H&R Block

If you own your home or have some investments, H&R Block's Deluxe online filing service delivers the convenience of eFiling with expert guidance, and for a surprisingly affordable (and recently discounted) price. The Deluxe option has everything offered in the Free and Basic options plus help with your home mortgage, investments, dividends, and charitable deductions. You can also file your state taxes for an additional fee. You don't have to file (or pay) until you're satisfied and H&R Block guarantees its arithmetic, too. The Deluxe tool lets you import previous filing data from TurboTax, TaxACT, and other services.

If you've ever shopped for a cell phone online, H&R Block's Web site will have a familiar look and feel. You have four choices: Free, Basic, Deluxe, and Premium. We clicked the Deluxe tool and proceeded to the log-on page to access the secure site. You can try the services for free without creating an account, but you can't store returns online or access support until you have an account. The step-by-step tax prep process includes plenty of options for seeking answers to questions -- most of which have already been asked. Limits on session times prompted timeout warnings, but that's for your safety.

When eFiling began, you could only file the easiest tax returns with the help of expensive software. Today you can account for interest income, mortgage deductions, and other critical tax breaks with H&R Block's Deluxe tax service.