As they say, the only things you can’t escape in life are death and taxes. Doing your own taxes has only gotten easier over the years but it’s still plenty confusing, especially with both federal and state rules and rates always in flux. To help you figure out this confusing process, I’ve written a guide on How to Pay Your Taxes Online, and included H&R Block and other competitors to give you more information as you navigate between the seemingly endless options available for your specific tax needs. Tax day may not be until April 15 but as we all know too well, that date comes around quickly each year. With that in mind, now’s a great time to start getting your affairs in order.

For 70 years, H&R Block has stepped in to help with tax preparation services that aim to make things as painless as possible. H&R Block has its classic in-person help from a tax expert along with easy-to-use online tax services that you can complete online while in your pajamas. We here at WIRED love to help you save money too, and that’s why we have rotating deals and H&R Block coupons to help ease the pain of tax season a little more.

Save With Our $50 H&R Block In-Store Coupon (And More)

To help make tax season a bit more bearable, you can get $50 off in-person tax prep when you file with an H&R Block tax pro (until February 23). To redeem this offer, you’ll need to make an appointment online, and present the coupon either digitally or in-print. This coupon features single-use codes, so you’ll need to click on the module at the top of the page to get the H&R Block discount code (and you can’t use the same one twice). Also through February 23, you can also get 25% off H&R Block’s DIY online offering, with no promo code needed!

Can I File My Taxes for Free at H&R Block?

H&R Block knows taxes are confusing, and the process is one that no filer looks forward to. That’s why H&R Block eases some of the tax filing woes by offering H&R Block Online Free Edition. Over half (around 55% of filers) qualify; this service is for simple taxes only, meaning Form 1040s and no schedules except Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Student Loan Interest, and Retirement Plan Distributions. File your simple state return for free on H&R Block today.

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Tax assist options are available, whatever your need. Not a CPA or DIY-er? No problem. H&R Block’s tax experts are trained and ready to help with big and small tax questions. There are tons of choices, no matter your need, like a one-on-one meeting in an office where you can make an appointment ahead of time, or just walk in; from home where you can work with your Tax Pro online; and you can even drop off files at an H&R Block office. Plus, you can even get a free Second Look Review of past returns to see if there was money left on the table.

Get Up to $4,000 With a Refund Advance Loan at H&R Block

If you can’t wait on your refund (no judgement; I get it), you can get up to $4,000 in refunds immediately after filing, without waiting for the slow-moving federal and state processes. If eligible, you can get a Refund Advance loan within minutes of filing when you complete the process with an H&R Block Tax Pro. With this loan advance, there’s no loan fees or interest. Act sooner rather than later, as this deal is only available through March 15.

How Much Does H&R Block Charge?

H&R Block has different tiers depending on tax filing needs, so you can pick the online filing option that works best for you. The free online is best for simple returns, with $0 per state filed; deluxe starts at $28 for federal and $37 per state filed, which includes itemized deductions and free tax Pro review. Premium is now only $56 and $37 per state filed, and also includes investments and free tax Pro review. Plus, they have an option for self-employed folks and business owners, whose taxes can be complicated and costly. That service includes 1099 forms with expenses and includes free tax Pro reviews, and costs $68 right now with $37 per state filed.

How Do I Get an H&R Block Key Code?

An H&R Block Activation Code is a unique ten-character code that’s attached to your personal H&R Block Tax Software. It’ll be a long string of uppercase letters and numbers. This activation code registers your software and is used to unlock your five free federal e-files. Once opened, you’ll need to enter it to activate the software. More in-depth directions and troubleshooting can be found here.

Other Deals for New and Existing H&R Block Customers

To find which service best fits your needs, select all that apply to you—like if you have kids, own a home, or are a freelancer—to find your best personal filing experience. H&R Block has four different packages, including federal and state. Best of all, you can save 20% on H&R Block tax software products without an H&R Block promo code (until April 15).

H&R Block has tons of incentives and perks, including a free 3-year Second Look. That means H&R Block will review your last three tax returns to find errors, mistakes, or money others may have missed. Get your taxes done and spend the rest of the spring chilling; DIY online file, or get an in-store assisted file for less—no H&R Block coupon needed.

Usually, when you see a feel-good story about finding a lost dog, you don’t immediately react with fear and revulsion. But that was indeed the case in response to a Super Bowl commercial from Amazon-owned security camera company Ring. There’s now a group offering to dole out a $10,000 bounty to wrest back control of the user data Ring controls.

The ad showed off a new feature from Ring called Search Party. It uses a network of Ring cameras to scour a neighborhood for signs of lost dogs. But as the details of a leaked internal Ring email reported by 404 Media revealed, the service could eventually be used to find other animals and people as well.

The commercial was met largely with widespread criticism across social media and the tech press, which called out Search Party for essentially being a thinly-veiled neighborhood surveillance dragnet. People are even publicly destroying their Ring cameras. In response, Ring immediately canceled its partnership with the controversial AI surveillance company Flock. Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff has been on something of an apology tour since the Super Bowl commercial aired. (A Ring spokesperson acknowledged our request for comment and says the company will provide one shortly; we’ll update this story when we hear back.)

The Fulu Foundation, a group founded by repair advocate and YouTuber Louis Rossmann, pays out bounties to people who can remove user-hostile features on connected devices. The nonprofit saw this pushback as a moment of opportunity for people to take back control of their devices.

“It’s been an interesting moment for people to grasp exactly the trade-off that they have had to accept when they installed these security doorbell cameras,” says Fulu cofounder Kevin O’Reilly. “People who install security cameras are looking for more security, not less. At the end of the day, control is at the heart of security. If we don’t control our data, we don’t control our devices.”

Fulu’s latest bounty is for Ring’s video doorbell cameras, meant to encourage hackers and tinkerers to disable software features that require the devices to send data to Amazon. The reward is a potential payout of $10,000 or more.

To score the bounty, the winner will have to adhere to a few requirements designed to make sure the hardware itself stays in working order. After modifications, the device must be able to work with a local PC or server, and be capable of halting data sent to Amazon servers or requiring a connection to other Amazon hardware. All of this must be done without disabling on-device hardware features like motion detecting and color night vision. The job also has to be accomplishable with “readily available and inexpensive tooling” and “instructions that a moderately technical user could carry out” in less than an hour.

“This needs to be a weekend project,” O’Reilly says, “where someone who was creeped out by a commercial and wants to take back control can take care of it, get it done, and be able to sleep soundly at night knowing that they’re the only ones who can see their footage.”

The first person to accomplish all of that with a Ring camera—and prove they can do it—gets the money. The reward starts at $10,000, but will likely grow as donors contribute more money (it’s already sitting closer to $11,000 as of publication). On top of that, Fulu will award up to an additional $10,000 to match donations for the winner.

When the Executive Branch soft-launched in Washington, DC, last spring, the private club’s initial buzz centered on its starry roster of backers and founding members. The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is one of the club’s several co-owners, according to previous reporting. Founding members reportedly include Trump administration AI czar David Sacks and his All-In podcast cohost Chamath Palihapitiya, as well as crypto bigwigs Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.

“We wanted to create something new, hipper, and Trump-aligned,” Sacks said at the time. Proximity to Trumpworld didn’t come cheap; though the club headquarters is located in a basement space behind a shopping complex, fees to join are reportedly as high as $500,000.

The initial wave of press for the MAGA hot spot identified Trump Jr. and his business associates Omeed Malik, Chris Buskirk, and Zach and Alex Witkoff as the club’s co-owners. A Mother Jones report later revealed the involvement of David Sacks’ frequent business associate Glenn Gilmore, a San Francisco Bay Area real estate developer who is given a variety of titles on official documents, including co-owner, managing member, director, and president.

But according to corporate filings reviewed by WIRED, there’s another key figure whose involvement has not been previously reported and whose connection to its more famous founders remains unclear: Sean LoJacono, a former Metropolitan Police Department cop in Washington, DC, who gained local notoriety for his role in a stop and frisk that resulted in a lawsuit.

According to the legal complaint, in 2017, after questioning a man named M.B. Cottingham for a suspected open-container-law violation, LoJacono conducted a body search. A recording of the incident went viral on YouTube, sparking intense debate over aggressive policing tactics. “He stuck his finger in my crack,” Cottingham says in the video. “Stop fingering me, though, bro.” The next year, the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia sued LoJacono on behalf of Cottingham, alleging that LoJacono had “jammed his fingers between Mr. Cottingham’s buttocks and grabbed his genitals.” Cottingham agreed to settle his lawsuit with LoJacono and was paid an undisclosed amount by the District of Columbia (which admitted no wrongdoing) in 2018.

The MPD announced its intention to dismiss LoJacono following an internal affairs investigation, which concluded that the Cottingham search was not a fireable offense but that another search he had conducted the same day was. By early 2019, LoJacono had appealed his dismissal, arguing in well-publicized hearings that he had conducted searches according to how he had been taught by fellow officers in the field. Initially, the dismissal was upheld. However, the police union’s collective bargaining agreement enabled LoJacono to further appeal to a third-party arbitrator, which in November 2023 ruled in LoJacono’s favor.

Instead of returning to the police force, though, LoJacono has gone down a different path. A LinkedIn account featuring LoJacono’s name, likeness, and employment history lists his profession as “Director of Security and Facilities Management” at an unnamed private club in Washington, DC, from June 2025 to the present. Official incorporation paperwork for the Executive Branch Limited Liability Company filed to the Government of the District of Columbia’s corporations division in March 2025, shortly before the club launched, lists LoJacono as the “beneficial owner” of the business. The address listed on the paperwork matches the Executive Branch’s location. Donald Trump Jr. and other reported owners are not listed on the paperwork; Gilmore is listed on this document as the company’s “organizer.”

The paperwork indicates that LoJacono is considered a beneficial owner of a legal entity associated with the Executive Branch. But what does that mean, exactly?