H&R Block suffered a big setback this week as a federal judge has halted its purchase of 2SS Holdings, the owner of the TaxAct tax preparation software line. The U.S. Justice Department had opposed the deal, arguing that it would violate anti-trust laws. Just over a year ago, Block agreed to buy the smaller company for $287.5 million in cash.

Automatic Data Processing has raised its revenue estimates for fiscal 2012 as the company reported a 9-percent rise in net income on 13-percent revenue growth for the first quarter ended September 30. The company pushed its revenue projections to the top of the previous range for both Employer Services and Professional Employment Organization services.