What's The Benefit of Me Doing My Own Taxes vs H&R Block's Instant Rebate?

The only difference is the fee that you pay for H&R Block to do it for you

Kpoguide wrote: ↑ I used to do my taxes with Money Mart as they had an instant rebate service, however they discontinued it a few years back. I believe I did my own taxes once almost 20 years ago at a tax community event and I got almost nothing back. I was young then though probably didn't make whatever it took to get something back. Anyways nowadays H&R Block has the same instant refund service. They give you a cheque in person the very same day they do your taxes or send it to your bank account I believe. Anyways the past couple of years I have done the instant refund through H&R Block. Only thing is they charge like $129 with tax...

Some of my friends are telling me to do it on my own using WealthSimple, Turbo Tax, or other types of software. WealthSimple is actually free. But at the same time friends tell me it can take time to get their refund, some reps at H&R Block say the same thing if you choose outside of them. But everytime I go with H&R Block I get a pretty big refund... I'm on the fence what should I do?

My return on WealthSimple says I wouldn't be getting back much, but the Ontario Trillium and I think GST or whatever those things are (I don't know much about taxes), do show up on WealthSimple as being quite the sums. It seems or I could be wrong H&R Block give you those sums (Trillum / GST) and such in advance instead of me waiting for quarterly payments or monthly deposits. I don't know maybe some of you could tell me the advantages and disadvantages of using a instant refund service?

I am in fact in need of the money as soon as possible but would hate to go with H&R Block, pay $129 if WealthSimple says my return is only like $200, but those Trillium and other couple things in broken payments are there and its quite a lot. I rather get all of it through H&R Block if they will give it all in advance including those broken payments.



Let me know your advice, and Thanks

When you have no idea what you are doing, it is best to pay someone to do it. But H R Block will only give you tax refund instantly, not the benefits. Like they say you get what you pay for or got nothing if you can get Wealthsimple for free.

Your refund should be the same whether you do it yourself or go with H&R. They don't have access to any magic credits. But, if you don't know what you are doing, you may miss things and end up with a smaller refund. On the other hand, you save the $129. If you file it electronically, you should get your refund in about a week. That's not as good as instant, but not too bad. I don't think they can give you an advance on the quarterly payments like the GST credit, but someone may correct me on that.

Previous answers hit on some of the important points, but one thing to keep in mind is that going with H&R Block is no guarantee that your return will be completed properly.

1) the main qualification of H&R block tax return "specialists" is a 72 hour course:

Sure, you're getting the brand name recognition of H&R Block, but it doesn't tell you a lot about the person doing your return.

You're right to be concerned that you might miss out on deductions doing your own return. But the danger works both ways -- there's a danger that a poorly trained tax return preparer will get it wrong and claim deductions that you shouldn't. So what's the problem if you get more money back? If you're unlucky enough to be chosen for an audit, Revenue Canada can take the money back. And you could be penalized for making a mistake, even if it wasn't your fault. Sure, H&R Block could help if that happens to you, but they will charge $75 per hour to help with an audit.

The concern should be less about getting more or less money than it should be about getting it right, because a mistake in either direction is bad. The less complicated your tax situation is, the less likely you are to be audited and the less complicated an audit will be. But if that's the case, then it's even easier to just do the taxes yourself to begin with.

2) you're paying $129 for both the tax return preparation AND for a loan against your return

As long as you recognize that a big part of that $129 is to pay for a loan (you get the money now while H&R block waits to get paid back by the government), then go ahead and use them.

Community clinics typically take volunteers who have some qualification (accountant, bookkeeper) and you can always ask them how they're qualified before you use them. The tax return preparation part is free, because they're donating their time, and there isn't the added cost of getting a loan. But you need to wait a week or two to get your money.

I've used a chartered accountant, I've prepared returns on paper, and I've also used tax preparation software. The software now is pretty good for simple situations and save a huge amount of time over doing a paper return. A CPA cost a lot more than the software, and they didn't do much (if anything) that the software didn't cover.

Do you have a relative or a really good friend that you trust, who does their own returns, and would be willing to help you? Some tax software is free, and even the paid versions often allow the user to do a bunch more returns than they typically need for one household. If I were in your situation, I would be a little worried that the person at H&R block might screw it up and end up costing me even more than the upfront $129. But if you're really in a tight bind and need the money immediately, then you don't have many other options.

bdckr wrote: ↑ Community clinics typically take volunteers who have some qualification (accountant, bookkeeper) and you can always ask them how they're qualified before you use them. The tax return preparation part is free, because they're donating their time, and there isn't the added cost of getting a loan. But you need to wait a week or two to get your money.

These are links for the free tax clinics administered by the CRA, and where to find a clinic:
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency ... about.html
https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/oecv/ex ... _ld.action

These clinics are aimed at low income taxpayers with relatively simple returns, although each clinic has some discretion on which clients it accepts. They use CRA EFILE so refunds are usually processed in 1-2 weeks.