com.... I just did it this year (it was cheaper than turbo tax), and I actually like it better than turbo tax (been with turbo tax for four years) only if your taxes are less complicated like ours was this year.

 

[MissMina]

Our tax man of long standing passed away two years ago so we
went to a nearby bookkeeper who charged twice as much.
Unhappy with that we went to HR Block last year. They charged three times as much and it took them forever to figure out how to let me pay the tax I owed online.
This year were doing Turbo Tax

 

[icekid]

Sigh... we need to find someone good to do our taxes, too. We lived in two different states last year and hubby works in a different state from where we live. It''s too overwhelming for me!

 

[Diamond*Dana]

We used to go to H&R Block, experience was fine and I don''t remember the fee being overly expensive. The past few years we have had a family friend do them.

 

[So Excited]

I have went to H&R for the past 4 years (before that my Grandma did them as she was a CPA) and think that their services definately vary depending on who you get an appt. with. I learned that when I call for an appointment I ask who has had experience with what my specific taxes need and most importantly how many years they have been doing it (they are usually rated on levels) Since being a little more "picky" with who I get, I love going there and their fees are not that outrageous unless you have complex taxes (fee is based on how many forms need to be filled out so it''s fairly cheap if you don''t itemize or have lots of school loans/etc to process.)

Not to mention, I love the $15 piece of mind guarantee....

 

[KatyWI]

Glad to hear you went the TT method!!! I''ve been doing it a few years and it''s surprisingly easy... and SO MUCH CHEAPER!