H&R Block announced Thursday it will discontinue service under its ExpressTax brand, which primarily served early filers who wanted quick refunds and currently has 269 franchise offices.
H&R Block will invite many ExpressTax franchisees, which have collectively prepared nearly 100,000 tax returns and generated $3 million of royalty fees to H&R Block in fiscal 2011, to join the H&R Block brand.
In connection with the announcement, H&R Block will record a pretax charge of approximately $0.02 to $0.03 per share in the fiscal second quarter ending Oct. 31, 2011.
"This move is consistent with where we want to focus our future investments and resources," said Bill Cobb, H&R Block CEO, in a statement. "After a thorough review of the ExpressTax business model and its recent performance, we concluded it was no longer a growth driver and therefore not a good fit for our company."
H&R Block purchased ExpressTax in 2006.
