FTC cracks down on H&R Block for deleting tax data when users want to downgrade


The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against tax prep company H&R Block for allegedly wasting consumers’ time and money. The company deceptively marketed its services and made them difficult to downgrade, the FTC claims in an administrative complaint issued Friday.
“H&R Block designed its online products to present an obstacle course of tedious challenges to consumers, pressuring them into overpaying for its products,” FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection director Samuel Levine said in a statement.
The administrative complaint is similar to a lawsuit but results in proceedings before the FTC’s in-house administrative law judge. Findings can ultimately be appealed to a federal court.
The agency alleges that H&R Block steered customers to higher-cost online tax filing products, even when they didn’t need the extra forms included in those offerings. Even when customers later realized they bought a more expensive product than they needed, the FTC alleged, “H&R Block presented them with a series of time-consuming challenges when attempting to downgrade after already spending substantial time entering their tax information.”
H&R Block would basically give customers who tried to downgrade the runaround, according to the FTC — prompting them to call or chat customer support and then deleting all of their tax data so they needed to start over. This creates “a significant disincentive to downgrading,” the FTC wrote in a press release. Meanwhile, H&R Block moves customer data “seamlessly” when they wish to upgrade, the FTC alleges.
The company also deceptively marketed its tax prep services as “free,” even though many customers aren’t eligible for the free services, according to the FTC.
The company also caught the FTC’s attention last year when the agency warned five tax prep services that using consumer data for other purposes, like advertising, could result in civil penalties if they don’t first get consent. That notice came after a Markup investigation found that several companies had sent sensitive financial data to Facebook through its advertising pixel. A spokesperson for H&R Block said at the time the company “regularly evaluate[s] our practices as part of our ongoing commitment to privacy, and will review the information.”
The commission, which is currently made up of Democrats, voted 3-0 to issue the complaint.
H&R Block’s chief legal officer, Dara Redler, tells The Verge in an emailed statement there are “multiple mechanisms” customers can use to downgrade their products “while ensuring the preparation of accurate tax returns.”
The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against tax prep company H&R Block for allegedly wasting consumers’ time and money. The company deceptively marketed its services and made them difficult to downgrade, the FTC claims in an administrative complaint issued Friday. “H&R Block designed its online products to present an…
Recent Posts
- AMD’s powerful Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D CPUs rumored to arrive on March 12 – but gamers will still be better off with the 9800X3D
- The world’s thinnest foldable phone doesn’t come cheap
- Where to buy Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti: I’m expecting stock here first – but you’ll need to be fast
- Amazon is ending support for its business calls and meetings service
- Max Promo Code: 50% Off | February 2025
Archives
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2018
- October 2017
- December 2011
- August 2010