Hr Block

Where have you gone, Henry W. Bloch? The co-founder of the H&R Block Inc. tax preparation firm for many years helped Americans make the best of each tax season with upbeat, personal television and radio commercials that made us feel he was in our corner. The words "I'm Henry Bloch" provided the same reassuring tone that Dave Thomas gave Wendy's International or Walt Disney gave to his namesake kingdoms. Bloch was our friend in the tax business, if such a thing was possible. Bloch, 83, is still around, with the honorary title of chairman emeritus, having stepped down as chairman in 2000.

Judith M. "Judy" Connolly, a former educator who later worked for H&R Block, died Sunday of cancer at Northwest Hospital. She was 59. Judith Marie Connolly was born in Baltimore and raised in Rockdale, where she lived her entire life. Ms. Connolly was a 1971 graduate of Archbishop Keough High School and earned a bachelor's degree in 1975 from what is now Towson University. She taught mathematics for several years and later was principal of Holy Family Elementary School in Randallstown.

WASHINGTON -- Imagine one-stop shopping where you file your income tax return and apply for Social Security benefits in the same place -- at H&R Block.Far-fetched? Perhaps.But, the nationwide income tax service company has told the Social Security Administration that it would like to help claimants fill out and file their applications for disability benefits by computer.And, the Woodlawn agency, working with the American Federation of Government Employees -- the union that represents its field office employees -- is about to look into having Block or other firms file disability and retirement applications.

Sue Ryan Tax professional H&R Block, Glen Burnie Salary --$62,000 Age --48 Years on the job --24 How she got started --Ryan worked the night shift as a cook in a 24-hour restaurant when she decided to earn extra money by working at H&R Block during tax season. To get the job, she had to complete a training class offered by H&R Block. She continued to work tax seasons up until 1993, when she switched to full-time employment with the company. She said it was a good fit. "I like numbers and I've always liked working with the public."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- H&R Block Inc. said yesterday that it has postponed the spinoff of its remaining stake in CompuServe Corp., gambling that the money-losing unit will be able to stem customer defections to cheaper Internet services.The company said it still intends to separate CompuServe from its tax-preparation business. The first step is boosting the unit's stock: Since H&R Block sold a 20 percent stake in an initial public offering in April, CompuServe's shares have plunged 56 percent.

Sometimes bad things happen to good ideas. Consider the IRA you might have opened at H&R Block while doing your taxes. Opening an individual retirement account is a great idea, perhaps one of the best financial moves you can make for your future. If you put a few hundred dollars into a well-managed IRA when you are young, you are positioning yourself to have thousands by the time you retire. For example, if a person in her 20s stuck $500 a year into an IRA, and kept up the practice throughout life, she could have about $150,700 at retirement with an 8 percent average annual return.

You might think the lines stretched out the door and around the block at the H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt storefronts yesterday.But most people are not procrastinators -- at least not that much. So, for the nation's two tax preparer chains, the bulk of their business was already done in January, February and March. Even self-preparers generally filled out their forms and filed or waited to write the check just before last night's tax filing deadline, according to state and federal tax officials.

Kansas City, Mo. -- H&R Block Inc. agreed yesterday to buy Olde Financial Corp. for $850 million in cash, to further diversify the largest tax-preparation company into stock brokerage.Block shares fell $4.635 to close yesterday at $51, a two-month low, amid concern about fraud investigations and fines that Olde has faced. Analysts' also warned that Block might be taking on too much debt in a two-year diversification spree. The shares' 8 percent decline was the third-biggest in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

NEW YORK - The NASD accused H&R Block Inc. yesterday of civil fraud for selling $16 million in Enron Corp. bonds in the weeks before the energy company collapsed in December 2001. About 200 brokers for H&R Block Financial Advisors Inc. sold the debt to more than 800 customers in October and November 2001, said the NASD, formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers. The value of the bonds plunged when Enron filed for Chapter 11 protection in December of that year in what was then the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Sue Ryan Tax professional H&R Block, Glen Burnie Salary --$62,000 Age --48 Years on the job --24 How she got started --Ryan worked the night shift as a cook in a 24-hour restaurant when she decided to earn extra money by working at H&R Block during tax season. To get the job, she had to complete a training class offered by H&R Block. She continued to work tax seasons up until 1993, when she switched to full-time employment with the company. She said it was a good fit. "I like numbers and I've always liked working with the public."

It's 11:10 a.m. Friday and Martha Taylor, a senior tax adviser at H&R Block in Hampden, is ready to see Mike Morris, one of several hundred clients Taylor would help by tax season's end. Morris picks up piles of paperwork from off the floor and sits down with Taylor. They talk income, mortgage payments, real estate profits and rental property. For an hour and a half. "It's behind me until next year," said Morris, 32, of Glen Burnie, as he left H&R Block with a completed tax return. "I'm going to go home and celebrate."

Where have you gone, Henry W. Bloch? The co-founder of the H&R Block Inc. tax preparation firm for many years helped Americans make the best of each tax season with upbeat, personal television and radio commercials that made us feel he was in our corner. The words "I'm Henry Bloch" provided the same reassuring tone that Dave Thomas gave Wendy's International or Walt Disney gave to his namesake kingdoms. Bloch was our friend in the tax business, if such a thing was possible. Bloch, 83, is still around, with the honorary title of chairman emeritus, having stepped down as chairman in 2000.

Sometimes bad things happen to good ideas. Consider the IRA you might have opened at H&R Block while doing your taxes. Opening an individual retirement account is a great idea, perhaps one of the best financial moves you can make for your future. If you put a few hundred dollars into a well-managed IRA when you are young, you are positioning yourself to have thousands by the time you retire. For example, if a person in her 20s stuck $500 a year into an IRA, and kept up the practice throughout life, she could have about $150,700 at retirement with an 8 percent average annual return.

NEW YORK - The NASD accused H&R Block Inc. yesterday of civil fraud for selling $16 million in Enron Corp. bonds in the weeks before the energy company collapsed in December 2001. About 200 brokers for H&R Block Financial Advisors Inc. sold the debt to more than 800 customers in October and November 2001, said the NASD, formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers. The value of the bonds plunged when Enron filed for Chapter 11 protection in December of that year in what was then the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

If you've been toying with the idea of preparing your income tax return on the Internet but haven't taken that big, bold step, consider trying it this year. It won't cost you a dime. H&R Block, Intuit - the makers of Quicken and Turbo Tax - and CompleteTax.com want you to visit their sites this season, input your numbers and let their programs figure what you owe - or what you're getting back - without having to worry about tapping in your credit-card information. Fee of $10 to $30 That's not to say the services are free.

Kansas City, Mo. -- H&R Block Inc. agreed yesterday to buy Olde Financial Corp. for $850 million in cash, to further diversify the largest tax-preparation company into stock brokerage.Block shares fell $4.635 to close yesterday at $51, a two-month low, amid concern about fraud investigations and fines that Olde has faced. Analysts' also warned that Block might be taking on too much debt in a two-year diversification spree. The shares' 8 percent decline was the third-biggest in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

If you've been toying with the idea of preparing your income tax return on the Internet but haven't taken that big, bold step, consider trying it this year. It won't cost you a dime. H&R Block, Intuit - the makers of Quicken and Turbo Tax - and CompleteTax.com want you to visit their sites this season, input your numbers and let their programs figure what you owe - or what you're getting back - without having to worry about tapping in your credit-card information. Fee of $10 to $30 That's not to say the services are free.

It's 11:10 a.m. Friday and Martha Taylor, a senior tax adviser at H&R Block in Hampden, is ready to see Mike Morris, one of several hundred clients Taylor would help by tax season's end. Morris picks up piles of paperwork from off the floor and sits down with Taylor. They talk income, mortgage payments, real estate profits and rental property. For an hour and a half. "It's behind me until next year," said Morris, 32, of Glen Burnie, as he left H&R Block with a completed tax return. "I'm going to go home and celebrate."

C. W. Amos & Co. LLC, an accounting and consulting firm based in Baltimore, has joined the trend to consolidation in the field, announcing yesterday that it has been acquired by a subsidiary of H&R Block Inc. Amos does not plan to change its name or operations, said John I. Wilson, managing member, after the acquisition by HRB Business Services Inc. "It will be the same people up and down the line," Wilson said. "There will be no change in our offices." The Amos operations will not be related to the H&R Block tax preparation offices.

WASHINGTON -- A seasonal foreboding again settles on the republic. H&R Block, which prepares the income-tax forms of about one in seven taxpayers, is broadcasting television commercials featuring the ingeniously cryptic slogan, "We know. Do you?"Those four words capture the ominous mood of March in this country. In America, home of the free and the land of due process, most taxpayers find it impossible to know if they are complying with tax law.As a taxpayer wrote to the commissioner of Inland Revenue (as it then was)