H&R Block At Home 2010 Review

H&R Block At Home tax software is one of the top tax preparation programs available. H&R Block has been in business since 1955 and has become the largest tax preparation company in the country. One thing they have been lacking until recent years has been a solid tax preparation program that is available to individuals and businesses to file their taxes. In the past few years, this tax software has become one of the most popular and is extremely competitive with TurboTax, which has been established as an industry leader in the tax preparation software business for years. No matter what your financial situation looks like H&R Block has a version of their tax software that will likely fit your needs. This tax software creates great synergy between their core business of their network of tax preparation professionals and their software because if you are having trouble they make their tax professionals available for additional help.

H&R Block At Home Versions Offered

• Free Version: This version gives step by step guide to completing basic tax returns, double-checks returns for errors and supports most tax forms. This version will not prepare returns containing self-employment, stock transactions, rental property, farm or K1 income. This version is only free for your Federal tax return, they charge an additional $27.95 for each State tax return filed.
• Basic Version: The basic version gives you everything the free version offers but helps double-check for errors and guarantees the accuracy of the calculations. The cost for this version is $29.95 for filing your Federal tax return and an additional $36.95 for your State tax return.
• Deluxe Version: This version includes everything that the free version offers plus personalized tax guidance, ability to maximize deductions for mortgage interest and the charitable deduction, handles the sale of investments, and provides audit support from a tax professional. The cost for this version is $59.95 for filing your Federal tax return and an additional $36.95 for your State tax return.
• Premium Version: This version includes everything the Deluxe version offers but offers live tax advice, schedule C guidance, tax laws and planning resources, rental income assistance, and advanced tax calculators. The cost for this version is $99.95 for your Federal return and is an additional $36.95 for your State tax return.

Additional Perks Offered

• Pulls in prior basic information so you don’t have to enter again. So if you use this software year after year (the paid version), it will get quicker because it will pull in information that repeats. It will also run checks against prior years of information to look for possible mistakes.
• If you use one of their paid versions they offer free audit support, which is typically an additional fee offered by other companies (like TurboTax).
• Easy to understand tax questions. They try to use as little tax jargon as possible to make it easier for the average individual to be able to complete their tax return with knowing little about taxes. Some of the questions can be tedious, but they are just trying to cover all the bases in order to maximize your deductions you can receive.
• You can get live help from a tax professional if you use the premium version, which is a perk that is not offered by other tax software companies.
• You do not need to complete everything all at once, you can save your data and come back whenever to pick up where you left off.

If you are in the market for the right tax preparation software, you can’t go wrong with H&R Block. The only other tax software that I would recommend is TurboTax, which is very similar and there really is no clear winner between these two.