Liberty Tax
Overview: Liberty Tax is a leading national tax preparation firm, offering its services exclusively through franchised offices. Liberty Tax was founded in 1997 by John Hewitt, a former regional director for H&R Block who left to launch Jackson Hewitt. Liberty Tax is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA and is privately held.
Job Openings: See this list of current job openings.
Size: Liberty Tax reports these figures as of the end of its fiscal year on April 30, 2008:
Positives: Liberty Tax is cited in various surveys of franchising opportunities as being among the best.
Negatives: Like its larger competitors, H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt, Liberty Tax draws strictly a mass-market clientele. Also like them, it is a highly seasonal business with the same challenge of hiring and training seasonal staff, while also meeting yearly sales targets in a highly compressed selling season.
IRS Oversight: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that it will impose professional standards on paid tax preparers starting in 2011. These standards will include passing a competency exam, meeting continuing education requirements of at least 15 hours per year, registering with the IRS, and paying an annual registration fee.
Since the testing, education and registration requirements apply to the paid preparer who signs a client's tax return, there is a potential loophole. It may be possible for an unregistered employee to prepare a tax return, and then a registered supervisor could review and sign it.
However, preliminary indications are that the major tax preparation chains may want all their prepares registered, to limit liability and as a selling point to clients.
However, CPA holders will be exempt from these requirements, given the professional standards to which they already are subject.
Job Openings: See this list of current job openings.
Size: Liberty Tax reports these figures as of the end of its fiscal year on April 30, 2008:
- Offices (U.S. and Canada) = 2,700
Positives: Liberty Tax is cited in various surveys of franchising opportunities as being among the best.
Negatives: Like its larger competitors, H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt, Liberty Tax draws strictly a mass-market clientele. Also like them, it is a highly seasonal business with the same challenge of hiring and training seasonal staff, while also meeting yearly sales targets in a highly compressed selling season.
IRS Oversight: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that it will impose professional standards on paid tax preparers starting in 2011. These standards will include passing a competency exam, meeting continuing education requirements of at least 15 hours per year, registering with the IRS, and paying an annual registration fee.
Since the testing, education and registration requirements apply to the paid preparer who signs a client's tax return, there is a potential loophole. It may be possible for an unregistered employee to prepare a tax return, and then a registered supervisor could review and sign it.
However, preliminary indications are that the major tax preparation chains may want all their prepares registered, to limit liability and as a selling point to clients.
However, CPA holders will be exempt from these requirements, given the professional standards to which they already are subject.