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| foundation = Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. () | founder = | location_city = Kansas City, Missouri | location_country = U.S. | area_served = United States, Canada, Australia, India, Brazil | key_people = | products = | revenue = | operating_income = $ 2.3 billion (FY 2012)〔 | net_income = $ 455 million (FY 2012)〔 | assets = $ 4.6 billion (FY 2012)〔 | equity = $ 1.3 billion (FY 2012)〔 | num_employees = 2,500 (April 2012)〔 | homepage = }} H&R Block is a tax preparation company in the United States, claiming more than 24.5 million tax returns prepared worldwide, with offices in Canada, Australia, Brazil, and India. The Kansas City-based company also offers banking, payroll, personal finance, and business consulting services. Founded in 1955 by brothers Henry W. Bloch and Richard Bloch, Block today operates 11,000 retail tax offices in the United States, plus another 1,700 abroad. Block offers its own consumer tax software called H&R Block at Home (formerly TaxCut), as well as online tax preparation and electronic filing from their website. ==History== During World War II, Henry W. Bloch was a young Army Air Forces navigator who wanted to start a family business with his brothers in Kansas City.〔(henrybloch.com ), Many Happy Returns, Thomas M. Bloch, 2010.〕 Home from the war in 1946, Henry saw a pamphlet suggesting a bright future for companies serving small businesses, and it fired his imagination.〔 That year, Henry and his older brother, Leon, borrowed $5,000 and opened a small bookkeeping business on Main Street in downtown Kansas City.〔 However, four months later, they had few clients and Leon decided to seek a law degree.〔 Henry wanted to keep trying with the fledgling business and placed a newspaper ad for help-wanted.〔 He got an unexpected response—from his mother—who proposed that Henry hire his younger brother, Richard, for the job.〔 Henry and Richard Bloch jointly ran their United Business Company, which focused on bookkeeping, but also did some income tax work for clients. The brothers found that doing taxes was time-consuming and they decided to end that type of service. One of their clients, John White, an ad salesman for The Kansas City Star newspaper, had a different idea; he suggested the Blochs make tax preparation a separate business and developed an ad announcing $5 tax services. The Blochs were not convinced, but they agreed to run the ad in January 1955. The next day, the brothers had an office full of tax clients, and H&R Block was born. In 1956, the Blochs decided to expand and picked New York City. The move was profitable, but neither brother wanted to move to New York, so they agreed to sell that regional operation to two local accountants. However, since the would-be buyers could not meet the asking price, the parties agreed the Bloch brothers would get $10,000, plus royalties from the tax operation, creating the first H&R Block franchise tax office. The Bloch brothers chose to spell the name "Block" with a K to ensure the name is not mispronounced "blotch." In the following years, H&R Block grew quickly and went public in 1962, then opened its first tax training school in 1965 to meet the demand for skilled tax professionals at its franchise offices. A TV ad campaign begun in 1972 featured Henry Bloch and became the springboard for H&R Block becoming one of the most widely recognized brand names in the U.S. In 1980 H&R Block purchased the Compuserve online service. By 1986, Block was handling more than 10 million tax returns each year and had opened offices in Canada and Australia. That year, Block worked with the Internal Revenue Service to introduce electronic filing. Since then, Block has moved further into the digital realm with tax software and online tax preparation. The company began to expand in the 1990s into the financial services arena, offering mortgage loans, banking, and business services. H&R Block purchased Olde Discount Stockbrokers and operated as a full-service securities broker-dealer under the name H&R Block Financial Advisors. By 2007, the unit was managing $33 billion in assets, offering investment planning, advice and related financial products and services, and employed 900 financial advisors in the U.S. In 2008, H&R Block sold the unit to Ameriprise Financial for US$ 315 million.〔(Company press release )〕 RSM McGladrey Business Solutions was created in 1999 when H&R Block acquired the assets and business of McGladrey & Pullen, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. McGladrey had 100 offices in 25 states and offered accounting, consulting, tax services, and international business services to mid-sized companies. Its clients included business in the construction, health care and manufacturing industries. Through an alliance with McGladrey & Pullen and other accountancies, the Block subsidiary operated in 70 countries under the RSM International name. In 2011, H&R Block sold the unit to McGladrey & Pullen.〔(Kansas City Business Journal | date=Dec. 1, 2011 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「H&R Block」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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