HR Block woes!

wrote

It's called "W-2 hostage", and it's illegal for them to retain your records such that you can't file a timely return. Now, they may still have the option to come after you for the fees. You can always claim the return was incomplete, incorrect, etc. I hate when people professing to be professionals do things like this.

-- Paul Thomas, CPA snipped-for-privacy@bellsouth.net

I work for Block. The policy is, if you are not satisfied with your return, you can take your forms and go elsewhere. Why are you dissatisfied? Have you asked the office manager to look over your return or refer you to a more experienced tax preparer? If none of these remedies satisfy you, then ask for your W-2s back and go somewhere else.

H&R Block is not covered by the legal requirements imposed on attornys and Certified Public Accountants. They are not covered by the code of ethics of the professional organizations of attornys, CPAs or Enrolled Agents. They are not covered by federal circular 230 (which applies to attornys, CPAs and EAs). Therefore, only regular state laws of contracts can be called upon to govern their behavior. In most states, my guess is, they have the power to put a mechanic's lien on your tax documents until you pay up. I see three options which are not mutually exclusive. (1) Pay up. (2) Sue, or threaten to sue, them for breach of contract. (3) Find out if a reporter for the local paper's business section sees a story worth printing. In the future I suggest you engage the services of a CPA or EA to complete your tax return. Moderator: Every court in every jurisdiction of the United States when presented with the question has held that original records must be returned regardless of any conflict between parties. There are narrow circumstances where copies are allowed.

There is no way that Block would refuse to return the W-2's without payment. The OP needs to talk with the manager of the Block office. I suspect the manager will ask for the opportunity to alleviate the OP's concerns about the quality of the tax return. If that fails, I'm certain the W-2's will be returned.

Being on this side of the fence I can also understand how you feel, but also how we feel. When we sit down with you and take time to figure up your tax returns, we do deserve a decent wage for our time. I think, or hope, you would agree with that. HOWEVER..... IRS rules say that all of a client's papers (including your W2 forms, etc_ belong to you, and therefore you are entitled to them at any rate. So go back, talk with the manager, tell him this, offer to pay maybe some percentage of the bill; say, 30% for preparer's time and demand your papers. And remember there is always the Better Business Bureau to whom to make a case. ChEAr$, Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

most states require the tax preparer to return original tax documents regardless of payment having said that, I know nothing of the particulars in the H&R Block agreement form ___________________________________

-----> real address on hobokeni or hobokenx

Why not? At least in California tax preparers are required to be one of those three. Stu

H&R Block's policy is pretty clear: if the client isn't satisfied, they get their paperwork back (but not the work that HRB did for them) and pay nothing. I gather from your post that your return was not completed and HRB has neither efiled it or provided a paper copy to file yourself. If the HRB office is holding your paperwork hostage and the office manager won't return it, contact their district office; I imagine the district manager will straighten them out PDQ. I'm curious as to what was so unusual about your tax situation that HRB couldn't satisfy you.

-- John D. Goulden

Well, not exactly, but they must be registered with CTEC

Excerpt from CTEC Tax Preparer code of conduct: "Must not fail to return, upon the demand by or on behalf of a customer, records or other data provided to the tax preparer by the customer." Another requirement of CTEC is that preparers must be bonded and must meet minimum annual certified training requirements. As has been made abundantly clear, the OP in this case stated only that "[they] make it sound like" they are holding documents hostage, what that means is open to debate but surely there is another side to this story, such as whether the OP even asked for the documents back. Knowing they are such a big fat target, why would H&R Block deliberately invite bad publicity over one client's $100 tax return prep fee? I wonder how many CPA's outside of California meet the same quality requirements as ordinary H&R Block tax pros within California (some of whom in fact are EA's or CPA's). I also know from first-hand experience that in some cases, being an EA means only that one was able to pass a test at one time, and does not necessarily indicate any high degree of skill whatsoever at preparing individual tax returns.

-Mark Bole

California is an exception. Most states have no such requirement. Does that mean everyone working on tax prep for HRB in California is an attorney, CPA or EA or just one of those per storefront?

My understanding is that the person who signs off on the return must be licensed, so that is not necessarily the person you talk to. But he must be under direst supervision of someone who is licensed. Stu