LadyGeek wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 8:52 pm
It's that time again. I just received my first email offering H&R Block Deluxe + State software for $39.95. The software is released (becomes available for download) November 7.
Do I buy now and then regret not waiting until Black Friday deals roll around? Hard to say. Stay tuned.
I got the same offer and placed an order. I want the software on Nov. 7th so I can play with the numbers. I plan to do an RMD on Dec. 15 and withhold instead of doing quarterly taxes.
The early bird gets the worm; not always.
Note: I want the software ASAP....not when the price drops. I realize that the software won't be fully functional until January or later. I can start entering stuff. Maybe I'll figure out how to avoid going over one of those dreaded cliffs.
Preordered H&R Block 2022 Deluxe plus state a few days ago.
No backup CDs or other extras.
$42.75 out the door
I got the offer by email...which said the software would be available on Nov. 7. The after-purchase document said Nov. 11.
Last edited by hudson on Sat Oct 22, 2022 8:45 am, edited 2 times in total.
I also received my preorder promotional email. I need to model my taxes early, so I made my purchase now.
Federal + state (no backup CDs or extras) is $34.95 + $2.10 tax for an out the door price of $37.05.
The software will be available starting November 11.
I did try to get a generic link that would work for all the products, but no dice. The link goes to the checkout cart. In any case, I was able to reduce it down to Federal + State (Windows or Mac).
I got an offer that said $15 off, but it didn't say the actual price. I think I got deluxe+state for $24.99 last year on Black Friday, so the two prices quoted above don't sound very appealing.
Grogs wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 6:48 am
I got an offer that said $15 off, but it didn't say the actual price. I think I got deluxe+state for $24.99 last year on Black Friday, so the two prices quoted above don't sound very appealing.
That's what I thought. Unless you need it right away. However, the first release(s) is generally not complete. I'll see if they have anything for Black Friday.
FWIW...I e-filed but other family members that I did taxes for didn't (even though I told them it was free for Federal) and one just got their refund a couple of weeks ago.
Generally, I wait until Thanksgiving Weekend and get the software for under $25 and as low as about $18. Waiting also gives me more visibility on my income and taxes anyways.
In addition, there are bonuses/rebates that usually cover the cost of the software for me, so that makes the software free.
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livesoft wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 8:21 am
Generally, I wait until Thanksgiving Weekend and get the software for under $25 and as low as about $18. Waiting also gives me more visibility on my income and taxes anyways.
In addition, there are bonuses/rebates that usually cover the cost of the software for me, so that makes the software free.
Yeah, I don't see the need to have it before the Black Friday deals, but certainly no shame in ordering it early if you need to model some stuff.
I use H&R Block for federal filing only (my state has their own tax filing system). Last year I paid $5 and change to do 2 federal tax returns (limit of 5 available).
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Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others, it's cheaper! - John Bogle
livesoft wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 8:21 am
Generally, I wait until Thanksgiving Weekend and get the software for under $25 and as low as about $18. Waiting also gives me more visibility on my income and taxes anyways.
In addition, there are bonuses/rebates that usually cover the cost of the software for me, so that makes the software free.
+1
around that time seems to be the cheapest for the current year.
I usually pay around $20 on Black Friday. So cheap from what I use to pay years ago! My tax spreadsheet keeps me up to date. Took two days to write it, well worth my time and effort.
Amazon generally has a better deal on Black Friday or cyber Monday. As an added bonus a record of this is maintained on your Amazon account and you can re download if you ever need to.
minesweep wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 8:58 am
I use H&R Block for federal filing only (my state has their own tax filing system). Last year I paid $5 and change to do 2 federal tax returns (limit of 5 available).
Would you mind sharing where you found it for $5? And did you find it through a deals website?
Last year I pre-ordered. By pre-ordering they said I would get it before it became available to everyone else. Well, they were right. The online ordering didn't become available until 3 hours later...LOL.
This year I'll wait for it to order online.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
Until last year (TY2021) I was a diehard user of HRB deluxe download. Last year I bought HRB download and was given TT Premier download, and prepped my taxes with 4 (HRB download, TT download, FTUSA online, and OLT online). I wanted to primarily test these 4 software both as "tax modeling" (which I use heavily), and but also to gauge accuracy and file my taxes (duh).
My conclusion is that since OLT allows you to easily see all the forms (on every software page), seems to provide accurate tax modeling, and is the cheapest (free for federal, $9.95 for state), that's what I'll likely use going forward. There was also a situation late in early 2022 where various tax softwares needed to update form 1116 sch B, and OLT was the one that updated it the quickest (HRB download chose not to let you efile it at ALL, which was unacceptable to me). Just some info I felt like sharing.Cheers
I have used TurboTax for years but they are just absolute greedy pigs. Their prices are ridiculous and they're getting more ridiculous every year..
Tried the H&R Block last year because it was cheaper. The software made a several errors on my taxes that the IRS flagged and sent me letters about. I will not be using them again. I should've just used TurboTax and paid the extra money and avoided the headaches. Resulted in a substantial reduction in my refund due to a miscalculation.
Totally non-complicated tax situation, literally the only income is a W-2 for me, my wife and some interest income. I don't understand how it slipped through the software, but was not impressed.
yolointopants wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 2:27 pm
I have used TurboTax for years but they are just absolute greedy pigs. Their prices are ridiculous and they're getting more ridiculous every year..
Tried the H&R Block last year because it was cheaper. The software made a several errors on my taxes that the IRS flagged and sent me letters about. I will not be using them again. I should've just used TurboTax and paid the extra money and avoided the headaches. Resulted in a substantial reduction in my refund due to a miscalculation.
Totally non-complicated tax situation, literally the only income is a W-2 for me, my wife and some interest income. I don't understand how it slipped through the software, but was not impressed.
I've always found HRB and TT output numbers to be identical, when the input is identical. There are differences in the interviews and manual input between the two, so it's easy to flub input by accident. Hope you got it all cleared up
About OLT, it is strictly online, and for folks (like myself) who need to compare joint filing vs. separate for the lowest total fed plus state taxes, downloadable software works better.
urban wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 2:40 pm
About OLT, it is strictly online, and for folks (like myself) who need to compare joint filing vs. separate for the lowest total fed plus state taxes, downloadable software works better.
I agree downloadable is easier to compare multiple mockups with changing variables. But the solution I settled on is to create a second OLT profile/login, and open it in another browser (firefox+chrome, or whatever) , and that way I can compare two different mockups very easily. Saves me $20 to HRB (software purchase fee), and another $25 (the state eFile fee is $35 at HRB, $10 at OLT). $45 is worth a bit of juggling for me.
I've gone back and forth between HRB and TT over the years. I do multiple returns for my immediate family and other family members. Neither is perfect. I've had issues with both. In 2020 I couldn't e-file with HRB due to a bug (I had to override a field). HRB was "responsive" but I wasn't going to wait months to see if a fix was coming. I tend to buy HRB because it is cheaper and my return isn't super complicated.
When I worked in public accounting we used commercial software which wasn't all that different (though it handled a lot more forms, entity types). We charged $250 30 years ago to do the most basic return.
tj wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 4:10 pm
I might just finally try the FreeFile option this year. That would save me the discounted software and the state e filing fee?
If you meet the criteria, which many don't. Some states also provide their own efile websites. Download software typically also lets you print/mail state returns without an additional fee, if state prep was included in your download
tj wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 4:10 pm
I might just finally try the FreeFile option this year. That would save me the discounted software and the state e filing fee?
If you meet the criteria, which many don't. Some states also provide their own efile websites. Download software typically also lets you print/mail state returns without an additional fee, if state prep was included in your download
Since it was only around 6 numbers, I used HRB last year to do my state return and then entered it on my state's website. Maybe I was cheap and should have just paid the $20, but I thought the amount was high for what it is.
tj wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 4:10 pm
I might just finally try the FreeFile option this year. That would save me the discounted software and the state e filing fee?
If you meet the criteria, which many don't. Some states also provide their own efile websites. Download software typically also lets you print/mail state returns without an additional fee, if state prep was included in your download
The max AGI of $70k seems pretty high to me. For what other reason would someone not qualify?
tj wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 4:10 pm
I might just finally try the FreeFile option this year. That would save me the discounted software and the state e filing fee?
If you meet the criteria, which many don't. Some states also provide their own efile websites. Download software typically also lets you print/mail state returns without an additional fee, if state prep was included in your download
The max AGI of $70k seems pretty high to me. For what other reason would someone not qualify?
I didn't place a value judgement on the criteria, just stated that many don't meet them. The criteria for each offer/software is different, but state of residence and AGI are the two big ones
minesweep wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 8:58 am
I use H&R Block for federal filing only (my state has their own tax filing system). Last year I paid $5 and change to do 2 federal tax returns (limit of 5 available).
Would you mind sharing where you found it for $5? And did you find it through a deals website?
Mr Jones: Sorry for the delayed resposnse, I was tied up today (figuratively speaking)
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tj wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 4:10 pm
I might just finally try the FreeFile option this year. That would save me the discounted software and the state e filing fee?
If you meet the criteria, which many don't. Some states also provide their own efile websites. Download software typically also lets you print/mail state returns without an additional fee, if state prep was included in your download
The max AGI of $70k seems pretty high to me. For what other reason would someone not qualify?
$73k is the 51th percentile for household income. That requirement already excludes half of all households. In addition, the following states are also excluded: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, GA, IL, LA, MA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, VA, WI. That also excludes more half of the total US population. So if I had to guess, less 1/4 of US households qualify.
tj wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 4:10 pm
I might just finally try the FreeFile option this year. That would save me the discounted software and the state e filing fee?
If you meet the criteria, which many don't. Some states also provide their own efile websites. Download software typically also lets you print/mail state returns without an additional fee, if state prep was included in your download
The max AGI of $70k seems pretty high to me. For what other reason would someone not qualify?
$73k is the 51th percentile for household income. That requirement already excludes half of all households. In addition, the following states are also excluded: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, GA, IL, LA, MA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, VA, WI. That also excludes more half of the total US population. So if I had to guess, less 1/4 of US households qualify.
I was thinking single, not household. That makes sense.
freight_train wrote: ↑Thu Oct 20, 2022 9:16 pm
Ahhhhhh Fall is here. The annual Quest for the best deal on H&R Block tax software! My favorite time of year. Festivus is near!
This topic also makes me miss the related thread on FWF (and that overall board). So many years of free TaxCut software!
I got the $15 deluxe+state offer last year. Personally, I’m glad I purchased it directly last year. It made it easier to get a refund since the 2021 desktop software didn’t support a form that I needed. It was strange since the 2020 software supported that year’s version of the form and I believe their online software and the competitors I looked at all supported it.
In the end, the only inexpensive software that supported all the forms I needed that I could find was OLT. The main downside is that OLT software has rough edges for me. It also seemed harder/impossible to import brokerage transactions. I’d probably look at HR Block again if it supports my tax situation again in the future, and if there aren’t cheap prices for TurboTax or TaxAct available. Their software supports the forms I need most years with deals to make it the least expensive fully featured software.
Lyrrad wrote: ↑Sat Oct 22, 2022 12:33 pm
I got the $15 deluxe+state offer last year. Personally, I’m glad I purchased it directly last year. It made it easier to get a refund since the 2021 desktop software didn’t support a form that I needed. It was strange since the 2020 software supported that year’s version of the form and I believe their online software and the competitors I looked at all supported it.
In the end, the only inexpensive software that supported all the forms I needed that I could find was OLT. The main downside is that OLT software has rough edges for me. It also seemed harder/impossible to import brokerage transactions. I’d probably look at HR Block again if it supports my tax situation again in the future, and if there aren’t cheap prices for TurboTax or TaxAct available. Their software supports the forms I need most years with deals to make it the least expensive fully featured software.
My thinking was (is) that, if OLT is going to be the quickest to implement new forms, since I don't know in advance what form I might need, it's much easier to just learn their software's rough edges and use OLT going forward (not to mention cheaper). I was a diehard HRB download user for the prior 9 years. If OLT fails me, I'll be back
Lyrrad wrote: ↑Sat Oct 22, 2022 12:33 pm
It made it easier to get a refund since the 2021 desktop software didn’t support a form that I needed. It was strange since the 2020 software supported that year’s version of the form and I believe their online software and the competitors I looked at all supported it.
Which form are you referring to? --vtMaps
"Truly, whoever can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities" --Voltaire, as translated by Norman Lewis Torrey
Lyrrad wrote: ↑Sat Oct 22, 2022 12:33 pm
It made it easier to get a refund since the 2021 desktop software didn’t support a form that I needed. It was strange since the 2020 software supported that year’s version of the form and I believe their online software and the competitors I looked at all supported it.
Which form are you referring to? --vtMaps
8915-F was not supported in the Desktop version of 2021 to my knowledge even though the previous version of the form (8915-E) was supported in 2020.
For anyone who gets it early, could you please check and see if the 2022 H&R software supports form 8911 (Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit)?
It has not in past versions. I will need it this year. I have read that TurboTax does support it. I left TurboTax after that big debacle years ago, but I will go back to them for 2022 to make filing for the credit easier (that is unless H&R Block supports it now).
jminer1 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 22, 2022 1:48 pm
For anyone who gets it early, could you please check and see if the 2022 H&R software supports form 8911 (Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit)?
It has not in past versions. I will need it this year. I have read that TurboTax does support it. I left TurboTax after that big debacle years ago, but I will go back to them for 2022 to make filing for the credit easier (that is unless H&R Block supports it now).
I had checked into FreeTaxUSA, but it seems to be an online only product. I'm only interested in tax software I can install onto a computer and work on locally. I've never heard of OLT, but I can check them out.
Edit: OLT seems to be an online only product also.
jminer1 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 22, 2022 1:48 pm
For anyone who gets it early, could you please check and see if the 2022 H&R software supports form 8911 (Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit)?
3feetpete wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 12:34 pm
Amazon generally has a better deal on Black Friday or cyber Monday. As an added bonus a record of this is maintained on your Amazon account and you can re download if you ever need to.
I'd like to know how this works, because I ordered my 2021 HRBlock download from Amazon last year. Yes, there's a record of the purchase, but NO there doesn't appear to be any way to re-download it. I'd love to be able to do that.
"Risk is what’s left over when you think you’ve thought of everything." ~ Morgan Housel
3feetpete wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 12:34 pm
Amazon generally has a better deal on Black Friday or cyber Monday. As an added bonus a record of this is maintained on your Amazon account and you can re download if you ever need to.
I'd like to know how this works, because I ordered my 2021 HRBlock download from Amazon last year. Yes, there's a record of the purchase, but NO there doesn't appear to be any way to re-download it. I'd love to be able to do that.
You go to your Games and Software Library. I checked mine and I still have a download link for every version since 2015. The hardest part for me is finding the library because there's not an obvious link from the account settings. I usually end up putting "software library" in the search bar and it eventually points me to a link.
3feetpete wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 12:34 pm
Amazon generally has a better deal on Black Friday or cyber Monday. As an added bonus a record of this is maintained on your Amazon account and you can re download if you ever need to.
I'd like to know how this works, because I ordered my 2021 HRBlock download from Amazon last year. Yes, there's a record of the purchase, but NO there doesn't appear to be any way to re-download it. I'd love to be able to do that.
LadyGeek wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 8:52 pm
It's that time again. I just received my first email offering H&R Block Deluxe + State software for $39.95. The software is released (becomes available for download) November 7.
Do I buy now and then regret not waiting until Black Friday deals roll around? Hard to say. Stay tuned.
I got the same offer and placed an order. I want the software on Nov. 7th so I can play with the numbers. I plan to do an RMD on Dec. 15 and withhold instead of doing quarterly taxes.
The early bird gets the worm; not always.
Note: I want the software ASAP....not when the price drops. I realize that the software won't be fully functional until January or later. I can start entering stuff. Maybe I'll figure out how to avoid going over one of those dreaded cliffs.
Preordered H&R Block 2022 Deluxe plus state a few days ago.
No backup CDs or other extras.
$42.75 out the door
I got the offer by email...which said the software would be available on Nov. 7. The after-purchase document said Nov. 11.
Last year's prices [H&R Block Deluxe + State] were around $22 in early-mid November, $20 around Black Friday/Monday after Thanksgiving, and the best price was $14.95 in mid December, but that was almost matched a few times in December and January. Not much to be gained by ordering before it is available, as you pay the money earlier, don't receive anything until around the time the price gets cheaper.
jminer1 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 22, 2022 3:32 pm
Thanks for the link!
Form 8911 was not listed there, so doesn't look like it will be supported this year either.
I have a similar issue. I've used TaxCut/H&RBlock software for years, but since they don't have form 8621, I'm stuck. Of course, TurboTax doesn't have it either, oof.
After some searching, it looks like TaxAct has it. So that's something. Not sure if that software ever goes on sale, though!
3feetpete wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 12:34 pm
Amazon generally has a better deal on Black Friday or cyber Monday. As an added bonus a record of this is maintained on your Amazon account and you can re download if you ever need to.
I'd like to know how this works, because I ordered my 2021 HRBlock download from Amazon last year. Yes, there's a record of the purchase, but NO there doesn't appear to be any way to re-download it. I'd love to be able to do that.
Thanks Grogs and Mervinj7. Worked like a charm. I had purchased HRB Federal + State 2021. I bought a new laptop and was hoping to use my HRB 2021 on it. I'm able to re-install from Amazon but the program still won't run the State. It requires re-purchase. I guess the re-installed program is not fresh and doesn't enable a free State. Wish I knew a way around this.
"Risk is what’s left over when you think you’ve thought of everything." ~ Morgan Housel
