Recently I was asked to try out H&R Block’s Block Live tax preparation service. We’ve used an online DIY service for years now, and it’s worked well for us, so honestly I was a little hesitant to switch it up. I’m glad I did – I really liked the H&R Block Live service. It saved Andy and me a lot of time, and they came up with a few deductions we weren’t aware of that saved us some money as well.
With Block Live, you can have your taxes done by a professional. By using video, phone and/or online chat, you don’t even have to leave your house. I was very, very impressed with the technological aspects of Block Live. I just uploaded PDFs of our previous tax forms, W2s, etc., which meant much. less. paper, because I didn’t have to print any of that out. For the things that were mailed to us in hard copy, I used the Block Live app, where I logged on from my phone, took a picture of my documents, and voila, they were there ready for my tax prep person seconds later.
Using Block Live was incredibly easy and didn’t take much time – I’d estimate I spent an hour and a half on our taxes – and it took a lot of the guess work out of the process. We didn’t have to wonder if we were putting the right things in the right places, because a professional was doing it for us. And, like I said, she knew some nuances about deductions that we weren’t aware of and saved us some money. I would definitely use the service again.
Block Live is affordable as well – the packages start at $39 (for the 1040EZ form – remember those days?) and a regular 1040 starts at $129. Of course, you can deduct tax preparation expenses from next year’s return as well.
Want to try it out? We’re giving away $50 discount codes to 5 readers. To enter, leave a comment on this post. For an extra entries, “like” H&R Block and/or Mommin’ It Up on Facebook, and leave additional comment(s) letting us know you did so. Winners will be chosen on Friday, March 9, 2012. Good luck!
