Online Tax Privacy Investigation
If you used the H&R Block website to file your taxes in 2021 or 2022, you may have a claim for compensation for privacy law violations. Some laws provide for a maximum of up to $5,000 for proven violations. Please note we cannot guarantee any specific outcome, and you may receive no compensation or substantially less than the maximum allowable by law.
Fill out the case review form to determine if you qualify to submit an arbitration claim for compensation. Please see the Frequently Asked Questions below for more information.
Start Your Claim Here
What’s Going On?
In November 2022, the news website, The Markup, reported that H&R Block and other tax preparation sites embedded tracking tools from Meta (Facebook) and Google on their website, resulting in the disclosure of personal and tax information to the tech companies. You can read The Markup’s full report here: Tax Filing Websites Have Been Sending Users’ Financial Information to Facebook – The Markup
Following The Markup report, the U.S. Senate opened an investigation into its impact on taxpayer privacy and published its own report finding that, “Through the Meta Pixel and Google’s business tools, the tax prep companies investigated in this report,” including H&R Block, “recklessly disclosed and misused the personal tax return information of potentially millions of taxpayers.” Notably the report concluded that: “The findings of this report reveal a shocking breach of taxpayer privacy by tax prep companies and by Big Tech firms that appeared to violate taxpayers’ rights and may have violated taxpayer privacy law.” Report at p. 3. Read the following to learn more about the investigation:
- Attacks on Tax Privacy, Congressional Report
- Tax prep companies shared private taxpayer data with Google and Meta for years, congressional probe finds, CNN
Our law firm seeks to represent people who used H&R Block’s services and may have been subjected to these alleged privacy rights violations. Certain laws, including the Federal Wiretap Act (18 U.S.C. § 2510, et seq.) and the California Invasion of Privacy Act (Cal Penal Code § 631, et seq.) provide affected consumers the ability to file claims for statutory damages. If proven, the statutory damages available to affected consumers can be up to $10,000 under the Federal Wiretap Act and $5,000 under the California Invasion of Privacy Act.
Am I Affected?
If you used the H&R Block website to file your taxes in 2021 or 2022, you may have a claim for compensation against H&R Block, Google, and Meta. The claims only relate to taxes prepared and/or filed on H&R Block’s website online, not through H&R Block’s brick-and-mortar office locations or by purchasing and downloading the H&R Block tax preparation software.
Fill out the case review form to determine if you qualify to submit an arbitration claim for compensation. Please see the Frequently Asked Questions below for more information.
What Am I Signing Up For?
In the wake of The Markup report and Congressional findings, several class action cases have been filed in court against H&R Block, Google, and Meta. In some of those cases, H&R Block, Google, and Meta, have argued that the cases should not be allowed to proceed in court as class actions, but instead should be compelled to private arbitration forums for resolution as individual claims. Our firm is seeking to help affected taxpayers pursue these claims through arbitration.
If you qualify for a claim, we intend to pursue your claim in arbitration and seek monetary compensation for you. However, there is no guarantee that your claim will be successful or that we will obtain compensation on your behalf. If we are able to obtain compensation for you, it may be less than the maximum amount able to be claimed. Our goal is to attempt to secure the best recovery for our clients under the circumstances, evaluating all risks.
What Fees Does Zimmerman Reed Charge?
We represent our clients on a continency fee basis. This means you will not be responsible for any fees or costs unless we obtain compensation for you. Zimmerman Reed will advance any costs to submit and resolve your claim, including any arbitration fees.
Ultimately, if we can obtain compensation for you, we would be entitled to a contingency fee based on the value of your settlement or arbitration award. The choice to accept a monetary settlement is yours and yours alone.