Franchise Statistics
Introduction
This page presents information useful for entrepreneurs who are considering purchasing a tax preparation franchise. We present information about the chain stores’ average performance, a count of stores, and the number of returned filed by the company as a whole.
Store performance by brand
We lead with the information of greatest interest to prospective franchisees: how many returns does a typical franchise store file?
How to read this graph: the line shows the average* number of returns filed by that chain’s stores. The darker band shows the middle 50% of stores and the lighter band shows the middle 80% of stores. For example, in 2026, Block stores, on average, filed 1164 returns. 50% of Block stores filed between 800 and 1641 returns, and 80% of Block stores filed between 520 and 2138 returns.
H&R Block stores by far file the most returns among the big three franchises. On average* Block stores electronically file about 1100 returns annually. 50% of Block stores file between ~800 and ~1600 returns and 80% file between ~500 and ~2100. 10% file less than ~500 returns and the remaining 10% file more than ~2100 returns.
Liberty Tax stores, on average*, e-file less than half as many returns as the typical Block store.
Jackson Hewitt stores file half as many returns as a typical Liberty Tax store, and a quarter of the volume of an average Block store.
* In this article we use “average” to refer to the median number of returns e-filed.
Analysis and discussion
All three chains’ per-store performance has been consistent since 2019. None of the chains appear to be improving per-store production. Also consistent is each chain’s ranking: Block consistently outperforms Liberty, and Liberty consistently outperforms Jackson Hewitt.
The toughest part of starting a new tax preparation practice is finding clients. The main reasons for choosing a franchise are brand recognition and publicity from the franchiser’s marketing efforts. It follows, then, that a franchise’s cost should be positively correlated with number of clients the chain’s branding attracts.
As this article aims to help entrepreneurs considering a brick-and-mortar store, we’ve removed the unusually high-volume EROs from this analysis. The major chains operate web-based offerings under which thousands or even millions of returns are filed under one EFIN. The data used to generate these graphs exclude EROs filing more than 10,000 returns.
In this section we looked at individual store performance, and we found that per-store performance has remained about the same since 2019. Now let’s turn our attention to how the companies as a whole are doing.
Aggregate company performance
In this section we’ll look at the number of stores and the number of returns filed by the chains’ stores.
In the previous section we saw that H&R Block dominates the industry in per-store production. We also saw that, for all chains, per-store production has remained roughly the same from 2019 to the present.
Between the years 2019 to 2026 the proportion of H&R Block stores among the major chains locations has declined from 60% to 53%. This is the result of Jackson Hewett opening new locations. The proportion of chain stores doing business as Liberty Tax has stayed about the same.
While Jackson Hewitt has been actively opening new stores, Block – and indeed all the major chains – continue to process about the same share of returns. Block files ~81% of franchise prepared returns, JH files ~12%, and Liberty files ~8%.
The filing figures shown here cover the first half of 2026. Final totals for 2026 will likely be slightly higher than what’s shown here. The source data used to prepare these analyses lists only electronic filing volume, thus paper-filed returns are not included in these figures.
Analysis and discussion
While Block continues to have robust per-store production, we see an overall stagnation among the major brands since 2022. Both e-file production and store count grew steadily before 2022, but since 2022 production and store counts have leveled off and perhaps even contracted. For example, in 2026 Block had fewer stores than it did four years earlier. Block’s total returns filed has remained about the same over this time.
One possible explanation for this stagnation is that franchise stores are facing competition from self-directed online offerings. We observe that the three major chains have developed web-based tax preparation sites. It seems reasonable on the part of the parent companies to commit development resources ahead of anticipated consumer behavior. In another analysis we’ll take up the question of whether online tax preparation is taking business away from brick-and-mortar stores.
Concluding thoughts
The main value franchise affiliation brings to an entrepreneur is the brand’s ability to attract clients. Ancillary benefits such as support and training are important but very much secondary. Thus, an entrepreneur contemplating buying a franchise should consider the franchise cost with respect to brand recognition and the brand’s investment in marketing. If the entrepreneur is considering buying an existing store, perhaps a company-owned territory, brand is important but, in this case, the store’s gross production and revenue are the primary drivers of value.
Use our ERO Search page to find a store’s electronic filing production.
In the longer term, in-person tax preparation stores are facing a leveling-off of consumer demand. But don’t let this dissuade you from opening a physical store. A physical office in the right location with robust marketing support from a franchise partner can be successful.