Problem With HR Block Software

[BrooklineBiker]

Hi everybody,
I just filed my Massachusetts Personal Income Tax Return using HR Block's Online Premium Software and have some questions and frustrations to express. The final return had a glitch in it. The glitch was generated by the software. Specifically, my spouse is a public employee and doesn't pay Social Security tax. She does pay Medicare Tax. I entered both items of information correctly on the HR Block online W2 page in the federal section. However, in the Massachusetts section, the software had entered her Medicare tax payment as a Social Security tax payment on the Mass Inc. form. There was no way to correct this online that I could see and after multiple calls and over 12 hours on hold (over a period of days) to HR Block's tech support we gave up and had to submit the return. We used Tax Act software last year and didn't have this problem. If the Mass. Dept. of Revenue sends us a notice of change letter, what support can we expect from HR Block? Will this glitch in our return generate an inquiry from Mass DOR? Do we need to file an amended return?

[bacchi]

I also had problems with H&R tax software this year (downloadable version). It told me to manually use some worksheets in an IRS Publication and then change the forms in the program, eliminating the efile option. Lemme tell you -- I ran through 5+ worksheets in a spreadsheet and it was not fun. I decided to try TaxAct, it had the worksheets coded, and I efiled with them.

Conclusion: H&R is shit this year.

To your question, everything I've read is that H&R support is pretty good (eventually), once you get past the usual level 1 call center people.

[Travis]

Same here. The software glitched out claiming there was a problem with my foreign tax credit, but wouldn't show me where the problem was.  The error prevented me from filing electronically, which sucked being overseas.

[dang1]

lol me too, so after 9 yrs with HRB, just now, switched to Turbotax

[MustacheAndaHalf]

If you list a foreign address in H&R block, it greys out the domestic phone number field - you can't edit it.  And then at the end, it will not allow electronic filing unless you enter a domestic phone number.  (If you switch to U.S. address/phone and enter it, when you switch back it clears it)

And they did the same thing last year - same bug, fixed just before taxes were due.  I guess they want more H&R Block customers moving over to Turbo Tax?  Or do Turbo Tax users have a similar thread?

[alcon835]

Here is the truth, H&R Block, Turbotax, and others are poorly put together, don't actually find all your deductions (even super basic ones), and are all around scummy actors politically.

I'm going to jump in here to recommend freetaxusa.com.

Terrible name (it sounds like a scam website, honestly), but it's a fantastic, free service that lets you file your US Federal Tax Return for free. The State one costs just $15.

Their software got everything right for my relatively complex tax returns and was able to guide me towards a few extra deductions I didn't know I had available - something H&R Block never did even though I was paying them $75-100/yr.

None of this solves your original problem, but it's worth bringing up for the future to help avoid these problems.

[electriceagle]

I've been using the software formerly known as TaxCut since about 2002; they've been going downhill for the past 5 or 6 years. Eventually, I'll be forced to find something else and switch.

I wish that they would put their development energy into getting the tax details right and identifying possible deductions instead of into re-making the interface and adding miscellany like videos.

[Chris @ Saturday Financial]

Here is the truth, H&R Block, Turbotax, and others are poorly put together, don't actually find all your deductions (even super basic ones), and are all around scummy actors politically.

I'm going to jump in here to recommend freetaxusa.com.

Terrible name (it sounds like a scam website, honestly), but it's a fantastic, free service that lets you file your US Federal Tax Return for free. The State one costs just $15.

Their software got everything right for my relatively complex tax returns and was able to guide me towards a few extra deductions I didn't know I had available - something H&R Block never did even though I was paying them $75-100/yr.

None of this solves your original problem, but it's worth bringing up for the future to help avoid these problems.

+1

FreeTaxUSA is awesome. They let you see the actual IRS forms as you go if you want to. I've used them for the last two years are they are awesome.

[Nate R]

Heh, I had a similar issue with TurboTax and had to go BACK to H&R....