H&R Block

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H&R Block

Basic information
Founded	1955-01-25
Legal Structure	Public
Industry	Financial services, Financial Technology
Also known as
Official website	https://www.hrblock.com/

H&R Block, Inc., or H&R Block, is an American tax preparation company operating in Canada, the United States, and Australia. The company was founded in 1955 in Kansas City, Missouri, by brothers Henry W. Bloch and Richard Bloch.

As of 2018, H&R Block operates approximately 12,000 retail tax offices staffed by tax professionals worldwide. The company offers payroll, and business consulting services, consumer tax software, and online tax preparation/electronic filing from their website.

Consumer-impact summary

H&R Block was founded in 1955, in Kansas City, Missouri. The company went public in 1962 and expanded into online services and digital tax preparation software. It competes with other financial services and tax preparation companies such as Intuit. These tax preparation service companies lobby congress to promote tax filing complexity and reduce tax code simplicity to create a market for filing services.

Incidents

This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the H&R Block category.

Fined for unfair conduct by the FTC

Main article: link to the main CR Wiki article

In February 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an administrative complaint against H&R Block, alleging that the company engaged in deceptive marketing and unfair practices. The complaint centered on the company's advertisements for "free" online tax filing, which the FTC stated were misleading to consumers. The FTC alleged that H&R Block marketed its products as "free" when, in reality, they were not free for many consumers. The advertisements often contained language in fine print limiting the offer to "simple returns," a term the FTC noted was not clearly defined and whose definition changed multiple times in recent years.

The Commission alleged that H&R Block designed its online products to present an "obstacle course" to consumers, pressuring them into overpaying for services. The upgrade process to more expensive products was seamless and automated, but the downgrade process to less expensive or free versions was manually obstructed. Users who wished to downgrade were required to contact customer support via chat or phone to process the request. The FTC noted that this created a significant time burden and disincentive for users attempting to avoid unnecessary fees. Furthermore, when a user successfully downgraded their service, H&R Block's system would delete all the tax data the consumer had previously entered. This forced the user to restart their tax return from scratch, a practice the FTC described as unfair and coercive.

In January 2025, the FTC finalized a settlement order requiring H&R Block to pay $7 million to compensate harmed consumers. The settlement imposed several requirements on the company's future operations:

1. Data Retention The company must stop deleting consumers' entered data when they downgrade to a cheaper product.

1. Automated Downgrades By February 15, 2025, H&R Block must provide a simple, automated method (such as a chatbot or online tool) for consumers to downgrade without contacting live support.

1. Advertising Disclosures The company must clearly disclose the percentage of taxpayers who qualify for "free" filing services in its advertisements, or state that a majority of taxpayers do not qualify.

Products

Tax Preparation

• H&R Block Free Online (2008): A web-based filing service marketed for simple returns.
• H&R Block Deluxe (2008): Paid software marketed to homeowners and those with itemized deductions.
• H&R Block Premium (2008): Paid software marketed for investors and rental property owners.
• Tax Pro Review / Tax Pro Go (2019): Virtual services where a tax professional reviews or prepares the return remotely.

Financial Services

• Spruce (2022): A mobile banking platform and debit card introduced by H&R block including savings and debit services.
• Identity Shield (2015): A subscription service for tax identity theft protection and assistance.

See also

• Intuit