Friday, July 24, 2026

H&R Block to Pay $515,000 to Settle LA County Claims It Shared Tax Data Without Consent

A restitution fund reaches eligible Pasadena and Altadena filers who used the company’s online preparation tools

The income figures, education credit claims, and health savings account details that Los Angeles County residents typed into H&R Block’s online tax software were, the County alleges, quietly passed to outside advertising companies through tracking code embedded in the company’s website.

H&R Block has now agreed to a pre-litigation settlement with the County of Los Angeles that bars the practice and sets aside a $367,540 fund to repay certain customers, according to a statement from the County. The deal resolves consumer protection claims against HRB Digital LLC and HRB Tax Group, Inc.

The settlement covers consumers across the county, extending to those in Pasadena and Altadena.

The County said the case grew out of H&R Block’s disclosure of confidential taxpayer information made without customers’ consent — to third-party advertisers through tracking devices such as Meta pixels placed on the company’s site.

The fund is limited to a specific group. According to the County, it covers customers who used H&R Block’s do-it-yourself online tax preparation website between November 16, 2019, and November 23, 2022, and who encountered certain screens tied to Education Credits or Health Savings Accounts while filing.

Any restitution money left unclaimed will go to the County’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs.

In all, H&R Block will pay $515,000 in monetary relief, a figure the County said includes consumer restitution, civil penalties, and attorneys’ fees and costs. The settlement also imposes permanent injunctive relief barring the company from sharing taxpayer information and requiring it to comply with applicable consumer protection and privacy laws.

The agreement was reached by County Counsel Dawyn R. Harrison on behalf of the People of the State of California, the County said, and its benefits extend to consumers statewide. The County Counsel’s Affirmative Litigation and Consumer Protection Division investigated the alleged violations and negotiated the terms.

“Privacy is not a luxury. It is a fundamental consumer right,” said Los Angeles County Board Chair and First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis in the County’s statement. “No company should profit from sensitive taxpayer information without a consumer’s informed consent.”

Rafael Carbajal, director of the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, tied the case to the growing value of personal data.

“In an economy where personal data and consumer attention have become valuable commodities, protecting people’s privacy has never been more important,” he said in the statement.

Harrison said the outcome was meant to set an expectation for other companies. “My office is committed to protecting consumers and ensuring businesses comply with consumer protection laws,” she said. “This settlement sends a message to other businesses to safeguard consumers’ private information and take data privacy laws seriously.”

The department, known as DCBA, asks Los Angeles County residents including those in Pasadena and Altadena to report unfair, deceptive or illegal business practices by emailing dcba@dcba.lacounty.gov, filing a complaint at dcba.lacounty.gov, or calling 800?593?8222. The County said it has posted the fully executed stipulated settlement and the underlying complaint, People v. HRB Digital LLC et al., on its website.