A 10.6-percent rise in do-it-yourself online filings led H&R Block to a 3.3 percent in tax returns prepared for the 2019 tax year. Block this week said it prepared 21.2 million returns for the year through July 17.
CEO Jeff Jones said it was the fourth consecutive year the dis business has grown.
Assisted filings dropped again to 11.5 million, falling 2.8 percent from the season ended July 17, 2019. That compares to a recent report from Liberty Tax that its overall returns were down 11.5 percent.
Block noted that state and local orders related to the COVID-19 limited its ability to operate its stores. The company noted, “there are elements of the industry data, such as paper filings and returns related to economic stimulus payments, that continue to shift week to week making it difficult to draw relevant comparisons.”
It said it will provide additional analysis during its fiscal 2012 first-quarter earnings call in September.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind
Last modified on Friday, 31 July 2020
