H&R Block At Home Deluxe+State eFile FREE *it's back*, Premium+State Program $19.95

Quote from shysnow : Hi, I followed the instruction in post #2, but I am stuck in the step #11 below. 11. Now run tcauto.exe (Right-Click 'Run as administrator' if Win7) It made only an empty rectangular box and does not do anything. Does anybody know how it can be fixed?

I think I had the same problem. Try this.

Quote from omarsdali : I think I had the same problem. Try this.

No luck with that method...
It still shows blank box...

BEWARE: You'll get what you pay for ....

I received the free disk H&R Block Deluxe and State in the mail around Xmas from H&R Block. Finally got around to trying it out. My taxes aren't too complicated but I do have 2 kids in college. I used the free version and the numbers came out a little different than last year, even though nothing has changed. So I was suspicious. Also H&R Crock did not fill out the IRS form 8863 (Education Credits) correctly, answering some important questions randomly without my input. When I tried to edit the mistakes it wouldn't let me efile.

Broke down and bought TT. Using TurboTax Deluxe, used the exact same numbers, TurboTax saved me about $1500.

Maybe having 2 kids in college makes it complicated or the forms are not fully accurate yet and maybe a future update will correct it in March, but this is a big mistake.

Be careful H&RCrock does not currently fill out IRS form 8863 correctly and does not calculate the Education Credits/Lifetime Learning Credits/College Tuition& Fess deductions to your advantage. For very simple tax situations it should be OK.

Went to E-file today and the federal page has the key code for a free E-file my stage file page does not have a place to put the key code and wants me to pay the 19.95. I double checked that I'm using the right key code which entitles both federal and state e-files for free. Anyone else have this happen?

I installed on two computers:
One with federal and NY as non-resident
another one with federal and NJ resident and if i use the one from the previous one to get NJ state tax , it says it needs NY and pay $39.99 , is there a way to overcome?

Quote from arm&hammer : BEWARE: You'll get what you pay for .... I received the free disk H&R Block Deluxe and State in the mail around Xmas from H&R Block. Finally got around to trying it out. My taxes aren't too complicated but I do have 2 kids in college. I used the free version and the numbers came out a little different than last year, even though nothing has changed. So I was suspicious. Also H&R Crock did not fill out the IRS form 8863 (Education Credits) correctly, answering some important questions randomly without my input. When I tried to edit the mistakes it wouldn't let me efile. Broke down and bought TT. Using TurboTax Deluxe, used the exact same numbers, TurboTax saved me about $1500. Maybe having 2 kids in college makes it complicated or the forms are not fully accurate yet and maybe a future update will correct it in March, but this is a big mistake. Be careful H&RCrock does not currently fill out IRS form 8863 correctly and does not calculate the Education Credits/Lifetime Learning Credits/College Tuition& Fess deductions to your advantage. For very simple tax situations it should be OK.

what exactly educational credit? is there any income limit to avail that as I enterer the number and it says i am not eligible for any expenses spent on kid's education

if you have eset smart security 6 installed and you are getting "SSL Error: bad server certificate or incorrect PC date" when trying to download your state program through H&R Block you will need to either disable the ESET SSL filter or set it to ask about validity. Took me almost an hour trying to figure out what the cause was as I thought H&R block was corrupted on installation.

Hey just wanted to thank the OP and the Wiki. The free version instructions still works. Except I didnt need 7-zip.

Free still worked for me to... Had to disable internet, until purchase time....

OMG - you guys are awesome! Totally got the free to work for me. I even tried to do the pay $0.95 one, but that gave me an error that it was expired. I haven't been able to bring myself to pay the money for the software, so I'm thrilled I found this thread. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I'm sorry if this is covered before, but this thread is huge I bought the $.95 version. Installed successfully, but now I want to install on separate computer. tcauto prompts me to buy it again. Any way I can just get the installer to the program? I already have the key code and activation key.

Quote from wreptyle : I'm sorry if this is covered before, but this thread is huge I bought the $.95 version. Installed successfully, but now I want to install on separate computer. tcauto prompts me to buy it again. Any way I can just get the installer to the program? I already have the key code and activation key.

Follow the instructions to get it for free. You'll have to enter in registration information again and then allowed to install the program. I done this last night for another computer, it still works.

For those who continue to run tcauto.exe (setup) and/or installing H&R Block program and the program (setup/install) just freezes or closes before loading to start the free process, I have the fix for you if updating Java, Windows, running administrator (bypassing Window's UAC), running the install file first to run tcauto.exe fails. It turns out that the computer (not mine) I was installing H&R Block on had malware/spyware that was blocking the tcauto.exe to run and also blocking the H&R Block software from installing. It turns out that a certain malware, Strongvault Online Backup was popping up to install every now and then after I keep trying to get H&R Block to install. At first I thought it was probably from H&R, but it was later evident that it wasn't even related. A support page [hrblock.com] from H&R Block suggests that a third party software might be interfering, so that got me thinking. I followed a solution posted here [ask.com] without expecting that this was the main solution for me. After uninstalling Strongvault Online Backup and restarting the computer, I was able to run tcauto.exe and also install H&R Block software without issues. So be sure to get your computer scanned for malware/spyware if you don't know exactly what your problem, such as using MalwareBytes (free) [malwarebytes.org], among other things. Hope this helps anybody.

BTW, if you have multiple computers to install H&R Block on, follow the instructions for the free version, because H&R is still taking free version registration (as of last night 3/1/2012) and after completing such registration, you are allowed to install the software on other computer(s).

Free still worked for me. Thanks!