H&R Block history

In 1956 they opened seven storefront offices in New York City to see if they could duplicate their success.

In January 1957 the Blochs opened offices in Columbia, Missouri, and Topeka, Kansas.

The two parties settled out of court in 1966, and as a result H & R Block bought back the franchises for more than $1 million.

During the 1967 tax season H & R Block estimated that it would prepare a total of 2.5 million tax returns by the April 15th filing deadline.

By 1969 Block had 3,286 offices throughout the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, with volume totaling more than $56 million.

Even worse, in 1972 the IRS went to war against tax preparation firms.

In the meantime, Richard Bloch had become less involved with the running of the company after he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1978.

Also in 1980, the Bloch brothers entered into a joint venture with Ohio attorney and entrepreneur (as well as son-in-law of United States Senator Howard Metzenbaum) Joel Hyatt, who wanted to set up his own chain of discount law offices patterned after the Los Angeles-based firm of Jacoby & Myers.

The 1985 acquisition of Path Management Industries, a business seminar company, also proved that, for all of Henry Bloch's prudence, H & R Block's touch was not always golden when it came to acquisitions.

In 1987 H & R Block sold its interest in Block Management to Joel Hyatt for $20 million in what was described as a friendly parting of ways.

In 1991 it purchased Interim Systems, a temporary personnel agency, for $49.5 million and merged its assets with those of Personnel Pool of America.

H & R Block entered the personal financial software market in late 1993 with the purchase of MECA Software, which was best known for its "Managing Your Money" program.

Interim Services was spun off in January 1994 through an initial public offering (IPO). Net proceeds to H & R Block were $200 million, with an additional $28 million going to Interim.

Block decided, however, to sell MECA in March 1995 for $35,000, while retaining the right to publish tax preparation software under the name TaxCut.

In April 1996 H & R Block spun off CompuServe with an IPO of 18.4 million shares that raised barely more than $500,000 and reduced H & R Block's ownership to 80 percent.

In June 1997 H & R Block acquired the California-based firm Option One Mortgage Corporation, which controlled more than 5,000 mortgage brokers in 46 states.

For the third quarter ended January 31, 1998, the company reported revenues of $208.7 million, a 34.5-percent increase over the previous year.

By mid-1999, H & R Block was in the process of acquiring Olde Discount.

In 2000, the company began offering a host of financial services including brokerage services, annuities, mutual funds, and IRAs through its financial centers and its Web site.

By now, Mark A. Ernst--who was named president and CEO in 2001--faced an uphill battle.

In 2004, H&R Block introduced a new tax preparation method combining the hands-on convenience and value of DIY tax prep with the confidence and accuracy that comes from review by an H&R Block tax professional.

The company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2005 even as its share price plummeted.

Then in 2006, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed suit against H&R Block claiming the company sold individual retirement accounts (IRAs) that earned less money than what customers were charged in fees.

Wiens joined H&R Block in 2014 from a public relations agency, where she worked with clients in the financial services industry.

A new client is an individual who did not use H&R Block office services to prepare his or her 2016 tax return.

For tax years beginning after 2017, applicants claimed as dependents must also prove United States residency unless the applicant is a dependent of United States military personnel stationed overseas.

Offer period March 1 – 25, 2018 at participating offices only.

Valid for an original 2019 personal income tax return for our Tax Pro Go service only.