I’ve often thought that when it comes to taxes, I’m a bit of an oddity. Being self-employed, my taxes take a lot of work. But despite that, I love the chance to see how well my business has done over the past year…though making that final payment to the government does hurt a bit! This year, H&R Block challenged me to try its online software and see if it could make my filing experience even more enjoyable. Since the company promises a quick and easy experience that’s also absolutely free, I was more than willing to give it a try.
Last year was my first experience with an online filing program, though I did use a different company’s paid version to file. This year H&R Block requested I see how its program compared and I couldn’t wait. I have to admit that I didn’t believe the program was free for everyone at first. I mentioned that as someone with a home-based business and investment income, I likely would need a paid premium version of the program. Learning that H&R Block’s online tax software is 100% free for everyone had me even more excited to test it out!
I signed up online and started entering my information. The program uses questions and answers in a simple interview-style process to obtain essential filing information about dependents, job status, marital status and more. I liked the way that just a quick click of a button prepared the software to obtain all the necessary information it would need for my return. I also loved being able to save my progress and come back at any time, since I often have to reference paperwork and add up various income and expenses when filing.
Another must when filing online is being able to add more than one business, since I have two that I need to enter on my tax return. Adding multiple business statements was done with the push of a button, something that I really appreciated. And while the program does perform quite a few automatic calculations of amounts owing, it left me the freedom to plug in the exact GST payment amount I owed without trying to calculate it for me. Since I don’t use the quick method of GST calculating, that was an essential feature for me when filing.
Finally, when my information was fully entered, the software searched for possible additional deductions I could claim. From transferring my universal child care benefit to my oldest son to taking advantage of refunds for childcare and sports fees, claiming every available benefit was a simple process with H&R Block online software. And watching the amount I owed continue to get lower and lower with each claimed deduction on the Refund-O-Meter was so much fun!
Overall, it was the ease of use when entering my information that I loved the most about this software. Adding tax slips, changing amounts and confirming all the information on my return was easy and guaranteed to be accurate. Not only does H&R Block software guarantee your maximum refund, it will also cover any CRA penalties and interest charges in the event that there is an amount owing due to an error in the software. Getting the highest refund (or the lowest amount owing) quickly, easily and completely free is something that nobody should pass up this year!
For the most part, the H&R Block tax software was every bit as easy to use as my previous online tax program, with the added benefit of being completely free! The only thing I missed was the option of live chatting with a tax expert to answer specific questions. In place of that, H&R Block does offer a comprehensive FAQ and the Tax Talk Blog to help users find information they might need to file.
Don’t forget, if you’re just not ready to try filing online yet, H&R Block has a great promotion for anyone visiting its offices this year! If you had your taxes prepared elsewhere last year, just bring your receipt to a local H&R Block office and the company will prepare your taxes for half the cost you paid before!
After a lot of work and a lot of math, my taxes are finally done. And I’m so pleased with how quickly the job progressed, mostly due to all the automatic calculations the H&R Block online software did for me. In fact, calculating my fiance’s much easier return was quite literally done in about five minutes, even with his union dues and meal deductions to enter! Whether you’ve never filed your taxes online before or you normally pay for a program to file, this year you’ll want to give H&R Block’s free online program or free downloadable software to try. With nothing to lose and a big refund to gain, it just makes sense to file with H&R Block!
We used H & R block the past few years! We love it! It makes filing taxes so much easier!
100% free? No hidden costs? I hate tax time and hate paying someone to do them for me.
I have to try this and just so happens I haven’t done my taxes YET!!
Completely and totally free, Leslie! I had a hard time believing it too! Lol
My taxes are pretty simple. I think I am still one of the few that uses snail mail.
I do my own taxes every year; mine are fairly basic.
My husband does our taxes every year and I am so grateful.
He enjoys working with numbers and doing things like this.
I have a tax lady that does mine, I would be all screwed up and probably end up paying back a ton of money if I did it myself..lol
I will have to try next year
silly me bought the turbo tax this year darn
Thanks goodness my husband looks after ours for us as I just get lost in all the “talk” that I wouldn’t even know where to start!!
Thanks for the great tips,H&R Block’s online just takes minutes to do !
I just took your advice and filed my mom’s return for this year with H&R Block. It literally took me 10 mixtures from start to finish. Thanks.