H&R Block And The Impact Of Tax Reform

Bill Cobb, CEO of H&R Block shared on Tuesday that he likes the tax reform plans that President Donald Trump has devised, and the proposed replacement initiated by Republicans for the Affordable Care Act. Cobb spoke after the first half of tax season results for H&R Block were reported. Read more about Taxes with H&R Block.

Trump proposes to lower individual and corporate tax rates. In addition, the American Health Care Act which was released on Monday to replace “Obamacare” includes tax credits which can be used to pay for health care. There are also other changes to the tax returns.

While Trump had said that H&R Block may not be happy about the plans for simpler taxes, Cobb is confident that customers will continue to use H&R Block’s services. Cobb also shared his perspective on the benefits of a lower corporate tax rate for H&R Block, which usually pays a 35% tax rate.

H&R Block reported that its revenue decline could be attributed to an overall decline in IRS tax filings in the first half of the tax season. If this trend is realistic, then H&R Block would have been afforded a smaller number of customers. The IRS reported that up to February 24, filings were down by 10%. H&R Block’s e-filing dropped by 7%; however the company shared that it increased its market share via the assisted and self-preparation customers.

This market share gain is expected to level off after the company ceases its free 1040EZ filing and advance loans based on expected refunds at the end of February.H&R Block’s returns decreased by 2.7% compared to last year’s 10.635 million returns. Also, a decline was noted in the assisted service offered by the company-owned and franchise units. However, H&R Block’s digital tax entity saw an increase from 3.626 million returns last year to 3.637 million returns up to February 28.