FYI, if you’re using H&R Block like me, don’t attempt to file yet. Their servers are down and nothing is going through. “Bad Gateway” is the response.
Worse, they will charge you the State filing fee for every failed transaction. I have two holds for $21.19 on my account now and no filed return. Will have to print copies today just in case I have to race to the post office tonight. Total bullshit.
Tax filing, no matter what you use, should never have an hiccup at all.
We sometimes talk in the IT thread about the march to push everything to the cloud these days. What you just described is one of the EXACT best match cases for why H&R block should move their servers to the cloud, dynamic scalability. They KNOW tax season is their high use watermark and can increase computing just when needed.
Hopefully you’re able to file today without issue!
Last minute eh? =) Still, kind of crappy that H&R Block is having server issues on tax day.
Mine were all filed back in March, and the IRS and Ohio both cashed their checks already. I owed a decent amount for 2023 due to the small inheritance situation from my mom’s passing even though I had them withhold about 25%, I didn’t count on how much it along with some other things that happened in 2023 would impact my AGI/bracket this past year, so I still owed between Fed and Ohio even with the extra withheld, but thankfully I’d set a little more aside just in case.
I’ve just been so busy, but yeah time got away from me and I should’ve done it sooner. I’m getting a refund, so it wasn’t like I was waiting to pay or anything.
They’re still down. Claiming back up in like an hour. Going to be a wild day. I ended up working from home so I can stay on top of it and submit if things start working again OR change it up immediately and get it in the mail. I guess I could probably try to file with this Freetaxusa place but then I’m paying for that too?
I end up having paid $40 for H&R Block just so my Mom could use it in that case… 
Freetaxusa is free for federal filing so it wouldn’t cost extra if you used them just for today.
Also, regarding your deadline, I always thought there was no penalty if you filed late but were getting a refund, since you don’t owe any additional tax. I’m not sure if that’s true but it makes sense to me!
Good question?
I am monitoring the situation and hoping I can get it through this afternoon. They claim to be working on it.
If not, my stuff is EZ so I will use the Freetax thing if I have to.
I wish my taxes were easy, but I got so much weird fucking investment stuff and shares in a private company that pays dividends that trying to use the apps is so annoying and I have to buy the most expensive version to cover those forms.
I feel like they have made their software more obtuse so you specifically pay extra for the tax expert support.
Anyway, I gave up doing it myself to reduce stress.
They have their servers back up and I was able to submit. Got the Local done too so I’m good. Thankfully this didn’t linger past five o’clock on the East Coast, but they definitely failed at communication and at preparedness on the weekend before Tax Day.
I’ll be that guy: I do my taxes myself! Well, the free fillable forms version, which does much of the arithmetic for you. I don’t necessarily recommend it, but if you have a simple tax situation, maybe consider trying it? If you have your return from last year, generally you can just copy it but with updated numbers.
But, why?
I mean FreeTaxUSA is exactly the option to use if you’re in the “Fuck Intuit and the tax prep lobby” camp, which I certainly am. It’s literally free for anyone without state income tax, and the fee for consulting with tax professionals and filing multiple amended returns is something like $12. It’s also really good software, and because of that very tax prep lobby banning them from advertising their services, it’s effectively immune to enshittification.
I used to be the same way, I sat there for hours with the paper forms and instructions from the library and a #2 pencil (for the 1st draft). I hit a wall about 15 or 20 or so years ago when the AMT was still a potential thing for folks like me with a lot of deductions and I just got lost figuring out if I (including my wife’s business) was subject to it. So I spent $20 or so for Turbo Tax and within an hour it said “NOPE” (but you’re close!) and I was done. At that time it was well worth what they charged, given that our accountant would have charged north of $200.
I definitely don’t recommend anyone do their taxes by hand. The time for money tradeoff with tax prep software is just not worth it unless you enjoy doing it. And if I had complicated taxes, I wouldn’t be doing it.
That said, for any MA residents, the online MA tax filing thing (done by the state) is pretty good. The interface is a little hokey, but if you have your federal return handy you can basically put in the numbers and you’re good to go.
For anyone still following this, I learned something else yesterday that ticked me off about tax season…
The Post Office is no longer open until midnight to accept Tax mailing! Yes, many/most file online, but this is the ONE day a year where a government function of the mail is potentially required business and the PO is shut down now at normal business hours?! That’s insane to me.
I used to see a line of people heading to the PO while I worked at the video store thirty years ago. Traffic from two directions in fact. Again, I get times have changed, but there are a still a lot of people mailing their returns. And with the problems I was having filing yesterday, I would have missed the 5PM closing time because they only got things back up around 5.
I’m not sure when that decision was made to stop staying open late for ONE day a year, not even past rush hour, but that’s a really terrible one IMO.
The Post Office no longer being open late on tax day may have something to do with the 2022 Postal Service Reform Act, spearheaded by Democrats and an unlikely ally, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy himself. The legislation gave the postal workers union more favorable work conditions including how their shifts were organized in a 6-day work week, and more importantly secured health insurance for all 650,000 employees. It’s just part of a 10-year plan DeJoy has enacted to reform the USPS. He has turned out to be nothing like the Trump-appointed villain who would bring about the demise of the already ailing US Postal Service as many claimed in his early days as Postmaster General, and actually looks like he may be pulling off one of the biggest corporate turnarounds in business history.
Atlanta mail delivery is apparently a major problem atm. Is that because of his new stuff? Ossoff had him in Congress just yesterday about it.
From the article you linked, it sounds like the new processing centers in the Atlanta area just opened in February, so they’re probably having issues getting up to speed to meet demand. Probably still very understaffed as well. DeJoy still has the support of the Postal Workers Union and the USPS Inspector General, and most people in the field seem to think his plan is sound, so if the people closest to the issue are supportive of him, I’d say let him continue to work and that maybe Ossoff and the others are scapegoating him for cheap political points? More likely a little of both (reforms not working fast enough so causing issues AND cheap political points).
Just got a notification that H&R Block will give me $20 off next year’s software because of the filing issues.
Since my Mom uses it, I will likely take them up on it. Glad they didn’t just ignore the problem.