H&R Block used deceptive marketing and unfairly deleted tax filer data, FTC complaint alleges

After cracking down on TurboTax maker Intuit , the Federal Trade Commission has filed an administrative complaint against H&R Block , alleging the company deceptively marketed free filing products and wrongfully deleted users' tax data.

H&R Block marketed free products to many consumers who didn't qualify and made it difficult to downgrade, according to the complaint. One hurdle to switching products included "data wiping" — or deleting a user's in-progress tax return information — which required them to start again from scratch.

"H&R Block designed its online products to present an obstacle course of tedious challenges to consumers, pressuring them into overpaying for its products," Samuel Levine, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement Friday. 

While downgrading requires the tax filer to contact customer support by chat or phone, product upgrades happen "seamlessly," the complaint alleges.

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