TurboTax vs H&R Block: Which Tax Software Should You Use?

What a Simple W-2 Return Costs on Each

A filer with only W-2 income and the standard deduction pays $0 in federal and state fees on both platforms. TurboTax's Free Edition covers a simple Form 1040 with a narrow set of credits: the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, student loan interest, and retirement plan distributions, and Intuit puts the share of filers who qualify at roughly 37%.

H&R Block's Free Online tier draws its line in nearly the same place. It handles Form 1040 with no schedules beyond that same short list of credits. Add a Schedule C for freelance income, a rental property, or investment sales, and both companies move you off the free tier and onto a paid one. Not sure which bracket that pushes you into? Our how much tax will I pay guide walks through the bracket math both platforms automate for you.

What Each Charges Once Your Return Gets More Complex

H&R Block prices the jump up front. Its Deluxe tier runs $65 federal plus $49 per state, Premium runs $105 federal plus $49 per state for investors and landlords, and Self-Employed runs $130 federal plus $49 per state, all listed on H&R Block's own pricing page. Confirm the exact figure there before you file, since online tax prices can move during the season.

TurboTax handles pricing differently for 2025 filings. Its paid Do It Yourself tier discloses a price only after CompleteCheck, its built-in error scan, has read your actual forms, so the fee scales to your situation rather than sitting on a published tier chart. That makes TurboTax harder to price-shop before you start, and it means the only reliable way to compare the two on a complex return is to run your real numbers through TurboTax's estimator and set that figure beside H&R Block's posted tier price.

Getting Help From a Real Person In an Office

H&R Block operates retail tax offices across the country, staffed by certified tax professionals who prepare your return in person while you wait or drop off your documents and pick up the finished return later. That in-person option covers a filer who wants someone to physically review a stack of paper W-2s and 1099s, or who simply doesn't want to type a tax return into a browser.

TurboTax has no retail locations. Every service it offers, including its expert-review and full-service tiers, happens through a screen share or a video call rather than a desk across from you. That's a real gap for anyone who has never filed online before and wants a person in the room the first time.

What Happens If the IRS Audits Your Return

Both companies include free audit guidance with every return. TurboTax's Audit Support Guarantee gives you a tax professional who walks you through an IRS or state notice and answers questions about it, plus up to two hours of collection assistance if a covered audit results in tax due. TurboTax also sells paid Audit Defense, handled by TaxAudit, where a certified professional communicates with the IRS and drafts your response letters.

H&R Block's version is called Worry-Free Audit Support, a paid add-on for online filers that comes free if you buy H&R Block's tax software instead. It covers IRS correspondence and audit preparation, and you can request that an H&R Block enrolled agent represent you if an actual audit happens, though an enrolled agent handles tax matters only, not legal representation. Neither company's free tier covers you if the error was in the numbers you typed rather than the software's math, so double-check your own entries against your actual documents before you file either way.

Live Expert Review Without Leaving Home

TurboTax sells expert help as a separate add-on. Expert Assist gives you unlimited, on-demand access to a tax expert while you prepare the return yourself, plus a final review before you file. Expert Full Service goes further: a dedicated preparer handles the entire return from intake to signature, at a price that climbs with the complexity of your situation.

H&R Block bundles its help instead of selling it separately. Every paid tier, from Deluxe up through Self-Employed, already includes unlimited expert help alongside an AI Tax Assist chat feature for quick questions. That difference matters for a filer who plans to use expert help anyway: paying once for a tier that already includes it usually costs less than paying for the software and then adding help on top.

Refund Advance: Getting Part of Your Refund Early

Both companies will front you part of your expected refund as a short-term loan while the IRS processes your actual return. TurboTax advertises its Refund Advance at up to $4,000, at 0% APR with no loan fees, deposited once your return is accepted. H&R Block's version runs $250 to $4,000 and is repaid automatically once your real refund arrives, though its current interest and fee terms are worth confirming directly on H&R Block's site before you apply, since loan terms are the kind of detail that changes without much notice.

Neither advance is guaranteed. Approval depends on your expected refund amount and a quick credit check, and a smaller-than-expected refund from the IRS can leave you owing the difference.

The Interview Flow and Filing From Your Phone

Both platforms walk you through a question-by-question interview rather than handing you a blank IRS form, and both let you snap a photo of a W-2 to auto-fill most of the fields. TurboTax has long been the more praised of the two for how smoothly that interview flows from one question to the next, especially on a return with several different income types.

H&R Block has closed most of that gap with its own redesigned flow and the AI Tax Assist feature, which answers plain-language questions about a line item without making you leave the screen you're on. The practical difference now is smaller than it was a few years ago, and most filers who try both will find either one workable for a normal return.

Who Should Skip Each One

Skip TurboTax if you specifically want to sit down with a preparer in person, since it has no offices to visit at any price point. Skip H&R Block's paid tiers if your return is genuinely simple and you're only paying because you didn't check whether you qualified for the free tier first.

Skip both if you're a confident filer with a return that rarely changes year to year. Our FreeTaxUSA vs TurboTax comparison covers a cheaper alternative that still e-files directly with the IRS, and it's worth reading before you pay full retail price at either TurboTax or H&R Block for a return you could file free elsewhere.

What Would Change This Recommendation

If TurboTax opened retail locations, its one real disadvantage against H&R Block would disappear, and the choice would come down almost entirely to price and interview quality. If H&R Block started undercutting TurboTax's per-form pricing by a wide enough margin on complex returns, the value case would flip even for a filer who never plans to visit an office.

A broader expansion of the IRS's own free Direct File tool into more states and more tax situations would change the calculus for both companies at once, since a free option that files straight with the IRS beats a paid one for any return it actually covers. Check your state's current Direct File eligibility before assuming either TurboTax or H&R Block is your only option this season.

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