LIBERTY TAX SERVICE Franchise Complaints

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

• John;

  Unfortunately as I found out, you have nothing to sell unless you find a real sucker, and there are plenty of those. (Unfortunately I was also one of them!). Liberty will not help you as they want their new franchise fees, not ones like yours. You can advertise it through a business broker, but again, you will have to discount to a point of giving it away just to get rid of it. I wish you luck. Keep us posted.

• John,
  I agree with frustrated, try a business broker that specializes in accounting and tax offices. Try the Liberty sales office. Try an email to other franchisees in your state. Dont let them list it at an amount you cant get. If this isnt working and you close, talk to another tax professional about writing off your total investment to market value as an ordinary loss.

• For potential franchisees: This business model for the franchisee is not very profitable and that is supported by the company statement that can be found in the second paragraph from the bottom of page 38 of this year’s financial statements which states:

  Number of Company-owned offices. For the 2014 and 2013 tax seasons, respectively, we operated a total of 216 and 261 Company-owned offices.
  Our Company-owned offices, including Walmart kiosks, tend to be less successful than franchised offices. For this reason, we continue to seek to minimize the number of Company-owned offices we operate each tax season. To the extent we succeed in this effort, we would expect tax preparation fees to decrease, but royalties and advertising fees to be favorably affected.

  Taking the most conservative interpretation of this statement the company is saying if they run these stores even thought they are collecting the tax preparation fees their net profit margin is less than the 19%. The company would be more profitable by letting a franchisee run the store and just collect the royalties of 14% and 5% advertising fees.

  As potential franchisee’s this statement should make you think! “The company that built this business model and I am now thinking of investing with admits it can’t make a profit equal or exceeding the 19% in fees they collect from a franchisee owned store.”. So then how can you as a franchisee who now has an added expense of 19% for royalties and advertising fees be expected to make a profit.

  Buyer Beware!!!

• Bill,

  Why is hard to understand that franchisees will run their stores better than employees? If you have 100 corporate stores and they are spread out all over the country, some in very remote hard to get towns, it is much harder to run them better than a single franchisee who owns the business and cares about that individual office, who probably lives 15 minutes away from the offices.

  As far as being concerned about being bought out at 200% of the yearly revenues, when the going market is 100% to 140%, i don’t even feel like it is necessary to respond to how silly that is. If my house is worth $140k at the most and someone wants to buy it at $200k, guess what? I am taking the $60k profit without thinking twice.

• John: you have to read and comprehend what I said in my post. What I’m saying is Liberty will “never exercise” this part of the franchise agreement and is only in there to mislead potential franchisees.

  John: I’m in NJ we have a convenience store here called WAWA. It’s company owned and has stores from here to FL. It dominates the market in this region competing directly against the franchisee owned 7-Elevens. So much for your one size fits all theory.

  John: what city and state are you in and are you an AD?

• John: you have to read and comprehend what I said in my post. What I’m saying is Liberty will “never exercise” this part of the franchise agreement and is only in there to mislead potential franchisees.

  John: I’m in NJ we have a convenience store here called WAWA. It’s company owned and has stores from here to FL. It dominates the market in this region competing directly against the franchisee owned 7-Elevens. So much for your one size fits all theory.

  John: what city and state are you in and are you an AD?

• I am not an AD, i own 4 offices in the suburbs of large city. My areas are lower to middle class.

  Uphil was or one of you was making the point that LIberty can take the stores away from you at any time.

  LIberty’s business model is to franchise 100% of its offices but ends up with 1-2% of offices back from failed franchisees, death of some franchisee or other special circumstances. This offices are put right into inventory available for sale so there is since they are usually held short term. Since this is not a big part of their business you can say these stores are not run to the maximum potential. Your point is invalid on this issue as it is on most issues.

  Again I blame corporate for selling you guys territories. Most of you have proven you don’t know good from bad.

• If the clause that says Liberty can buy your store is in the contract, then liberty can take it away. It took Barilla two days to figure out what the clause means. The clause is lopsided for many reasons.

  1. If the proprietor does not want to sell, then the owner should have the right to not sell.

  2. If it turns out that the location is a great opportunity, then Liberty can take your store. This means that Liberty owns everything.

  3. If the deal is a bad investment, then the clause can be used to sucker people into buying the franchise. “It is such a great deal, that Liberty retains the first rights to buy this goldmine.”

  4. There are qualitative factors that can make a store worth more than what Liberty can buy it for. (The chances of this being the case might be slim, but Liberty retains the right to take the store.)

  Again, this site saved me from a bad investment.

• This is a franchise made for real suckers and I was one of them! It took me 5 years of heartache and huge financial losses to get out of this franchise. The point that corporate does not want to take any of the stores speaks volumes. Even they know that there is not a 19% margin. So, that still leaves us with Liberty trying to sell an outdated system to unsophisticated purchasers. Worse yet, the purchasers, like myself, were duped into buying the franchise because we wanted to believe the good and ignore the bad. As we all know, the bad far outweighs the good in this franchise. You have no brand recognition, no national advertising, no training, no technical support, no corporate support, no market share, lots of hassles, no system that is unique to use and many other factors that just scream to make sure you stay away from them! This is not a legitimate company aimed at dominating the tax industry, but a company that is designed to rob people of their hard earned savings for an intangible ‘territory’ of questionable value. You can’t even sell this business to someone else because there is nothing to be made after Liberty takes all they can through royalties and territory purchase. You have no rights with them and they train you to do all the wrong things. Someday the market will catch up with them. Until then, stay away!

• Does anyone have any more information about the Siempre Tax, or whatever the name is going to be?

• Company tried to Scam me..Rip off Scam The woman told me she didn’t have time and said watch video she was sending me. I received a call from Liberty Tax and Student Loan Defense. They told me that President Obama was going to forgive my loans. I’m was skeptical and cont. to hear pitch then the woman told me that once I paid them 7 payments of $110.00 thru Dept. of Edu and Department of Edu writes a check to my lender. I then asked them to verify there company and woman told me she was going to send me a video. I just wanted to see a website and credentials. The woman told me she didn’t have time and said watch video she was sending me. This is the really company that helped me For only $179.00…I Happy there is at least one legtit company. http://ndsls.com/

  Your Desired Resolution:
  I would like the goverment to watch these company’s that are ripping off the citzens…Im a veteran and it upsets me that these companies exist…

  This case will be reviewed by a complaint specialist at the Better Business Bureau, and then forwarded to the business for their response. It is our policy to allow the business 30 working days to respond to your complaint. You will be notified when the business has responded.

• Uphill,

  Again if corporate would force me to sell for 200% of revenues I would be happy as heck. I think I am not the only one that would say that. Any cpa, tax business either large or small would be more than happy to sell for 200% of revenues. I really don’t think you know good from bad, right from wrong, wet from dry or whether salt makes is salty…. Stick to your day job my friend.

• Barilla, you are missing the point. It took you three days to partially understand the point of contention.

  Based on your reasoning, analytical,and writing skills, you have no business telling someone else that he or she lacks aptitude. You probably did not make it through college– a high school drop out, highly likely.

  One thing is for sure, if you are successful at this business, then I am going to be extremely successful.

• So here is the original posting by Bill that has caused the Liberty buying your franchise discussion;

  “In this agreement you will find under “terms, renewal and buyback” item c: buyback that states the following: ” Between May 1 and August 31 of any year, Liberty has the right to purchase your Franchised Business for the greater of a
  $150,000 or 200% of gross receipts of the territory etc.” This section is purposefully deceptive and is aimed at taking advantage of your excitement/emotions/greed to believe that you can’t go wrong opening a franchise if the company is willing to pay $150,000 or 200% of gross receipts.

  I am asking not only John B. or Ed but anyone to tell us on this site if they have been offered the $150,000 or 200% of gross receipts for their Franchised Business. If offered, did you close the sale?

  If you are going to use this site to have a discussion, discuss what is being said to the point of what is being said, please. Bill offered his opinion which was; “This section is purposefully deceptive and is aimed at taking advantage of your excitement/emotions/greed to believe that you can’t go wrong opening a franchise if the company is willing to pay $150,000 or 200% of gross receipts.”

  So, please prove him wrong by giving examples of Liberty actually doing this. We will be waiting…

• Oh, by the way, I know someone who closed down a franchise that had 200% of gross receipts greater than $150,000 – guess what, that territory has been vacant for a number of years. There was no offer to buy…by Liberty or anyone.

• Sad But True,

  I am replying to Uphill not to Bill on this issue so please pay attention and read before posting. Uphill, as i have said before I am actually a CPA. 4 year Accounting degree and the passed the 16 hour exam. At the time you had to take all 4 parts all at once for 2 days straight. Been a CPA for 13 years.. I doubt you will be successful at anything you do, however. You are not even a franchisee why are you posting on a website for franchisees?

• ^^^^^Hahahahahahaha! :)

  Sad but True: Good for you!!!!!
  Not only did you put Barf villa in his place, but his very last sentence is telling: “You are not even a franchisee why are you posting on a website for franchisees?”

  UNHAPPY FRANCHISEES, Mr. obnoxious Barf villa. Or people that are SMART enough NOT to buy into this god awful company.

  Interesting how there are many, many, many unhappy franchisees. There are the three stooges that seem to be “happy”. Well, then again the CPA board does take anyone, same as Liberty Tax. As long as you have a wallet and are breathing, then Liberty Tax will sign you up!

  I know of soooooo many unhappy ex-franchisees that don’t even post on this forum. They’ve been so disgusted and lost so much money that they have just moved on…………but ALL of them would be delighted to see JTH’s fall.

  UpHillBattle, Sad But True, Bill, Mike, Texastee, NCHillbilly, Greg and MANY others:

  PLEASE keep posting your unhappy experiences whether you’ve been a franchisee at LTS or not. The reasons you are not joining are just as important. Makes me wish I had this blog before I joined. It would have saved me from such unnecessary heartache and loss of thousands.

  Potential franchisees: BACK AWAY. Do NOT sign. You will be thrilled you made that decision. An evil, evil company and an evil CEO.

• Barilla, my credentials extend beyond a CPA title. Moreover, I have the luxury of working as a CPA because of my title. I have already succeeded at many endeavors.

  I post on this website because I am a fan of it. I have gotten invaluable information from many people.

  You have inspired me to open up a Tax Practice because if people like you are successful, then I am missing out on making a lot of money.

• Ed and John: I certainly understand your right to post on here and welcome it. The purpose here is to present informative, practical and factual information to potential franchisees. Obviously as current franchisees you have a financial stake in keeping negative comments to a minimum.

  As former franchisees: we have a right to post on here to talk about our experiences and to express our views about this company. We have nothing to gain financially so our only motive is to help a potential franchisee avoid the mistakes we made.

  You as potential franchisees have to sift through this information and determine what to believe. The only caveat I have is “If it sounds to good to be true it probable is”.

  Buyer Beware!!!

• LIBERTY TAX OFFERS FINANCIAL SECURITY AND TIME TO ENJOY IT
  Aug 2nd, 2014

  Veterans Cover Story: Liberty Tax
  If there were four words that Nicole Ossenfort would use to get people to buy a Liberty Tax franchise, it would
  probably be what she finds most appealing about owning one: “Eight months of vacation.”
  With tax season only going from January to April, operating a Liberty Tax franchise has afforded Ossenfort and her husband Scott Ossenfort the one thing even better than financial security: time to do the things they love.
  In fact, Nicole says, she used to tease Scott that his old job as a retail manager for an automotive dealership used to interfere with her lifestyle because while she had the aforementioned eight months of vacation time, Scott only had three weeks.
  While working out of her home she was mostly bookkeeping, but then tax season rolled around and the majority of Nicole’s clients just assumed she’d be doing their taxes, too. So, she did them and that’s when she learned that tax season was highly lucrative for someone with her skill set.
  “I just had to figure out how to do the maximum amount of tax returns in the most efficient manner,” she explained.
  Because Nicole had grown up around parents who regularly talked business at the dinner table, she’s always had an
  entrepreneurial streak in her.

  So, knowing that taxes were good business, the next step was finding a franchise that she liked and Liberty Tax fit just right.
  “I went looking for a franchise business model, knowing that entrepreneurship was in my future,” Nicole said. “I also knew that the franchise business model was my model of choice.”
  Once she and Scott had done their research on the then-young company, they flew out to Virginia Beach, VA for a discovery day and were impressed with Liberty Tax’s leader, CEO John Hewitt, and how he ran things.
  They also met with the company’s head of marketing, head of technology and several other people, including other franchisees.
  “We were just really impressed with what we saw,” she recalled.
  Nicole said the factors behind her decision to go with Liberty Tax were the leadership; the superb team at the company; the company’s core beliefs, which matched up with Scott’s and her own; and the clear vision the company had for its future.
  The process
  Nicole described the franchising process at Liberty Tax as extremely streamlined. She first went for a five-day Effective Operations Training course, where new franchisees learn how to set up and run a successful tax business, which includes choosing the right location.
  Nicole said the company helps you narrow your choices down to a few good locations and then someone from Liberty will give you an honest opinion about which location they believe is best. Liberty representatives also offer assistance for lease negotiations.
  “I felt fully prepared for that first tax season that got us up and running,” she said.
  Support is ongoing, too. In the tax off season, she said, Liberty Tax has Liberty College, where people can upgrade their skills. It’s called Liberty College because it actually runs somewhat like a college.
  Franchisees can choose from several courses available and only take the ones they feel they would benefit from the most.
  You figure out which area your business needs to improve and then you choose those corresponding classes.
  The courses include leadership, marketing, guerrilla marketing, financial management and many more. And franchise owners can take courses via the internet if they can’t make it to one of Liberty Tax’s many training seminars across the country. Plus, they can use the web-based courses to help train their own staff.
  Nicole has even been privy to the special training Liberty Tax offers to its Top Guns – the biggest producing franchises in the country – and the Elite 18, the top 18 producing franchisees in the country.
  Way of life
  Nicole said Liberty Tax offers a great opportunity not only financially, but in terms of a way of life. However, she noted, you have to follow the Liberty Tax formula and you have to be committed to stellar customer service.
  As competitive as Liberty Tax franchisees can be – even with each other, Nicole said, the culture at the company is one of family and support for fellow franchisees.
  “The culture is like none other I’ve ever experienced,” she said. And, if the great culture isn’t enough to get you to inquire about Liberty Tax, perhaps those eight months of vacation just might.
  For more information: http://www.libertytaxfranchise.com 877-285-4237

• Admin: This is post is an advertisement. I recommend that you delete this from this forum and direct them to your marketing department.

• Nice try, JB, but the Ossenforts are part of the Liberty corporate community and have been part of it since early on. Also, one might want to consider the source of this article which is an obscure Veterans organization that Hewitt probably funded himself so he could claim vets were with him. After all, he is located in Virginia beach, home of the world’s largest Navy base or is that a coincidence? by the way, this article is the same one Liberty has used off and on since its inception. Try to find someone else for a change. That, at least, would be creative which not an attribute Liberty and Hewitt are known for. But it is summer and we have to have summer repeats.

  Most of us now know, as Nicole seems to ignore, is the lack of support Liberty actually provides. In season, the so called experts in helping you set up your store are only temporary employees that have undergone maybe a week’s training.

  I’m not sure where they can take 8 months of vacation when Liberty is constantly demanding monthly closings and budgeting. There is also a lot of other nonsense items that corporate can come up with that can keep you busy and require you to be near unless you want to receive a “Notice to Cure”.

  Please remember that the Liberty ‘discovery day’ in Virginia Beach is a “dog and pony show” that should leave you all impressed. If it didn’t, you would really know what a bunch of crooks Liberty really was.

  As for Liberty being lucrative, a 19% royalty fee off the top doesn’t leave you much room to make a profit, if any. If the Ossenforts are truly able to make a profit, which, in private conversations I had with Nicole, seem very unlikely, then more power to them. The truth of the matter is that without the corporate payments for these type of fluff advertising, the Ossenforts would be in a great deal of financial trouble like the rest of us.

  I guess that the Liberty culture is to mislead potential franchisees to keep the money train rolling. It looks to me that it should run out of coal soon.

• John: Just after I go to bat for you and Ed about your right to post on this site, you post this article and don’t even disclose the truth about the person quoted in the article, Nicole Ossenfort.

  According to her profile on linkedin – Nicole Ossenfort … Current: Instructor for Liberty College at Liberty Tax Service, Multi-Unit Franchise Owner and Area Developer at Liberty Tax Service in Rapid City South Dakota.

  This type of cheap stunt is indicative of the lack of integrity that you can find through out the organization.

  Buyer Beware!!!

• bill: I would delete it, but I don’t want to displease Mr. Hewitt. I still hope to land him as an advertiser on UnhappyFranchisee.Com some day ;)

• No one who has a serious tax business gets “eight months vacation,” and any franchisor who tries to convince you otherwise is lying. Clients suddenly find another tax form, requiring an amendment. They need copies of prior year W2s and tax returns because they are refinancing (never could figure out what they do with the ones we gave them). IRS letters come rolling in (missing income, amounts on 1098T or 5498 don’t match tax return). The states are all hurting for money and are auditing lots of people, demanding copies of Sch Cs, K-1s, you name it. We are still helping four clients who were victims of identity theft, and in the past two weeks we have fielded EIGHT calls from clients who received calls from the “IRS” demanding money (via bank wire or prepaid card) and threatening to arrest them if they did not pay. And September is “back to school” for us, because we have to take continuing education and tax updates. Unless you have a great year-round staff, you’ll be lucky to have eight days off.

• Ed: I appreciate you for your candor. You readily admit that this franchise works best in low income and middle income areas. That the price of $40,000 for virgin franchise in a area with little or no branding seems high and the following:

  “The reality is many fail at Liberty (Again I’m guessing here but as high as 50% may fail maybe even higher) but again guessing I would expect an even higher percentage fail that try to do this on their own.”

  I personally believe that had I gone out on my own, I would still be in business. I base this on the simple facts that I would have kept the $28,000 I paid in a franchise fee, I would not have had minimum royalties, starting a $5,000 a year and increasing to $11,000 a year after year 2. I would have staffed the office according to the actual work vs. a Liberty estimate based on 600 returns. etc. The most important I would have kept my office in Somers Point which wasthe territory I originally bought from Liberty but after selling me that territory in Somers Point Liberty would not approve any office location in that territory. Ultimately I gave in to the AD and moved to a lower income area “Pleasantville”.

  Buyer Beware!!!

• John H. is or will be 65 years old this year. I just hope he has a chance to reflect on how successful he has been at the expense of so many others. It is fact – Liberty Corporate does not have to do one tax return to be enriched. The franchisees bear all of the expenses, do all the work, take all of the risks.

  People are told they can work four months of the year and vacation for eight – is this false advertising? What about tax school? Do you leave that to someone else while you are vacationing? What about the October 15th deadline for filing extensions? What about the customers who need you during the off season? If you are vacationing for eight months, good for you! If you are being deceptive, shame on you!

  Money does that to people, they lose all of their sensitivity to others and take, take, take. If you own your own business you care about everything about that business. So note, the corporate culture of Liberty is to take from others and party, party, party! I can hear them laughing at all the people who are busting their tails for their fun and games.

• Sorry guys but you’re making it more interesting than it is. Failure rates not near 50 percent and profitability is much higher in low income areas. You can have about six months off in those areas without a tax school. More money is lost in middle income areas. Yes, phone rings daily and only three to four days off after you reach at least 400 returns. More profit as independent. Yes, franchisees pay for everything.

• Well, well, well. John Barf villa is grasping at any straws he can. Kind of pathetic, actually.

  My advice to all and anyone reading this forum as a potential franchisee: take the advice from many of us on this blog. If you have a Tax background, DO NOT join LTS. Just start your own. The $40k territory investment could be used instead to begin your own business. One of the very worst feelings of all is paying the territory fee, cultivating your own customers, establishing a professional and friendly rapport with these clients and they are NEVER yours as long as you pay to be a Liberty Tax franchisee. You pay through the nose and do all the work. Liberty takes huge percentages and for what? It’s not like they are actually training or giving support. You are throwing away good money that you could have just put into your own business. You do all the marketing anyway. Just stay away from joining this franchise and begin doing taxes on your own.

  I agree. There is no such thing as an 8 month vacation. There is Tax school to teach in the Fall. Newspaper ads to recruit tax school ‘victims’ who then in many cases become your employees. Those people who answered your ad from off the street are going to be entrusted with strangers tax returns. Yikes. Filing extensions, making copies of W-2’s and prior years tax returns for colleges and mortgages, etc.,etc.,etc. I remember Liberty made us stay open one day a week all summer………the bottom line is when you go out on your own, you answer to no one but yourself. You make the money and keep it. THAT’s the real basic statement. You keep your own profit and do not have to share it with this moronic company that preys on you like sharks.

  Like Bill I learned the hard way (and the expensive way). Keep your own money and pass on this franchise. It’s all in their marketing and it’s oh so not worth it.

• As an independent tax office, it has been a wonderful experience. I have done more tax returns than I did with LTS. One of the surprises is not all the wasted calls and wasted time doing “estimated” tax returns for the shopping public. I have noticed on the “off” time, I don’t have these “ghost callers” wanting appointments and wanting to do their taxes, when you call them, usually two things, their number does not work or they went elsewhere. What a crock of poo poo.

  I had some calls this year asking for “estimates” for tax return pricing, but like SaraEA stated, don’t give an estimate. I like to tell them it cost “money”. I also did not have the 20 or 30 I did not get paid on as I did with LTS. I got paid on everyone I processed.

  With LTS, they manufacture busyness and monkey business. They send people to stop by, call and waste everyone’s time. Also it seemed when I had “my” phone number with LTS that their GEO ad would consistently send the wrong people to my phone number who were for different towns and different offices. Very suspect, because I don’t get that with a regular tax number.

  One of the things I have learned being with LTS, is they are constantly watching each and every office. They test to see if you are there when you have scheduled hours and have phony people call at random. Very time consuming, just so I guess a LTS office seems like it is busy.

  They monitor your computers and if they are not unplugged from a socket, they will turn on at random and be on when you come back into the office even if you did a shut down of the computer yourself.

  Now, John Barilla will state none of this happens, but we know, that John must run his office himself, because if he did, he would know this info. He is a CEO of who knows what.

  Also one last thing, my AD worked in the same area and it was AMAZING how many phone calls we received at different offices looking for their office even if my number was not in their phone book or even associated with the same town. It was a miracle how many came in on the days our office was suppose to be open on the scheduled day of the week.

• One other thing, there is “8 months” off with LTS.

  1. You have to be open one day a week, even if nothing is happening.

  2. You have to do a GRR – Gross receipt report by the 5th of each month or God forbid, LTS will loose out of their pound of flesh.

  3. You have to listen to their monthly calls, usually the last Tues of the month. They monitor that too.

  4. You must respond with in 24 hours of a call or an email, even if it is your off time, or the world will come to an end. And if you did not take care of them, or tell them you took care of the client, with this glamorous long arse email telling them everything you did for the client and made them a “raving fan of LTS”, then they would keep emailing and saying you are taking care of the client.

  5. You are at the becking call when John has a hair up his bum for a “new fangle” way of the attracting clients.

  6. You must of at least one tax school, now bear in mind, they don’t explain that very well in the opening statement of purchasing a territory. They like you to start with a 12 week school and go down to 4 week school. I did one it was the most wasted time ever and totally cost prohibited. You are suppose to buy $500 worth of books each year. I only purchased one set and used them for the rest of the time with LTS.

  7. You must update your computer weekly or more with updates, which takes time and it seems it is never on your day in the office! They monitor that little tidbit also.

  8. They could do a surprise audit of your office, even if you are on vacation.

  As you can see, there more requirement’s to have a LTS office. It is very stressful and not enjoyable one iota. Hind sight, it was a bad investment and the people in home office, AD’s and other Zees overall are just plain bad people and are always trying to get rid of other offices if they feel a threat and steal your clients while you are with LTS. They also will advertise in your territory. Home office does very little to curb that problem.

• ^^^Ain’t that the truth, Franchizee. Good to see your posts again.

• Liberty Tax has no morality. There is no support, let alone any tax expertise. They tell you how to market out of someones book that was written some time ago. The tax software and store operating system software has spyware and bugs. Corporate has an inherent mistrust of its franchisees by always checking on them, harassing them with store audits and piling unnecessary reports and/or paperwork on them. All setup personnel are temporary workers only for the months of December and January and have bo clue or experience in how to set up an office. All this for the privilege of paying Liberty $40k plus 19% royalties for a territory. What a great deal.

• Texastee is right, by signing onto LTS you are also piling additional work that have nothing to do with operating a real business let alone producing one tax return. They have you jump through hoops and ESPECIALLY if you finance with them, you are owned lock, stock and barrel. You are a slave to their perceived important situations, only to line their pockets.

  The problem with the other “happy franchisees” is they are not dealing with the day to day work that piled onto a zee. They hire people to handle all the problems and tasks of “non production” paperwork and computer work. They sit there and spout how great LTS is, without lifting a finger and enjoy the rewards of some income with no great out put of time, money or energy.

  However, they are few and far between. Most are drowning in debt manufactured by this company and are stressed trying jump through hoop after hoop.

  I am sure there are more hoops with Obamacare coming on board. Only if current zees would post, just not from a LTS computer to give us insight.

• I will make this simple for those thinking about buying a Liberty Tax territory – cost $40k. Here is what you get – the privilege of paying Liberty Corporate 14% royalties and 5% advertising every year you are in business.

  Ask them what you get for your money – that is a reasonable question.

• Sad but true:

  I’ll make this even more simple. For those thinking about buying a Liberty Tax territory: D-O-N-‘-T!!!!!!!

  Unfortunately when you ask ‘them’ what you get for your money, they have a laundry list of answers all created to “wow” potential franchisees and with their slick marketing prowess, unsuspecting people will continue to pay their precious $$ based on what they ‘say’, not what they do. Once you pay, you are hooked and there is nothing anyone can do until they leave. With nothing. No money or clients. It really is a very expensive cult like atmosphere.

  Much better to read this entire forum from beginning to end and then BACK AWAY. GO ELSEWHERE. Believe me, you will thank us again & again for saving your money, headaches, career and oh, did I say money???

• Guest (or JB)
  Define “fail.” In my area, which was middle income suburban, most of the offices are failures. On “paper” they may not be labeled that way because they were sold (at a loss), given back, churned, etc. But they are failures. Period. Well over 50%.

  The turnover rate for the past 8 years for the 6 of the 7 offices in my “area” is 100%. Period. And they turned over because they are loosers or just barely making a profit. The 7th, BTW, is looking for a partner – I wonder why…..

  They are all still operating – but all have turned over.

  Anyone looking to buy into this franchise should run… this is NOT a good franchise. Especially in middle to upper income areas.
  “Following the system” will not make you successful. Period. Maybe the location will – but the system won’t.

• OOPS… 6 out of 7 is not 100%, but since the 7th is openly seeking help… I labeled it that way. Sorry for any confusion.

• For Potential franchisees: There are two individual’s, Ed and John, who post regularity on this site. Both will tell you how profitable they are and that they each own multiple offices. Ed much to his credit will tell you that $40,000 for a virgin territory is too expensive. Both John and Ed admit that this business model only works in low to middle income neighborhoods. ( the lower the income the better). Although both have profitable stores neither will tell us what city and state their stores are in. Since I’m only asking for City and State not actual store locations I’m puzzled why they won’t provide the information. But with most things associated with Liberty Tax Service, information is only provided that paints the picture the way they want to have you see it.

  Ed & John, how many of your stores did you acquire from former franchisees?

  For potential franchisees – I left Liberty Tax Service in Sept. in 2009. On 8/7/14 I received an e-mail from Training@Libtax.com that space was available for “Liberty College” starting 8/20-8/22/14. This e-mail was sent to franchisees, AD and corporate employees which I am none off. Just more proof of how poorly this company is organized.

  Buyer Beware!!!

• To former franchisees: I am sending e-mails out to SBA and Scores in New Jersey. Basically making sure that they are aware of this site. I would like to try
  to find a way to get more information out there about the lack of good information
  that a potential franchisee can find. The main source is the franchisor and they obviously are not forthcoming about the average performance of their stores and are not required to provide any financial information is section 19 of the Franchise disclosure document. However, if they do choose to disclose information it can be based on any particular grouping of stores or locations they chose to represent as financial data as long as they explain the basis of their information. All ideas are welcomed.

• Bill,
  ^^ In the financial information they can just make it sound like a pep rally of favorable players to answer calls from prospective buyers???? Like in their youtube informercials? By the way they still have Annie Fuller on youtube saying how her life was changed and all the glory of her success. Well, we know what happened to her.

  So what happens when you ask Liberty for contact information on let’s say…the past 12 owners of a particular existing store?

  What happnens when someone asks, “when is the right time to sell and how to do so?’. I know what happened when I asked too many unfavorable questions.

  Has anyone ever got a reply of similar questions by emailing your area developer or Corporate or did the area developer take your stores away instead of letting you profit by selling?

  And Helllooooo to everyone here; past customers, unhappy franchisees, Admin, guests, IRS and Department of Justice.

  In my honest opinion, anyone who buys a Liberty Tax is a complete fool and making the biggest mistake of their life for their families. I was a fool that made them richer as they kept me busy buying more territories for them to outright steal when the numbers were good. Do not buy or let them finance a store to you. It does not matter how good you are at anything or who thinks others have failed. Do not expect honesty or transparency from this company. There is way too much hidden information that will take you YEARS to discover.

• Trisha, how did they steal from you?

• TRISHA!!!

  SOOO GLAD to see a post from you! :)
  Interesting how many times I’ve posted that LTS is a dump, a terrible franchise to get involved with……….John Barf villa over here calls me and everyone else that leaves a ‘loser’. Or a ‘failure’. But when YOU post, all of a sudden he’s all ears. PUHLEASE. Once an asshole, always an asshole Mr. Barf villa.

  TRISHA: Boy are you right about the stealing. I cannot say that enough times. And what they “said’ to franchisees behind the scenes, but never in writing.

  If I were the Dept. of Justice, I would take note of how many peple have been scammed out of their life savings and how LTS ‘pushed’ back and made life miserable once a franchisee decided to leave their system. Actually that’s an understatement. I’m just saying that because I really want to divulge what really goes on, but I can’t. Yet.

  John Barf villa doesn’t know what’s about to hit him. The longer he’s a franchisee, the harder he’ll fall at their hands if he ever decides to leave. Guaranteed.

  I cannot understand for the life of me HOW a US government can have a company like this in operation. This man is a serious crook, a shark, a scam artist and that’s just the beginning. Now that we’re in the 21st century with the internet, there should be loads of information about this CEO and his predatory and bullying practices.

  It will all come out eventually, and when it does I hope we can sue the pants off of him and reap some of the indescribable stress he has bestowed upon thousands, if not millions of people in his ‘career’. A bona fide career scam artist.

• Ain’t that the truth Trisha. Going through LTS was like going through a maze in the dark most of the time.

  They are very evasive on the “requirements” to keep a contract. Then they love to respond, it’s in the “operations manual”. Well you don’t receive an operations manual until long after the ink is signed. You only have the franchise agreement, which intentionally leaves out tons of requirements.

  I followed the franchise agreement, because that is the only thing we had to base our decision on, however the operation manual was chocked full of bogus busy work.

  Looking at this company bear in mind, you can’t see the whole picture, because they intentionally keep you in the dark. It is definitely a bait and switch situation. I took my 8 months off except for the one day a week seriously, because that is what legally binding through the franchise agreement. I had other obligations and John Hewitt told my partner that it would never interfere with my main occupation after the 3.5 months were up. So, I made sure it did not.

  Stuck it to them when I left. They sent me notices of cure several months after the 5 year contract ended. What a bunch of idiots. Have them saved because it just makes me laugh.

• If you go to page 1, the start of comments began almost five years ago (8/16/2009). So, for almost five years complaints on this site have warned potential franchisees to save their money and not invest in a Liberty Tax franchise. The conclusion can only be that this is a poor investment – people do not rant for five years because they have nothing better to do. Those who give the warnings are doing the public a great service. “If there is smoke there is fire”

  Liberty’s lack of advertising and one trick pony (the waver) will cause this company to fail. All marketing/advertising has a life cycle – the waver is becoming ho-hum, it is not so cute anymore. So, what is left? Nothing, but maybe your own dollars to advertise locally. Guerilla marketing is an irritant to the general public and other store owners. Big trouble lies ahead for Liberty. You can see the train wreck about to happen.

• I pity all of the fools for not taking the great information given.

  I pity those for being financed or investing your hard dollars and sweat in believing your performance, management or skills can save you or have a bearing on what you come out with in the end.

  I find it interesting that the people who have stayed in for several years portray themselves as successful. If they are so successful why are they making advertisements and needing to become Area Developers to reach their money goals anyhow? Why do they have other businesses to run outside the Liberty circle of life or hoping Liberty will contract them as a vendor? Just a simple evaluation.
  Are they a happy franchisee or a hungry franchisee because we all know greed does not play a part in the system that hardly feeds you as it is. And it is only food for the season with nothing to store up for the winter but another load of paperwork to get high interest loans if you do what the Area Developer tells you to do to get it, like fudge your numbers. Or perhaps the Area Developer will just go ahead and fudge your budget for you to make sure the finance department gets you a little cash to start another season.
  Just like when you are starving for a profit, they encourage to rent to own or go buy a new store because you are capable of running an entire planet with your outstanding performance right? Anyone heard that line before? It is a question, don’t get your pens out until witnesses answer. _._

  DO NOT BUY A LIBERTY TAX STORE. There is not enough hours in a year to research the cons that outweigh any positive paid advertising and glory trip or convention you get a free ride to. A sense of community, that is a great selling point for them. Community of fakers and veteran two-facers at every cocktail party and social mixer John may appear at for a few minutes to look famous.
  Have him sign a shoe at the next one and see what it is worth in 20 years. About as much as the John Hewitt achievement awards he sends you to post in your offices while you build equity in what you will never cash out.

  -Trisha :-)

• Trisha,

  Let me try this again. How did they steal from you?

• Barilla,

  Let me try this again ..

  Define success? Define failure?

• H&R Block charges 30 percent franchise fees. They do charge on what you actually got paid for. They do have good technical support.

  They have a terrible corporate turn over which never allows anything to work except turmoil. They do not require franchisees to do free returns. Franchisees can adjust their own fees. Not all fees are equal with all offices.

  You cannot walk away all summer. There are business plans to do, tax classes and a lot of other things. They encourage relationships with clients but when push comes to shove they don’t care about franchisees. So much for relationship with the franchisees. They care about money. That is the way of corporate America it is everywhere.

  Franchises are so expensive it is nearly impossible to purchase one or add to your territory. There is no open territory. You get the software which is downloaded to you. That’s it. You buy equipment, paper. toner and required office furniture which is expensive. You pay your own lease and all utilities. They do furnish signs.

  You are allotted an advertising budget based on your volume and it is generous. You use it or lose it. Like I said they do offer franchisees support in the field. Tax prep fees are expensive. They do send emails from client complaints and you must resolve it within a certain period of time. They do not make franchisees refund fees.

  Penalty and interest is covered by the franchisee. They do offer an additional product which will cover preparer mistakes up a certain amount. Preparers must take care of any penalties they incur personally on their own.

  It has major name recognition which makes it much easier to get clients. At the end of the day nobody is ever totally happy with any company.

  H&R Block used to be a better company. The Block brothers did care about franchisees. Sadly things have changed.

  Starting an office from scratch would be difficult for anyone. There are certainly many disenchanted franchisees with Block too.

• Okay, now we know two franchises that are bad investments (Block and Liberty). Can’t wait to hear about Jackson Hewitt, that must be next.