LIBERTY TAX SERVICE Franchise Complaints

5,730 thoughts on “LIBERTY TAX SERVICE Franchise Complaints”

• ADMIN:

  You’ve been so helpful to those of us that post on this forum in the past…..I’m sure you have the ability to tell where our “wonderful” pain in the ass contributors John Barf villa, Testicle Pirate, Ed and qctibs are coming from. One in the same??? Let’s just say no one would be surprised. :):):)

  He cannot understand how there are so many of us unhappy franchisees that post here. The company SUCKS. That’s how.

  I agree with Bill……….however possible, let’s focus on the issues and not on the one stupid guy that keeps writing such assinine posts. Oh, by the way, ADMIN: did you know you are paying people to post?!?!?!? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. I don’t need to be paid to post my feeling and facts about this very disgusting franchise and it’s leaders.

  ^^Someone a few posts ahead used the word ‘predatory’. Bingo! That sums it up nicely……..it is a predatory franchise. John Hewitt is a predatory person. The AD’s are predatory. There is spyware in the computers. You buy their promotional items at @ 3,000 percent times what it should cost.

  This franchise doesn’t have ‘your back’. They make things worse because no one knows how the hell to help you. Every single territory selection is wrong according to them. They are EVIL. ^^Plenty have made a million, qctibs? Yeah, their names are all Hewitt. I found my peace. I am away from that hell hole for years now and have turned away many, many others asking for my opinion as an ex-franchisee.

  Anyone reading through this forum for the first time………………there is one ‘happy’ franchisee on this forum and he changes names every few posts. The rest of us are unhappy and you’ll look through this forum and see why. Our collective advice is to tell everyone to go out and begin your own tax prep. company, or work for someone already in the tax prep field……………but DO NOT sink your hard earned money into this. You will be so glad you didn’t.

• OK since I checked on John Barilla’s accusation that many unhappy Liberty Tax franchisees were posting under multiple names (they weren’t), I guess it’s only fair to do the same for the pro-Liberty Tax commenters.

  My info is very limited but I can say that qctibs appears to be a distinct commenter who complies with our request to post with a single commenter name.

  However, multiple user names are identified as having a single IP address (posting location). They include:
  John Barilla, testaipira, unhappydumdums, affanapoli and Hrblockforever.

  Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean that this is a single person, just that it is likely they are posting from the exact same location. If they were posting from the same office, they might have the same IP address. Or if they were sitting on each other’s laps using the same computer, it could account for the single IP address. Or it could be the same person trying to make it appear that numerous people share his/her views.

  John Barilla: Please post under a single screen name. We don’t have many rules, but that’s one of them.

  Who made the accusation that we are paying commenters? That’s a new one. Truth is, I can’t even afford to pay myself. I just got done fending off a $35M lawsuit (that’s right, $35,000,000!) We publicly kicked the plaintiff’s ass (watch for the story in coming days. It’s a good one.) and we will not back down from franchisor bullies, but we have some serious expenses.

  If you can help support the site, even with $25, $50 or $125, please do so here:

  http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/support-franchise-fairness/

  John Barilla: Please feel free to contribute from each of your identities ;)

  Thanks, and keep up the great conversation!

  ADMIN

• Hahahaha! Ah hahaha! Eeeheee!

• THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH, ADMIN!!! WHAT A SURPRISE! NOT!!!
  THANK YOU FOR CONFIRMING WHAT SO MANY OF US ALREADY KNEW……ONE HAPPY FRANCHISEE………OR CORPORATE PLANT……..AND MANY, MANY, MANY UNHAPPY CURRENT AND EX FRANCHISEES!!!

  This is not a franchise for the faint of heart. It really doesn’t help one bit if you don’t have any tax knowledge, but regardless, it’s still a HUGE rip off in every way, shape and form. People have stated that they are tax professionals and couldn’t wait to get out. I have a corporate tax dept. background, so was well versed in tax laws and certainly in preparing complicated returns. The training and support provided by Liberty was a joke. Especially software issues.

  At the time I joined, there wasn’t the same amount of info. to conduct a proper due diligence as there is now. Going with a company that was owned by Hewitt, a ‘seasoned’ tax professional, was what so many people banked on when they signed on the dotted line. How incredibly wrong that move was. Turned my world upside down. And many others too.

  I cannot stress enough that people reading this forum now in anticipation of plunking money down to “own” (what a croc that is) a territory should ask lots & lots of questions. You will then find that for every one happy franchisee, you will find about 20-30-40 unhappy ones.

  Why are they unhappy? Yikes, where to begin. That’s a story for another post. Anyone reading through these hundreds of pages devoted entirely to Liberty Tax Service and why you should back away and save your money, will come across thousands of reasons NOT to join this awful, awful predatory company.

  Trish! If you’re out there, come back! :) We’d love updates from you!
  The rest of the posters…………keep posting! The more people we turn away from theis god awful franchise, the better. Hitting them in their pocketbook is exactly what they did to us. Can’t wait for the legal stuff to begin.

• Haha, Barilla, you’ve been called out. Apparently you are the one posting with multiple names, not the other way around. Now go crawl back under your rock and get a life.

• A company that is claiming to be veteran friendly employer and franchisor there was nothing in the Daily Communications Email to recognize the veteran employees, and veteran franchise owners and their families on Memorial Day.

  Being a Veteran Liberty Tax Service is not a veteran friendly organization. That is only be used a selling tool. Liberty’s sales force sees the veterans as an easy target. If you a veteran and are considering purchasing Liberty franchise, stay clear and far away from this organization.

• Barilla you must be a fan of “dirty dog barks first”

• I think Barilla suffers from Stockholm Syndrome. Or he is a Liberty plant. Either way, it’s too ironic he was accusing others of using multiple handles, when he is the ONLY one doing that.

  See, there are many, many more Unhappy Liberty Franchisees and only one “happy” Barilla…or whoever you are.

• Well it looks like Liberty HQ must monitor this site on a daily basis. Earlier today marketing support sent out a blast email wishing Veterans a Happy Memorial Day and was using the same email to market how great they are..

  Liberty HQ if you are following this website, that email should came from Mr. John Hewitt himself and should not have been used as a marketing tool.

• It usually works that way.
  The personal insults are very sophomoric and simplistic and very similar.
  I just can’t wait to hear “poopy head” from barilla.
  Dum dums? Come on, really? Dum dums?
  When someone over and over and over again claims that others are posting under multiple handles it usually is an attempt to cover them from suspicion of the same act.
  Go back and read just their posts. Notice similar phrasing? Similar insults? The primary content of each of the posts by “them” never deals with the claims of the unhappy franchisees that post here, only calls silly names and blames them.
  My theory as to why? I believe they are indeed company plants and any incorrect rebuttal to legitimate claims could be used in court should liberty end up in court.
  Ip can be tracked and identities confirmed.

• Well call me SHOCKED!! I had no idea it was one of the same. I am sure he is another person who has used his personal computer at home. Wouldn’t be hilarious if it was John Hewitt!

• ^^^Seriously, Franchizee? You had no idea it was all the same person? I sure did! No doubt in my mind. I just needed ADMIN. to confirm it. His writing style in each post is always the same. Blaming us for being ‘failures” when actually that had nothing to do why we left that awful, predatory franchise.

  If there is one piece of advice I can give to prospective franchisees with Liberty Tax Service: Look carefully at the extremely one sided contract. Look at how much you lose and they gain. It is NOT your business by any stretch of the imagination. Look at how much they charge you for computers, software that is bugged, promotional items, etc.,etc.,etc., and then ask yourself: Is this really necessary or can I gain these skills on my own and open up independently? Look at how many lawsuits they have pending………hmmmmmmmmmmm

  Not having tax knowledge is definitely a detriment, even if they tell you otherwise. It is NOT advisable to rely on someone else working for you. The amount of money paid out to Liberty each year is a travesty. The territory selection is never right, the amount of problems and issues are never right……they will give you a ‘notice to cure’ if you sneeze the wrong way, the number of hours you need to stay open now are ridiculously counter productive………this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is SO MUCH MORE, all negative.

  Their RAL business is gone by the wayside and they, too, should fall by the wayside. They’re not interested in the middle class tax payer, just the lower echelon. So the territories and offices are placed in some gritty, scary areas. Employees rip you off, especially with more than one office. The whole business of franchising with Liberty Tax sucks royally. I would not wish it on my worst enemy. Be careful the way you leave. This is where I had the biggest nightmare. They will find you, scoop you up, bite you like a shark and then spit you out. That was my experience. It sounds like others did not have that experience, so you’re lucky. However, I wouldn’t put ANYTHING past them after that harrowing experience.

  Just DON’T sign on with this disgusting franchise to begin with and you won’t have to worry about losing the shirt off your back and trying to untangle yourself from their sharp grip, ever!

• San Fran – It was sarc! Of course a child that can read tell the same bozo is writing!

• Hey people, this is how Hewitt spends the extra marketing money, by having their people post on internet. This is why it does not make it to the local market. Maybe Danny is back and this is his part time job in the office. Now that would be ironic.

• Looks like his guerrilla marketing is a failure! If you have to keep paying attention to the bad publicity, you can’t concentrate on the good publicity, but not to worry since there is little good to be said about this franchise.

• NCHillBilly, marketing actually sent an email wishing veterans a “Happy Memorial Day”? That is disgusting and beyond insensitive. Memorial Day is a special day set aside to remember and honor those who actually died so that we can be safe. We all are related to someone or know someone who went to fight for our freedom and never came home. It is a time to grieve, the very opposite of “happy.” Liberty marketing has now proven itself to be a bunch of jerks (as if we didn’t know that from their preferred guerrilla techniques).

• SareEA: When I was a franchisee I received a marketing idea to participate in “Memorial Day”. Shame on me for listening, when I called the person in charge of the event the politely informed me that this was meant to be a tribute to those who served.

  Sean Kelley: Thank you for providing us with this forum. I recently saw your comments in Forbes about what potential franchisees need to consider. While all are relevant I thought which ones where my biggest mistakes:

  1) Understand that franchisors can succeed even if franchisees fail.
  2) Don’t expect government oversight or help: Government does not view
  franchisees as consumers or investors and does not require the same amount
  of disclosure.
  3) Understand that the franchisor holds all the cards. You will never hear the
  franchisor talk about it’s control until your are a franchisee and then when you
  express discontent you will hear this threat “Notice to Cure”.
  4) Hire a seasoned franchise attorney to explain to you what your signing.
  You need someone who is practical and can point out what your obligations
  and what their obligations are before you sign. I gave Liberty 28000.00 but I
  didn’t think I needed or it was practical to pay an attorney.
  5) Consider doing it yourself; I am a CPA and had plenty of tax knowledge but
  wasn’t confident in my ability to develop enough business fast enough to
  offset my current salary. In retrospect I had the skills, I had the cash flow,
  I had the support I just didn’t have the balls.
  6) Franchises fail with about the same frequency as independent business.
  Under current law the franchiser does not have any obligation to disclose
  this information. Because of current law they can cherry pick what
  information they provide in their disclosure document.

  One other point that Mr. Kelley makes in another Forbes article is the use of minimum royalty” fees. This to me is one of the most tell tale signs of an unproven business model with limited brand name. “If a franchisor wants me to accept almost all the risk by believing in their system then they should demonstrate that same belief by charging a royalty based on actual results”. Of course this won’t happen until we receive some support by our state and federal government.

• Thank you everyone. I read this website everyday. (I get disappointed when there is no new information.) But I was seriously considering to franchise many years ago. Fortunately, I came across this website. Your numbers (returns per store, average fees, costs, and so on) have been incredibly enlightening.

  Also, according to business studies, a good way to get your point across is to tell your story. People like stories. Another suggestion is that this website should be exposed more (e.g. it should be linked to other social media).

  Please keep sharing your information.

• Thanks Bill for the minimum royalty background. Being a one and only time of a franchisee, it is nice to know that future people will have that info. It seems the more unhealthy and unsuccessful a franchisee business is, the more likely the franchisor will be successful. Due to the fact they can burn and churn the same territories, one after another.

  Hey does anyone know if the annual convention was held this week in Virginia Beach? Maybe that is why we don’t hear from John Guerilla Barilla.

• ^^I would LOVE to tell my story, Uphillbattle. People on this forum and the public in general would absolutely freak with what I have to share. I’ve already shared with Jerry A. and I’m hoping that will suffice for now. It would easily identify me if I shared on this forum the specifics and I’m really frightened they’ll come back at me again. NO ONE, I mean NO ONE should have to endure what I endured when I paid good money to a fabricated front of a franchise and worked hard. I had a successful few offices but the ‘reward’ of being an LTS franchisee sucked.

  They are wicked, evil and incredibly adept at what they do. They need to be put in jail. That’s the bottom line. I’m hoping and praying that his money will NOT keep him out of jail anymore. He needs to be held accountable for the RICO, racketeering, lies, outright evil that he has flung on so many innocent and unsuspecting people when they’ve signed on to be part of ‘his’ franchise.

  I will not stop writing on this forum until I KNOW he will pay for what he has done to thousands of innocent people across this country and probably in Canada too.

  Knowing what I know now, I would absolutely tell anyone and everyone I can about the evils of this company, their CEO, and encourage them to run, not walk, run in other other direction before plunking down ANY $$ for this hellhole of a franchise. I guarantee ‘he’ paid to have his name on whatever lists that say that this is a good franchise to invest in. Yucchh.

• SanFran, I don’t think we want to hear about your stories. You do come across as very disturbed.

  It is pretty obvious that the 2-3 of you that keep posting on here with all these different names are very bitter at having failed and want to blame someone else for your failures. Just came out of convention and met hundreds and hundreds of happy people that are making lots of money, some making silly money.

  Could it be that you failed because of you?

• ^^^Looks like John Barf villa, testicle pirate, and whatever other names he was using have now come down to “guest24”. How original!

  Actually, guest24, if my posts bother you and you must call me disturbed, then fuck you! :) Just the fact that you are calling me a failure, not knowing my individual case at all, then you are the disturbed one. Make sure you continue to call me and everyone else names. Hope that makes you feel better.

  I could care less about the damned convention or any happy people making money. Oh yeah, there’s money to be made in this ridiculous company by lying, cheating and stealing. When you have no idea who I am, what I went through and my own personal story, then you can be the moron that you are and call me or anyone else names. I know the real truth.

  And by the way……….I never failed. I told you that a hundred times. Believe what you want. Make up some fantasy in your head that anyone posting on here failed. That’ll make you feel better. I was successful and making money. And I left after the 5 year contract was over, with pleasure. In fact, I couldn’t wait to get out fast enough. Like Bill, I could have easily done this on my own. As it turns out, I am happily no longer doing taxes. I have a breath of fresh air and I haven’t ever looked back at the best decision I ever made to leave that hellhole.

  Make sure you keep posting comments about all our posts. Somehow in a twisted way, that will make YOU feel better.

  I’m posting on UNHAPPY FRANCHISEE to warn others of the pitfalls of this company as are other posters. You, on the other hand, are posting only to harass. Time to grow up and get a life.

• Guest24, you must have met everyone of the franchise owners there. When I was an owner there were over 1300 owners, but only about 400 went to convention. Most of these were within driving distance or brand new owners. To make the convention look bigger, you were encouraged to bring your spouse, kids and key employees.
  As for happy owners, get real, most will not tell you how much they made. They are blowing off steam after the season. How many of the owners did not show when they were called to come up for the plaque/trophy?
  How good is a franchise if 25% of the top performers do not show?
  Did the owners tell you how much they made gross or net? Most might only tell you the gross amount. When I went, very few actually stated numbers on what they made, most would tell you how many returns they did.

• I guess some people will believe anything.
  Otherwise there wouldn’t be people like guest and john Hewitt.
  Just a question guest, on a site called unhappy franchisee why wouldn’t someone want to hear a franchisees unhappy story?
  Within 50 miles of wher I sit right now there are 6 liberty taxes that have closed and not reopened.
  6 in a 50 mile span. 1 franchisee in federal prison out of the 6.
  I can’t speak yo the entire country but in my area that’s about half of the stores.
  I’ve seen efin data from IRS that tells a very different story than what you are saying guest24.
  That is data of returns by efin, location of efin, number of returns by efin.
  Any prospective franchisee should research through IRS these numbers. That by itself should let you know if you want to sign with liberty.

• Guest24 – Why not use your name if you are a successful franchisee? Of course everyone makes money with LTS, just you can’t hold on to any of it. If not for royalties and marketing, then it is for the employees and the outrageous locations they FORCE one to take instead of letting the business push you to those high cost locations.

  Also, remember 1,000 upon 1,000s have lost their life savings with this franchise, not to mention only a couple of hundred show up to the event’s spouting their wonderful life! Of course most of those spouting the wonderful life are not working franchisees but the infamous “CEO” which don’t do one tax return nor anything else with the business, but tout their are the CEO of their business.

  In the last 2 years, over a 1,000 offices have shut down compared, when they were the fastest growing tax preparation business in the country. They took anyone who could write a check or get a loan to boost their numbers at the expense of the “CEO/owner” who lost everything and are on these sites telling the lies this company spouts out everytime people want to invest.

  Buyer beware of the wolf in sheep clothing.

  In my state, more and more people will shut down shop because of the high cost of doing business with these yahoos. Some won’t be able to due to owing money to corporate for “nothing”.

• Greg could you provide the IRS site for researching the tax returns by efin number?

  In looking up current Liberty Locations on Liberty’s website I found that the store in Mays Landing NJ was no longer listed. This location was around since 2004 and was one of the few locations I knew of that did 450 to 500 returns. Liberty sold this location at least to three different owners including the original owner. Despite the fact that the office was in business since 2004 and doing between 450 to 500 returns no one including the company could make a profit. It looks like finally the company has decided that the cost of keeping the store open while trying to find a new “sucker” is just not worth it.

  Liberty has been cultivating the Hispanic market and unfortunately it is paying off. The two most recent territories to be sold, one in Vineland and the other in Atlantic City NJ, were sold to Hispanics. Like their business model the franchise looks to exploit anyone from hard working immigrants to military personal.

  Buyer Beware/Precaución al comprador

• ^^Greg:

  Interesting that you mention Federal prison. Hmmmm. Wonder WHY that franchisee is there? Wonder if perhaps, just perhaps Liberty could be behind that and thousands of others facing federal prison????? Hmmmmm. Perhaps I know something about that? Perhaps it’s LTS themselves sending those franchisees to federal prison. Hmmmmm. I wonder…….a coincidence? I think not!

• Guest 24 is deluded. His idea of making ‘silly money’ with this company means an income in the red, that’s the silly part. Nobody is making any real money except Hewitt.

  The conventions are a dog and pony show. Free airfare and accommodations for the the Zees who did the high return numbers. That doesn’t mean they made any money. The money was blown on royalties and marketing. These Zees are paraded around and obligated to talk good about the company in order to help sell the dream to the next sucker. In a year or two they are bankrupt and eventually on this board.

  Keep in mind that Hewitt and Liberty have a very fine tuned marketing plan of their own and are very good at selling territories to anyone that can write a check or get financing.

• It should be troubling to anyone that a franchise is more interested in churning franchisees than to make the business grow. This is exactly what Liberty is doing. It would hardly be surprising within the next couple of years we will be reading about Hewitt skimming millions from the company and skipping out of this country to escape punishment. The people left holding the empty bag are the shareholders, so don’t cry when we told you so.

  Think about it.

• Taxastee:

  On 6/3/14 DataTaxService had a non-market disposition of 800,000 shares for $20,000,000. In most non-market transactions it’s the company that would be on one side of any transaction. Considering this company’s problems with cash flow, why/how would they acquire the stock? Is this the start of the skimming?

• If it quacks like a duck….

• For those of you that like to do research, how’s this for a project?

  Why doesn’t someone research how many ex-franchisees are in federal prison (or have been and are now out) and the reasons “that are stated” why they are there.

  That’ll be an eye opener…

• SanFranDan: We all have disdain for how this company is run. But it’s important to keep are emotions out of our comments.. Potential franchisees need us to give them an accurate picture of what they can expect from this company:

  1) minimum royalties
  2) No national or regional advertising
  3) Poor technical support

  etc…

• So SanFran, you are saying all franchisees are crooks and felons. I think that is very insulting to all 2000 of us that are just trying to make a living. Seems like you are just a bitter failed franchisee who wants to take everyone down with you.

  WARNING: Please post under a single screenname. We will change your name to reflect your primary posting name. Thanks. ADMIN

• SanFranDan, I did a cursory search for “Liberty Tax and Prison.” I found a few interesting stories. What are the primary challenges of this business, aside from being a franchise? What advise would you give to someone starting this type of business (without franchising)? It appears that hanging out your own shingle and working on growing your business one customer at a time is the way to do it.

  Also, what are a few of the things to look out for?

  Thank you everyone for your invaluable information.

• Bill:

  I’ll clarify a bit more where I’m coming from. Distain is a mild term for what I feel toward that company. In several instances there seems to be a direct correlation with franchisees leaving after 5 years in a ‘discontented’ manner and subsequently getting into “hot water” with legal issues. Because it has happened in several cases, it is not isolated. Hmmmm. Perhaps Liberty is behind the legal issues thrust upon ex-franchisees. How many people are in the headlines for facing federal charges? How many of the other tax companies have ex franchisees in a similar situation? It seems to me that it is very telling that Liberty has much to do with a franchisees legal issues after leaving their system. Hmmmmm.

  Uphillbattle:

  The challenges are deep. To begin with, someone without a Tax background is at a HUGE disadvantage. The employees can and will take advantage of your lack of knowledge. The market has been shifting due to softwares being more sophisticated, allowing people to do their own Tax returns. Libtax was horrendous. The market toward the lower income people has virtually disappeared when the RAL’s were eliminated.

  I was responsible for getting ALL of my clients, although Liberty took a HUGE piece for themselves. If you are true to the client and treat them fairly, they will bring their families and friends to you. Keep your overhead low by renting a small office, perhaps in an office park, for instance, and people will find you. Don’t be afraid to pay a good amount for the software that covers all states, that will make your life so much easier. There are so many software’s that are so superior to Libtax. (that had spyware in it) You DO NOT need a franchise at all to begin.

  The main thing is that like Bill and myself, you need to have confidence that you can do this ON YOUR OWN, without that horrendous franchise hanging over you. Since I left, it has become more and more rigid. There is no flexibility. They say it’s your business, but that is as far from the truth as it can get. Better to do what uphillbattle suggests: grow your business one customer at a time.

  I have had no other franchise experiences, but in reading the posts on this forum, it seems as if there are many, many people in the same boat. Franchises are designed to suck the life out of you, and to maximize the franchises earning potential ONLY. I would be extremely wary of signing ANY contract unless you know the full consequnces of what you’re signing and what you are expected and not expected to do. Also remember………you do not have to buy ANY of their products that they mark up 3,000%. Go out and buy your own for a fraction of the cost.

  I will wrap this post up by stating that this company, it’s CEO and it’s top leaders and legal dept. need to be fully investigated. They seem to be stepping over themselves to make sure they are now in full compliance with SEC, IRS, etc. rules. Much of what has been said in the past has been said in private meetings at the conventions…….stuff that’s not on paper, thus not trace able. I’m sure they’ve cleaned up their act considerably knowing they are being watched. It doesn’t help the people that they lied to or told fictious stories to. Words cannot describe the horrendous 5 years of my contract. I just hope and wish that anyone deciding to sign on with them doesn’t. That decision to back away from the contract will allow them to sleep at nighttime more peacefully.

• Thank you SanFranDan. Some of your suggestions are in line with what my research has revealed. I am very close to getting my storefront. From your experience, what mechanisms should I put in place to avoid the “clients” who are just looking to use someone for his or her knowledge (wasting valuable time) or the ones who are shopping for the biggest return (can’t compete with the fraudsters)?

  Thank you everyone.

• For callers just looking to pick your brain, give them a knowledgeable response but not a complete response, e.g., “Head of Household filing status usually requires that you have a qualifying child, per the IRS definition, who lives with you but there are some exceptions that I will be glad to go over with you. Would you like to make an appt?” You just threw some terms at them that they have no idea what they mean, but it sure sounds like you know what you’re talking about.

  Tell callers who want to know your charges that you aren’t taking new clients except by referral. Price shoppers will never be happy with your price. You might try explaining that you can’t say without reviewing their tax situation because it will depend on how many forms they need and how long the return takes to complete, that they wouldn’t call a garage and say their car is making a noise and how much will it cost to fix it before the mechanic gets to look it over and find out what’s wrong.

  I don’t know how to weed out those shopping for the biggest return. Don’t set up shop in that kind of neighborhood?

• Thank you SaraEA. That is helpful.

  Keep up the great work of informing the public.

• Thanks Sara EA for your info. I took some of your advice earlier in the tax season and it worked great. No wasting of time. I wrote everyone who came in but one person. Nobody wasted my time like when I was with LTS!!!

• For the people that are shopping for the biggest refund, if they are on the phone ask for them to set up an appointment. I would not give an amount over the phone, because you will not know everything about the return. The shoppers will not set an appointment.
  If you happen to have one across the desk from you, go by your gut. If they want to change numbers on a w-2, have them go to their employer and get a corrected w-2. If it is on a schedule C, I only allow one change before I send them away to get the correct numbers. The ones committing fraud will never come back.
  One thing to remember is that the fines and scrutiny from the IRs is not worth wasting your time on a refund shopper.

• SaraEA these suggestions definately work. It does’nt take long to figure out during tax season when you’re holding up your phone lines and wasting time.

• Guess Johnny H. didn’t grease the skids too well at Forbes.com. He didn’t make the top 10 !! Of course there are plenty of people who realize he should have made the bottom 10, but the market will decide that. It is amazing to me as I see store after store come and go, I talk to the owners and they all realize they were lied to, but until the laws are changed to protect the franchisee, this will continue. Stay away, run away as fast as you can, and never look back.

• The primary goal of this company and it’s area developers is to sell franchises. That’s where you see their advertising dollars being spent. Due to minimum royalties marketing and improving on the tax business is secondary.

  Part of their business model that they don’t share is how they use cannibalization of franchisees to maintain their stores. Basically, the first franchisee in a new territory will lay all the ground work. This is the idea behind the free tax returns and the requirement to spend x amount of dollars in a marketing budget. Build the brand. If your successful good, if your marginally successful even better, if your not successfully no big deal they got your initial franchise fee and all the royalties that they could plus the get the territory back to resell. The reason the marginally successful franchise is so appealing is Liberty gets to sell the territory at a higher price and preferably to a successfully franchise who will take over all of the previous franchisee’s obligations to Liberty. You won’t find this in the franchise disclosure document!!!

  If anyone is in need of good marketing results they should visit Hewitt Enterprises and read all the unbiased testimonials. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

  The only way to hurt this company is to make it hard for them to sell franchises. I encouraged current and former franchisee’s to speak out against this company.

  Buyer Beware!!!

• The sooner the public realizes what a bunch of crooks Liberty Tax is, the sooner they will be out of business. My experience parallels the experiences described on this website. I had an ignorant AD, Corporate office as most unsupportive , and a company that was always more concerned with getting their royalty payment than to help the franchisee.

  If you want to leave, you get sued. If you withhold royalty payments, you get notices to cure, internal audits and ultimately, you get sued. We can all rehash our experiences with these thieves, but it all boils down to Hewitt and this company are con artists.

  Watch out for them!

• texastee and bill, you are so right on. from my perspective, I am not really sure that the brand is anymore well known now than when I owned my store several years ago. as a matter of fact, anyone looking online at this point will see the multitude of complaints against these clowns and think twice about going to one. i think online is going to grow and brick and mortar will eventually not be able to make it. the costs are too high.

• Fiscal year results are out:
  http://ir.libertytax.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=233197&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1940719&highlight=

  Interesting that U.S. systemwide revenue is up 10% but royalties/advertising are up only 7%. Could company offices (also down in locations YOY) really provide that much of a boost?

  John is really drinking the ACA Kool Aid. He’ll use that lure to try to reel in new franchisees as much as possible–whether it’s true or not is left for another year.

  Also loved the questions on the call about advertising and how advertising expense was flat YOY while royalties were up 7%. That required some explaining :)

  Here’s the webcast for the call:
  http://ir.libertytax.com/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=233197&eventID=5163146

• Great results! Hard to see these results in any way but positive. I’m sure the Debby downers on this board will say Liberty is going bankrupt tomorrow etc etc.

  If you are seriously considering becomming a franchisee don’t let a few misfits on here stop you from getting on the Liberty Train. I own multiple offices, make tons of money every year and with ACA, next year looks to be the biggest year ever.

  do your own due diligence. I think the numbers speak for themselves though. Less office count with revenues materially up. what does that tell you? It tells me perhaps they sold some stores to “misfits” and now that they are weeding theirselves out, you see Liberty still has 2000 franchises in the system who presumably made more money this year and next year will be even bigger.

  Go Liberty!!!!!!

• Can’t wait to see Bill’s response. He predicted flat revenues and cash flow problems and the opposite happened. $43mill positive cash flow from operations.

• Ed and John: The company results are much better then I or the company even thought they would be. But on this site I’m concerned about franchisees and specially individuals looking to buy a Liberty tax franchise. So lets look at the numbers that are must relevant to them.

  According to the most recent financial statements there are 2104 franchisees in US and Canada and 4222 offices. In 2014 operating loans to these franchisees increased to $76,013,000 or $36,127.85 per franchise. When you consider that 69% of the offices are over 5 years old this number should be going down not up

  As a franchisee any franchisee you must understand that you carry all of the cost and most of the risk.

  Buyer Beware!!!