H&R Block's online product is the one that includes a human in the price. From Deluxe upward, unlimited expert help is part of the plan rather than an add-on, which is a different offer from the two products this site has already priced: TurboTax charges $59 to $209 for expert tiers, and TaxAct charges $45 for Xpert Assist.
That much is printed on their pages. The prices are not. H&R Block renders both its tier prices and its form-by-form comparison with script, so this page prints what it could read on September 27, 2026 and names what it could not.
The Four Tiers, and Who Each Is For
The descriptions below are H&R Block's own "best for" lists, quoted from each product page.
| Tier | Best for, in their words |
|---|---|
| Free Online | Simple returns, students, unemployment income, W-2 employees, the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit |
| Deluxe | Childcare expenses, homeowners, itemized deductions, freelancers and gig workers, health savings accounts |
| Premium | Rental income and deductions, stock and bond investments, cryptocurrency sales |
| Self-Employed | Business income reporting and deductions, small business expenses |
Read the Deluxe row twice, because it is the one that creates doubt. Deluxe's own list names freelancers and gig workers, while the tier named Self-Employed is the one described as carrying business income and expenses. The two descriptions overlap in the marketing, and the per-form comparison that would settle it is rendered by script rather than printed in the page.
What Their Pages Print, and What They Do Not
TaxAct prints "$109.99 plus $64.99 per state" as text on its product page. TurboTax prints "$139" as text on its product page. H&R Block prints a dollar sign and a space, and the number arrives afterwards from a script: on the four product pages read on September 27, 2026, Free Online's label reads "File for free" and the other three read "Start for free", while the Self-Employed page's own price line renders as "$ + per state filed" with the amount missing.
A correction, stated rather than quietly fixed, because the earlier version of this page made a claim it should not have. It listed the four tiers at $0, $65, $105 and $130, read out of a configuration block in the page source. The block is real. Read again today it looks like this: HRBData.config.lsp = {"4749":"225.00","56":"120.00","47":"130.00","58":"145.00","20145":"75.00","204":"65.00","3244":"200.00","60":"130.00","52":"44.00","32":"105.00","54":"80.00","20446":"130.00"}. Its keys are numeric service codes, not tier names. Nothing on the page ties any code to a tier, no 0.00 appears anywhere in it, and the three values in the range you would expect for tiers are exactly what makes the guess tempting and still a guess. This page prints no tier price it cannot read.
What the company does print is a fee schedule, for its offices: a consumer-rights disclosure published as a PDF for its company-owned locations in Albuquerque, New Mexico lists federal base prices of $69, $99, $139, $169 and $199 by return complexity, $65 per state return, the child tax credit at $45, a local return at $20, a filing extension at $99, Peace of Mind at $40, Tax Identity Shield at $35 and a Refund Transfer at $39. That is far more price detail than this industry usually publishes, it is valid only at those offices, and it does not cover the online products this review is about. The contrast is the finding: the schedule exists for the counter, and nothing comparable exists for the person filing at home.
Expert Help, Included
From Deluxe upward, H&R Block bundles unlimited expert help, which its pages describe as "unlimited expert help, plus free access to AI Tax Assist and live support". For a freelancer, the comparison with the other two products is straightforward:
- TaxAct: Xpert Assist is $45 on top of the $109.99 Self-Employed tier, and it answers questions rather than reviewing the return.
- TurboTax: Expert Assist Basic is $59 and Expert Assist Premium is $209, with the higher tier adding a review before filing.
- H&R Block: included from Deluxe upward, according to its own pages, with no separate expert add-on priced on the pages this review read.
If the reason for buying a paid tier is having someone to ask, H&R Block is the cheapest of the three on the face of it, and it is also the only one of the three whose tier line-up includes the human rather than selling it alongside.
Free Online, and Who Qualifies
H&R Block prints that approximately 52% of filers qualify for Free Online, which is the most precise free-tier qualification figure of the three products this site has reviewed: Intuit prints "around 37% of filers qualify".
The included situations are simple returns, students, unemployment income, W-2 employees, the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit, with interest and dividend income capped at $1,500 and the standard deduction required. Self-employment income is not on that list, so a side hustle means paying for a tier.
What This Review Still Could Not Verify
Two things, and they are named here rather than papered over:
- What the state return costs. Every product page says "+ per state filed" with no number, and the price dictionary carries no state entry.
- What each tier's federal price is today. The pages print "Start for free" and the number appears later in the filing flow, where the site says it can change with your tax situation. That is a real product model, and it is also a price a reader cannot check before starting.
One question the earlier version of this page listed as open is settled, and settled by H&R Block's own FAQ: which tier carries a Schedule C. Deluxe files the income; claiming business expenses such as home office costs, vehicle expenses or supplies requires Self-Employed Online. That answer is now part of the score below rather than a gap.
Who It Fits, and Who Should Skip It
It fits the filer who wants a person available. Unlimited expert help included from Deluxe upward is the reason to choose this product over TaxAct or TurboTax, and it is included rather than metered.
Skip it if you file the simplest return. The free tier covers W-2 income, unemployment, students and a limited amount of interest and dividends. Paying for Deluxe to file a return Free Online already handles is the easiest money to waste here.
Skip it if you want certainty before starting. The price of the Self-Employed tier is not printed, and the state fee is a blank. A filer who wants to know the total before opening the product should price TaxAct, whose numbers are printed, or reach H&R Block's comparison page in a browser first.
Skip the office upsell unless you want it. H&R Block's other business includes storefront tax offices and its own bookkeeping service, and the pages reviewed here push appointments and financial products alongside the online tiers. The office option is a genuine difference from the other two products, which have no counters to walk into, and it is priced separately.
How This Score Works
The criteria below were written before this product was scored, and they are the same five on every review here. Each one takes only inputs you can check yourself on a vendor page: what a plan includes, where it caps you, what processing costs, what is sold separately, and what is printed versus quoted. Nothing in the score depends on how the software feels to use, because that is not something this page can evidence.
| Criterion | 2 points | 1 point | 0 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the entry plan includes | The cheapest paid plan does the product’s core job without an upgrade, and nothing a solo user needs monthly sits a tier up | Core job works, but at least one routine monthly need is only on a higher tier | The cheapest paid plan cannot do the core job without an upgrade or a paid add-on |
| Where the caps bite | No hard cap a one-person business would hit in a year | A cap exists but sits above ordinary solo use | A cap sits inside ordinary solo use |
| Cost of getting paid | Processing rates published, and a bank transfer path under 1.5% or capped | Rates published, but card only or the bank path is 1.5% or higher | Rates not published anywhere public |
| Add-on load | Nothing routine is sold separately; add-ons are genuinely optional | One routine need is priced as an add-on | Two or more routine needs are add-ons, or a required add-on costs half the plan again |
| Price transparency | Every plan price and the renewal price is printed, and promotions state what they renew at | Plan prices printed, but a material cost needs a call, a login or a quote | The entry price only exists as a promotion, or key prices are not public |
8 points available across the 4 criteria that apply to this product, scaled to five: 3 ÷ 8 × 5 = 1.9. The one left out is named in the table above with the reason. A high score means the pricing is honest and the plan you buy is the plan you keep. It does not mean the product is the best one for you.
The Score
| Criterion | Score | Why, from the printed facts |
|---|---|---|
| What the entry plan includes | 0 / 2 | The cheapest paid tier is Deluxe, and the product’s own FAQ draws the line: Deluxe is "the most cost-effective option for filing your Schedule C self-employment income" only "if you have no business expenses to deduct", and with home office, vehicle or supply costs the page says you need Self-Employed Online. The reasoning is printed, which is what makes it usable, and it also means the entry paid tier cannot finish the return this product is sold for. |
| Where the caps bite | 2 / 2 | No cap on returns, forms or clients: the tiers differ by which forms are supported, not by how much you are allowed to file. Free Online’s list of qualifying situations is an eligibility rule for a free product rather than a ceiling on a paid plan. |
| Cost of getting paid | n/a | Does not apply: The product does not process payments for the customer, so there is no rate to publish |
| Add-on load | 1 / 2 | One routine need is priced separately and the price is not printed: the state return, which every product page shows as "+ per state filed" with no number. The one DIY price H&R Block does print is $35 for unlimited expert help on Free Online, and the same help is included from Deluxe upward. |
| Price transparency | 0 / 2 | None of the four DIY tiers prints a price. Free Online says "File for free" and the other three say "Start for free"; the Self-Employed page’s own price line renders as "$ + per state filed" with the amount blank; and the site warns that a change in your tax situation may require a price adjustment, so the number is not fixed either. What the source does carry is a code-keyed price dictionary that names no tiers. |
| H&R Block Online | 3 / 8 | 1.9 out of 5 |
Three out of eight, or 1.9 out of five, the lowest score this site has given, and the reason is not the software. Two of the four criteria that apply are about what a buyer can read before paying, and on these pages the answer is nothing: no tier price, no state price, and a number that can move with your tax situation. TurboTax, on the same criteria, scores 2.5 because it prints its federal prices, and TaxAct prints both figures.
The two points it keeps are real. Nothing caps how much you can file, and the tiers are separated by forms rather than by volume. If H&R Block printed four prices, the score on this page would move by a point or more on that change alone, which is worth saying because the score measures the pricing structure rather than the product.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does H&R Block Self-Employed cost?
The four DIY tiers do not print a federal price. Their labels read "File for free" for Free Online and "Start for free" for Deluxe, Premium and Self-Employed, the state line reads "+ per state filed" without a number, and the price appears later in the filing flow, where H&R Block says it can adjust if your tax situation changes. An earlier version of this page reported $65, $105 and $130 from a code-keyed dictionary in the page source; that mapping was this site’s inference rather than the vendor’s label, and it has been removed. The only printed price path is H&R Block’s offices, whose Albuquerque fee schedule runs $69 to $199 by return complexity plus $65 a state.
Does H&R Block include expert help without an upcharge?
Yes, and it is the clearest difference between the three big online products. H&R Block’s own pages say "unlimited expert help, plus free access to AI Tax Assist and live support" is included with Deluxe, Premium and Self-Employed. TurboTax sells expert access separately: Expert Assist Basic is $59 and Expert Assist Premium is $209. TaxAct sells Xpert Assist at $45.
Which H&R Block tier do I need for a Schedule C?
Deluxe, if the business has no expenses to claim. H&R Block’s own FAQ puts it plainly: Deluxe is "the most cost-effective option for filing your Schedule C self-employment income" when there is nothing to deduct, and if you have business expenses such as home office costs, vehicle expenses or supplies, you "need H&R Block Self-Employed Online to claim those". That line settles the question this page previously left open, and it is also why the score below marks the entry tier down: the cheap tier files the income and cannot take the deductions that make the income worth filing.
Can I file for free with H&R Block?
Yes, for simple returns. H&R Block prints that approximately 52% of filers qualify for Free Online, and lists the included situations: simple returns, students, unemployment income, W-2 employees, the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit. Interest and dividend income is limited to $1,500 and the standard deduction is required, so a Schedule C is not part of the free tier.
What extra fees should I expect at checkout?
One is printed in their footnotes: a Refund Transfer Account, which takes the filing fee out of your refund, costs $42. Their other financial products, including refund advance loans, are separate offerings from Pathward, N.A. rather than part of the filing price.
What score did this page give H&R Block?
Three out of eight points, or 1.9 out of five, from the four criteria that apply. It keeps both points on caps and one on add-ons, and scores zero on what the entry plan includes and zero on price transparency: no tier price is printed, the state line carries no number, and the cheapest paid tier cannot claim business expenses. The score measures the pricing structure, which is what the rubric was written for.
Sources
Tier descriptions, free tier limits and quoted wording were checked against these pages on September 27, 2026.
- H&R Block Self-Employed Online, for the tier's "best for" list, the "Start for free" labels and the price dictionary read from the page source
- H&R Block Deluxe Online, for the Deluxe "best for" list naming freelancers and gig workers, and the $42 Refund Transfer footnote
- H&R Block, comparing online tax filing services, for the $35 expert-help price on Free Online and the state-return comparison against a competitor
- H&R Block, Albuquerque consumer bill of rights, for the office fee schedule by return complexity, the per-state charge and the itemised add-on prices. The PDF answers a node fetch and blocks curl, and was read with a text extractor
- H&R Block Premium Online, for the rental and investment coverage list
- H&R Block Free Online, for the approximately 52% qualification figure and the included and excluded situations
- H&R Block online filing, for the "unlimited expert help" line covering Deluxe, Premium and Self-Employed
For the two products with printed prices, see TaxAct Self-Employed and TurboTax, or the head to head at TurboTax vs TaxAct.
