This Kansas City-based company has operations in Australia, Brazil, Canada and in India. They offer banking, business consulting services, personal finance and payroll services. The business has over 90,000 tax preparers around the globe. It was reported that in 2007, the company has reached the high 19.9 million clients served in the United States alone. During that same year, their clients have obtained a total of $30 billion tax refunds, government benefits and credits. It has also filed a total of $10 billion worth of earned income tax credits.
In addition to its tax preparation services, they also offer online tax preparation, peace of mind guarantee, emerald advance lines of credit, tax return preparation courses, CashBack program, software products, mobile apps, refund anticipation checks and the Block Live.
The history of the company goes back to the days of Henry W. Bloch, a young Army Air Forces navigator during the World War II. With a loan of $5,000, he together with his brother Leon Bloch started their bookkeeping business on Main Street in Kansas City. When Leon left for Law School, he was replaced by their younger brother, Richard Bloch. While running United Business Company, the brothers also did some tax works for some clients until eventually they made their breakthrough in this segment by posting a newspaper ad for their tax services.
It was in 1955 that the company was formally created. Today, H&R Block runs 11,000 retail tax offices in the United States alone. In addition, they have about 1,700 offices abroad. The company today generates an annualized revenue of more than $2.3 billion.