News

NEW YORK - H&R Block will open a flagship office in Manhattan's Time Square this week as the tax service company begins its move into major metropolitan areas that includes selling many of its urban offices to franchisees, a move the company has said would make it better able to attract new operators who might otherwise sign up with its competitors.

The nation's three largest tax store chains, H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt and Liberty Tax, and the American Institute of CPAs all welcomed the proposed regulation of paid preparers by the Internal Revenue Service. Those proposals, which exempt CPAs, Enrolled Agents and attorneys from some major requirements, were released this week by the IRS.

LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. – SpeedTax, which provides Internet-based sales-and-use-tax applications, has received a new round of equity funding from Committed Capital, a private equity firm. SpeedTax said this represented the largest equity investment the company has secured. However, it has not revealed amounts of any funding rounds.

After the acquisition of IntelliTax resulted in waits on support lines for its customers of its TaxWise and ATX tax preparation software during the 2009 tax season, CCH Small Firm Services added resources to ensure more prompt answers to support calls, according to Gene Goldenberg, VP of marketing for the CCH unit. That includes revamped telephone services and extra staff.