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How to choose the right H&R Block DIY income tax filing option for you in 2024
This content is sponsored by H&R Block.
H&R Block
The dreaded filing deadline for your 2023 income taxes — Monday, April 15, 2024 — is fast approaching. If you haven’t started on your taxes yet, now’s the time. You don’t want to be caught with any last-minute tax surprises!
If you’re anxious about filing taxes yourself, there’s good news: H&R Block offers DIY tax options that make it easy to do your taxes, even if you have a more complicated filing situation. Homeowners, stock and cryptocurrency investors, small business owners — even people who work a side hustle can all benefit from H&R Block’s many options.
Not sure what DIY tax filing option is right for you? Read on as we break down all the H&R Block tax filing options available in 2024 and recommend the one that’s best for your personal tax situation.
For people with simple returns: H&R Block Free Online
If you’re a student, collecting unemployment or someone with a W-2, check out H&R Block’s free tax-filing option. It allows you to claim the child tax credit, education credits and student loan interest deduction. H&R Block boasts more free forms than its largest competitor, so more people will qualify to file for free with H&R Block.
If you’re a homeowner, investor or business owner, you are unlikely to qualify for H&R Block Free Online filing. If you’re not sure if you qualify, you can start your return for free and H&R Block will guide you toward the tier you need.
Tap the button below to start your free 2023 federal and state income tax return at H&R Block.
For homeowners: H&R Block Deluxe
If you’re a homeowner, you’re going to want to take advantage of all the income tax deductions available to you. For this, we recommend H&R Block Deluxe — the tier allows you to itemize deductions, plus claim child care expenses and HSA contributions. The Deluxe tier also grants access to a live expert or the H&R Block AI Tax Assist platform.
H&R Block Deluxe is $55 for federal filing, plus $45 per state filed.
For investors and rental owners: H&R Block Premium
Do you dabble in investing on Robinhood and Coinbase? Then you’ll likely need to upgrade to H&R Block Premium. The higher level tier includes everything you get with H&R Block Deluxe with the added ability to import your trades — a must if you sold stocks or cryptocurrency in 2023.
Are you renting a room in your house out to a friend, or maybe renting out an investment property? H&R Block Premium is great at finding deductions you might otherwise be missing.
H&R Block Premium is $85 for federal filing, plus $45 per state filed.
For contractors and business owners: H&R Block Self-Employed
Self-Employed, the highest level tier H&R Block offers, gives you access to everything in the H&R Block Premium tier, plus the forms needed for handling more complicated self-employment situations. In particular, H&R Block Self-Employed is ideal for those who run a small business or make money from a side hustle like Uber or eBay. The tier allows for small business asset depreciation, as well.
H&R Block Self-Employed is $115 for federal filing, plus $45 per state filed.
Can H&R Block can handle small business payroll?
H&R Block
Running a larger business with a staff? Then you should know that H&R Block handles payroll and bookkeeping services for small businesses.
H&R Block offers three levels of payroll service. Basic, which comes with a dedicated account and covers single-state payroll, starts at $59 per month. The Plus tier includes everything in Basic, plus state tax registration guidance, contractor pay-out, year-end W2s and 1099s and comprehensive reports, and starts at $79 per month, plus $10 per employee. The Premium tier includes everything in the Plus tier, adding workers’ compensation, HR tools and resources, and timekeeping. The cost for Premium is $140 per month, plus $10 per employee.
Tap the button below to learn more about H&R Block handling your company’s payroll, and to sign up.
Does H&R Block offer small business bookkeeping?
H&R Block self-service bookkeeping starts at $39 per month, with income and expense management and standard reporting. The full-service option starts at $175 per month and includes a dedicated accountant plus a review of your books year-to-date. A $299 per month Premium tier is available to those with complicated business needs. This tier offers features such as project tracking, quoting and estimates, expense management tools, custom account charts, accrual-based accounting, sales and use tax filing, and multiple currency options.
Tap the button below to learn more about H&R Block’s bookkeeping options.
When is the tax filing deadline in 2024?
For most Americans, the deadline for filing your 2023 federal income taxes is Monday, April 15, 2024. Because of the Patriot’s Day and Emancipation Day holidays, the tax filing deadline for Massachusetts and Maine residents is April 17, 2024. You can request a free extension to Oct. 15, 2024, but note that you need to pay any taxes due by April 15, 2024 to avoid penalties and interest.
Those who live in certain FEMA-declared disaster areas have an extended filling deadline of June 17, 2024.
NEW YORK – The man accused of killing three people when drove drunk into a crowd on the Lower East Side on July 4th was arraigned on a host of charges Saturday.
Daniel Hyden of Monmouth Junction, N.J. is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, manslaughter, assault and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated charges. Hyden was driving with a suspended license, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Hyden, 44, drove a Ford F-150 pickup truck into the crowd at Corlears Hook Park just before 9 p.m. local time. He allegedly ran through a stop sign at the intersection of Water and Cherry Streets, drove up onto the sidewalk, slammed through the chain link fence, and into the crowd.
Eleven people were killed or injured, prosecutors said. The three people killed have been identified as Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her son Herman Pinkney, 38, and Ana Morel, 43. Another person was critically injured, and seven others hospitalized. The youngest victim was 11, according to prosecutors.
Responding police officers say they found Hyden on the ground next to the driver’s-side door, wearing pants but no shirt or shoes. He had bloodshot eyes, was stumbling and there was “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath.”
“I hope we get justice”
Photos provided
On Friday, Family members of the victims returned to the scene, some breaking down in tears.
“I hope we get justice for my brother and my mother,” Diamond Pinkney said. “Herman, I love you. I’m going to do you proud.”
“We’re all devastated with this. It breaks my heart, and I’m so sad about it,” neighbor Nereida Garcia said.
The world’s oldest mummies have been around longer than the mummified pharaohs of Egypt and their ornate tombs — but the ravages of time, human development and climate change are putting these relics at risk.
Chile’s Atacama Desert was once home to the Chincorro people, an ancient population that began mummifying their dead 5,000 years ago, two millennia before the Egyptians did, according to Bernando Arriaza, a professor at the University of Tarapaca.
The arid desert has preserved mummified remains and other clues in the environment that give archaeologists information about how the Chincorro people once lived.
The idea to mummify bodies likely came from watching other remains naturally undergo the process amid the desert’s dry conditions. The mummified bodies were also decorated with reed blankets, clay masks, human hair and more, according to archaeologists.
While UNESCO has designated the region as a World Heritage Site, the declaration may not save all of the relics. Multiple museums, including the Miguel de Azapa Archaeological Museum in the ancient city of Arica, put the Chincorro culture on display. Some mummies and other relics are safely ensconced in those climate-controlled exhibits, but the remains still hidden in the arid desert remain at risk.
“If we have an increase in sea surface temperatures, for example, across the coast of northern Chile, that would increase atmospheric humidity,” said Claudio LaTorre, a paleo-ecologist with the Catholic University of Chile. “And that in turn would generate decomposition, (in) places where you don’t have decomposition today, and you would lose the mummies themselves.”
Other clues that archaeologists can find in the environment may also be lost.
“Human-induced climate change is one aspect that we’re really worried about, because it’ll change a number of different aspects that are forming the desert today,” said LaTorre.
Arriaza is working to raise awareness about the mummies, hoping that that will lead to even more preservation.
“It’s a big, big challenge because you need to have resources,” Arriaza said. “It’s everybody’s effort to a common goal, to preserve the site, to preserve the mummies.”
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