LIBERTY TAX SERVICE Franchise Complaints

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

• Bill,

  You are about the only one on here that actually talks with any sense. With that said, this site is not disturbing to me in the least. Just like you, I too am trying to help people out believe it or not. Again, contrary to what anyone on this site believes, franchisees actually do make money with Liberty Tax. I would hate for someone to miss an opportunity to better themselves because of something stupid said on this site. Common sense will hopefully prevail in this situation and any rational individual who does a minimum amount of DD will find this out.

  Does that mean everyone makes money with Liberty……Of course not many lose money and go out of business after 1 2 3 5 years etc. Honestly, if reading the comments on this site is what convinces someone not to go with a Liberty Tax office, than I am thankful for what you guys are doing as they would have most likely failed anyway.

  But when I stop by here and read something so stupid like Liberty makes you sign a franchise clause and adhere to it (what franchise business doesn’t) or they send out notice to cures or you trying to pick apart the rationale behind the min royalties when in reality anyone mildly successful at this will never have to worry about min royalties.

  I have said this time and time again that per office numbers are really not a good indicator of reality for traditional offices. Two reasons, it factors in Walmart (and other retail kiosks or peak only operations) as an office. Honestly, I think these kiosks are a horrible deal and can’t see why anyone would do one of these unless in a very specific situation. On average, you will be doing good to even do 50 returns and gross $10,000 out of one of these. You can see why even 400 or 500 kiosks in the equation can really bring down the per office stats for 4000 offices.

  Also, Liberty has a significant number of offices 1-3 years in age. In my opinion an office doesn’t “mature” until about year 4 or 5. I am sure if you run these offices averages without kiosks and only count 5yr or older offices the 600 returns I mentioned will at least be avg and I suspect 700-800 returns would actually be closer to avg, but that’s just my honest guess.
  Regarding breakeven, anyone should be able to breakeven at 400 returns possibly less depending on rent exp and other factors. At least to me, its not that hard to make decent money with Liberty. Granted very few Liberty offices are pumping out 2000+ returns and raking in $150k+ profit per office like some HRBlock offices, but quite a few mature Liberty offices are performing at a level of 700-1000 returns and making 40-50K+ per office. If you have 5 offices making 50k per office profit, to me that’s good money.

• Ed,

  I agree with you a usual. I have 4-5 kiosk opportunities in my territories and have never opened up. When I run the numbers they make no sense to me and I don’t recommend them unless you have a crazy busy Walmart or Sears.
  I bought my first territory in 2009. This website was here and I read it back then and I could not find any valid complaints then just like now. Just whining from people that expected to write a check to Liberty and just like that have a successful business from day one. If it was that easy everyone would do it.

  It is really hard to run a successful business and takes 5 years for a business an office to mature. Do I believe Liberty is perfect? No I do not. However, I really don’t have many complaints and I am glad I chose to be a franchisee.

• I’m glad to see some people claim to have success in this franchise. I, unfortunately, was not one of them. I had the requisite 5 territories open, of which 2 were moderately successful. The other 3 sucked all my profit from the other 2. Corporate Liberty refused my repeated requests for help or advise. Instead they sent me my AD who had a hard time distinguishing his ass from his elbow. I told Liberty of this situation in writing and on voice mail (you can never get a hold of the big wigs directly). i never got any responses. I was so desperate that I closed down the other 3 stores in March, since they were doing no business. Of course, I got those silly notices to cure. Even my GRR showed no business for those 3 stores. I was with Liberty for 5 years as well and I NEVER got any support from the AD on up to corporate, including the Hewitts themselves. So, where does this leave us? Basically with a corporate culture that favors just a few like Barilla or Ed. This does not seem so fair when I am forking over the same $50K plus a year as they are and getting nothing in return. That is among one of the many reasons that I left.

  Liberty managed to resell my territories to unsuspecting new franchisees by playing fast and loose with the return counts in the DMA of which my 5 territories were a significant part. They didn’t tell them that 3 territories were real dogs and just applied the numbers to all the stores. Glad that is not my problem anymore. So, if you want a less than 5% chance of success, this is the franchise for you! Caveat Emptor!

• Two interesting post on Tax message board on Yahoo.financie.

  First Post:

  “Franchisee Fraud?
  .

  A smaller tax chain with just over 200 locations was just shut down for franchisee and tax fraud
  http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/tax-essentials/feds-file-to-shut-most-of-southern-prep-chain-72104-1.html

  Does Liberty have ample internal controls to ensure that their franchisees are not undertaking in such types of fraud? It seems that they only have very strong presences in low income areas mainly where this type of fraud seems to be rampant. Is that a coincidence or will the IRS’s current ongoing investigation of Liberty lead to a systematic shutdown of some of their larger franchisees like in the above article as well as with Instant Tax and previously with some larger Jackson Hewitt franchisees. According to the websites below, the IRS is currently investigating Liberty due to a class action lawsuit

  Or will Liberty slip through the cracks as the IRS doesn’t seem to have the manpower to investigate and prosecute all such cases
  http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/irs-watch/irs-could-improve-oversight-of-troublesome-preparers-72108-1.html
  You would think that with billions of dollars of Earned Income Tax Fraud each year, the IRS would spend the money to stop it

  Also, some of you may not have seen this article but it is talking about the failure rate of Liberty franchisees which seems to be at an alarming rate
  http://seekingalpha.com/article/2491175-is-liberty-worth-pursuing

  Is Liberty truly supporting their franchisees to make them successful? Will Liberty’s diversification into a multi service company that also offers insurance take their focus off of tax prep much like happened to H&R Block when their slide started when they got into investments and mortgages in the 2000’s?

  What are other risks in regards to investing in this stock? There seems to be some strong opinions on this board as well as at http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/category/franchisor/liberty-tax-service/ where there looks to be over 4 thousand entries for and mostly against this company Less”

  Second Post:

  I did not suggest that I thought Liberty is doing anything, only pointed to websites and cases that did. I don’t see it as innuendo, only as something relevant to the stock which is what this message board is supposed to be about. If a company is subject to all of this serious litigation, that can certainly pose a risk to the stock price.

  Why would you “snicker” about a disgruntled failed franchisee? (which I am not). According to the seekingalpha article mentioned above (which was very well written and objective) Liberty had 1632 store closings over the past 4 years including a whopping 566 in 2014 (all data taken from Liberty’s 10K Annual Reports. Those are real people investing real money into Liberty’s franchise system. At a minimum of $57,800 in estimated startup costs per location (as per Liberty Tax’s estimates on their franchise website) that is $94,329,600 in money lost on closed locations over the past 4 years. Now I know that is not necessarily money lost by Liberty Tax Inc however that is a startling figure of how much money is lost by those who invest in this brand. Is that sustainable? That is a valid question when it comes to analyzing the stock as a suitable investment and it’s current trading levels.

  Also, here the other case mentioned in the seekingalpha article that is pending against Liberty that can have large possible implications regarding Liberty’s bank products. You can find it by searching Google Scholar for “IN RE LIBERTY REFUND ANTICIPATION LOAN LITIGATION”. Intuit recently settled such a suit for their Turbo Tax product

  This site is getting more and more traction and thanks to the company going public the audience is growing. Keep up the good work.

• Sorry bill, those articles have nothing to do with liberty.

• Just wanting to correct someone’s thoughtless statement above. There are many stories contributed from the start of this thread. Some are subject in common and some are detailed

• Just wanting to correct someone’s thoughtless statement above.

  There are many stories contributed from the start of this thread. Some are subjects and experiences in common and some are shared factual information of events or occurences of trouble with the franchise. Although some comments can be redundant complaints; they are in fact complaints.

  This isn’t a praise discussion board. Credits and discredits have always been given. As there are a few positive opinions and certainly most are not as a complete satisfaction of their experiences, this board shares valid stories of information to hold Liberty accountable, publicly. People should go to the beginning of the thread to see there are not whiners who started the public sharing, but John Hewitt’s own daughters who had a terrible and heartbreaking experience in owning franchises from their father.

  You should be sympathetic to people who have been bankrupted by unfair practices of Liberty Tax or of any other franchise. Shame on you. When John Hewitt’s own daughter had her store taken; she confessed it was unfairly. She also told me she had his small grandchildren in diapers and was a fantastic franchisee who was there from the start of the invention of the franchise.

  It is hard not to warn others about getting information on this franchise and other franchise companies past and paths. That is what we do as best we can and we encourage everyone to share and also encourage Liberty Tax to dispute and object to any comments. There has been no corporate response to these complaints, therefore the opinion that nobody has proven any wrong doing by their comments, I differ that we as many already have validated our positions.

  It is the #1 site on google to research complaints about this franchise. If you are buying a large ticket item you should always check reviews.

• By the way I did not write a check to Liberty. They gave outrageous financing terms and said they believed in me as I grew exponentially over 5 years. They take every dime from every tax return you do and forced me to take operating loans.

  My AD would correct or fudge my budget and send to Mark Baumgardener for approval. Of course the AD is the first to approve it. There is little control you have when on loans and you do whatever they say, even it is wrong. If not, they would allow no deposits and your employees would all be let go. It seemed like their ball game on the financial front, but I did rock the operational and marketing to get the results I did.

  I never had a year of decline in any category so I am not whining about my performance of 20hour to 24hour days of hard work. I have a hard time believing more than a handful would get a franchise and then sit back. Liberty holds every franchisee accountable to create numbers and track track track daily to report to corporate.

  I have to disagree that most failures are caused by giving Liberty money and not working it as trained by Liberty Corporate as classes a requirement. You do not get all the classes registered before opening. They require the first class “effective operations training( eot.) When you take the intermediate extra operations class is after your first season when you understand you had some bruises to heal.

  People took all these classes designed by Corporate. People are accused of failing when stores have been built up by a franchisor. Liberty Tax has basically stolen or repossessed stores at will. Franchisees have no money or assets left to fight them in Court. These are some of the complaints and contributions worth reading along with several emails of unfair deeds committed by people that franchisees were to trust.

  Because Liberty introduces new prospective franchisees to their opportunity by means of social mixers, cocktail parties with invited speakers and conventions which are encouraging and full of positive outlook; make no mistake reading these relevant complaints thoroughly, one can also get a hold of the downs. You want to read the faults so that you can properly ask questions when you interview for ownership in Virgina Beach pep rally’s.

• Guest: The article from Seeking Alpha was written about Liberty Tax and whether or not this was a good stock investment. It talks about the company’s fee structure market position etc. It also talks about the company’s relationship with it’s franchisees, it mentions the fact that in the past 4 years 1,632 stores closed and it also noted this site and stated that 3868 comments have been made by Liberty Tax Franchisees, compared to 104 by HR Block f and 249 for Jackson Hewitt.

  The other articles are industry related and could have effects on Liberty Tax as the IRS looks to reign in tax fraud and the issue of litigation regarding tax refund products.

• Danny Hewitt has published a book called “This is How We Hewitt”.

  It’s 83 pages and I lost count of the lies after the first chapter.

  It was published on September 16th by a vanity press (you pay to self publish) called Best seller Publishing. By September 18th, there were already 48 five star reviews…two of them from his sisters, one from his best friend, one from his girlfriend & the rest are Liberty Tax franchisees and plenty of anonymous. Only a few of those reviewers had ever written reviews for anything else, most were newly registered. Only a handful are verified purchases.

  Forty of the reviews use the word “motivation” and talk about how Danny is the next Tony Robbins and will fill stadiums one day. His bio makes him sound like this incredibly rich, successful genius who adores his dad. Danny can’t stand his dad. John kicked him out of his beachhouse where Danny had been living for years because he caught Danny doing drugs. Danny then moved into his girlfriend’s parents house.

  Danny has filed bankruptcy twice and didn’t file his taxes for many years because he couldn’t afford to pay what he owed! But he got caught by the IRS & now has liens on his income & accounts for hundreds of thousands of dollars. John fired Danny several years ago after a big fight over Danny’s drug use & Danny accused John of being an alcoholic (which he is).

  Danny has lived hand to mouth mostly borrowing money from his mom. He has been working 9 to 5 for peanuts making cold calls for Gordon (John’s ex friend). He acts like he’s rich but honestly has to borrow money from his mom for groceries. He also makes all kinds of claims about consulting for big name companies-not true, he has some free speaking engagements & bombed when he advocated illegal marketing tactics.

  I worked at Liberty for years, I know the family well-none of this is gossip, it’s fact. (and yes, I was interviewed by the Department of Justice for their investigation of John and Danny) Danny speaks of his dad in glowing terms when in real life he can’t stand him. He’s always said that his dad loves money way more than he’s ever loved his kids or family.

  It makes me angry to see him write a book like this & try to scam people into believing that it’s already a “best seller” which is what he claims on Facebook but that’s just the name of the vanity company – which is low level that it doesn’t even have a website.

  Danny has a fun, outgoing personality and is a lot nicer than his dad but his dad ruined him by convincing him that money was God and to betray morals, friends and decency to get it. Sadly he’s following in John’s bullshit scammer footsteps. He could have had a good career with the right guidance because of his charisma but he never had a chance with a dad like John.

• Bob Green, let me guess a.k.a. Trisha?

  Does anyone actually care about all this gossip about people’s families? I hope you get sued for defamation. I think people’s personal issues should not be posted on a website especially when none of it has to do with Liberty Tax. It says a lot more about you than about the people you are talking crap about.

  I am sure you are perfect and your family is perfect. Let me guess you claim to be a christian or something and go to church on Sundays so we should all be impressed with your morals.

• John Barilla:

  Is Bob Green selling a book and a myth that he is part of a big, happy successful business family that has all the secrets “underdogs” need to achieve unbelievable success?

  IMHO, Danny Hewitt is the one who opened his relationship up to scrutiny by publishing his powerful 83-page “look at me and my wonderful Daddy and how great we are” masterpiece. The all 5-star comments sure read like shill commenters with embarrassing gushing statements saying that little Danny Hewitt could the next Tony Robbins (haha).

  I think the moral of the story is, if you don’t want to be de-bunked, don’t spew bunk in the first place.

• Bill:

  EXCELLENT posts. Keep up the great work!! Trisha and Bob Green: Great information…….no surprises there.

  John Hewitt is nothing but a glorified professional ‘bleeping’ Con Artist. There is NOTHING else to be said about him. Except when he FINALLY goes to jail, it will be a major holiday party at my home.

  For Danny Hewitt to write a book, I’m sure it was a threat or he was paid off big time.

  There is something definitely wrong with poster John Barf villa. The way he defends LTS, either he is really clueless or a pawn at the companies headquarters. Or both. To post that “everyone” is a loser or a whiner and that the company is ‘wonderful’ makes me think he’s got to be an insider.

  If he really knows LTS the way thousands of EX franchisees do, then he wouldn’t be defending that piece of crap company. Chances are he hasn’t exerienced the Liberty wrath…………YET. What goes around comes around John Barf villa.

• John….you are the only one that aka’s multiple times. Mr. Green your post was AWESOME.

• What is interesting is the amount of stores that have shut down with LTS within 4 years. My last territory is up for sale, where there is no way it can succeed, so if that territory is not sold, LTS will have to show my place as another lost territory. They are trying hard, because it is getting late and will have to show up soon. My other store was taken over by another zee and that zee got burned by LTS. Of course that zee has been saying, I burned them, like “whatever”. LTS let me sign off with no money owing. It was the AD that burned that zee. Karma baby!

  It is amazing how that zee is not going to take the other territory, where you can’t rent a space to save your soul. Nor, can’t get people to let go of H & R Block.

  Also, Bill thanks for the website with that review of LTS. That gal was spot on. I would not invest in this company, unless you are a corporate person, with no risk, but maybe not having a job at the end of tax season.

  Danny’s book looks cute, but not knowing the family at all, I would not know any difference. Sounds like a typical dysfunctional family.

  People looking to plunk money down on this business need to make sure they know that not all territories are viable, no matter what John Barrilla states and the occasional guest writer. John Hewitt will sell it like it is the next coming of Jesus, when it is a dog of a territory and no way in hell of making a go of it. They are very good sales people, except they must not have a conscience.

  Think long and hard. People on this board have been successful, just it is hard to be successful when the market for LTS is over done and the zee’s have ruined the market for anyone to come in the door.

• John Barilla: Instead of wasting your time here maybe you should be looking at the customer complaint sites and seeing what customers’ have to say about the service and the product that your fellow zees are providing. Addressing these complaints are more relevant to the success of your business that posting on here. Matter of fact there were several from the OH area which I believe is where your stores are located. While reading those reviews keep in mind that most customers vote with their feet!

  Franchizee: From your own experience you watch as a “fellow” zee most likely with financing from Liberty is talked into purchasing your former stores. This is the cannibalistic nature of this company’s business model. Sell as many franchisees as possible, use the franchisees money to build the brand and increase return volume. Once you exhaust that franchisee, take back the territory and hopefully resell it profiting of the money and sweat equity of the prior franchisee. As you point out there are territories that will never be profitable (most of them are in areas of middle or higher income) and are not suited for their business model but since they do so much financing of the lower income locations they need the cash flow that they can get from selling these locations.

  In my view the company has gone to the well to often and is starting to feel the negative impact of their own actions. Last year even with opening the kiosks in Wal-Mart the company for the first time in it’s history actually declined in number of offices from the previous year.

• haha!!! funny Bill!!! I ave never lost a customer because of some reviews online. Also, i have a lot of time on my hands since I have 9 months off of the year. What a bunch of F-tards you guys are…. Should all get a Tatoo of an “L” on your foreheads…

• 9 months off, spoken like a true Liberty salesperson! Anyone who thinks tax season is only 3 months long obviously has no clue about the Tax Business.

• OMG!! John Barrilla – Seriously. Only a person in home office might get 9 months off, however the offices in my area are open 5 days a week – 40 hour weeks and another one is open 3 days a week with 7 hour days. Even H & R Block in my area has 3 stores open 6-8 hours a day for 5 days a week, right now.

  People need to realize there is no time off with LTS. I have been able to manage my time off, but am on call for clients even if I don’t go into the office, but need to fax, email or mail info for people through out the year.

  John obviously is not a tax person, but the big CEO of his POS company. He lives in la la land. Someone in your organization has to be open to keep your contract, so don’t go around touting your time off, because you are not being truthful, unless you don’t own a LTS store, then that would be true.

• I tried once before to ignore Mr. Barf villa.

  I would highly encourage e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e to ignore any remarks by him. He’s not credible. His name calling is for the playground.

  Please, all: ignore any posts by him and move on. He is purposely writing what he does to get a “rise” of out people and the more we answer him, the more he feels empowered to write some more nasty trash.

  When you have almost 4,000 posts and two or three individuals are ‘happy’ (relatively, since they haven’t felt the Liberty wrath yet), then it’s obvious that the majority of posters are not only unhappy, but also do not encourage new franchisees to plunk down their hard earned money………the volumes speak for themselves.

• John Barrilla you forgot to mention that all existing Liberty Offices are required to be open this year on November 15th. Nor did you mention that Liberty Corporate is sending out a daily countdown on reminding Zees on how many days are left before November 15th.

  You seemed to forgot about the multiple 10 week tax school classes that you are suppose to running beginning the 1st weekend in September until Thanksgiving, Ops you must have forgot about being opening a minimum of 8 hours per week beginning in May until November 15th. You must not hold a rapid class beginning the 1st week in January.

  So either you are not a Zee or do not follow John ‘s system.

• NJHillbiliy: Since I don’t know any former franchisee’s that still have a franchise do you have any information on what Liberty Tax Service agreement is with Wal-Mart, how many are they obligated to open, etc, The way I understand it is if there is a Wal-Mart in your territory are there stipulations on fees. What is the kiosk program?
  Based on what Ed posted about the kiosk I can’t see many franchisees’ continuing to operate inside Wal-Mart.

  For potential franchisees you should read the franchisee agreement that is available on Liberty tax’s website; http://ir.libertytax.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=233197&p=irol-sec this link will take you to SEC filings >go to
  grouping filter type in annual reports > search and then view the 10-K report with the filing date 6/26/14. Section 3 B: General Rights and Restrictions states ” Liberty may not offer income tax preparation services through other channels of distribution at a physical location in your Territory except as described herein.
  Liberty, Liberty’s parent company, partners, affiliates and Hispanic Tax may establish franchised or company owned outlets in in your Territory that operate income tax preparation services under different trademarks and may operate or franchise a different line of business. Liberty may distribute Liberty tax return preparation products and services by means other than retail or storefront locations
  in your Territory, including the sale of gift cards for this service.

  The company that wants you to pay $40,000 for the territory and pay minimum royalties still holds the rights to directly compete against you in that territory. Even saying they are going to offer Hispanic Tax Franchise in your territory.

  Buyer Beware!

• Based on the broad language in the Liberty franchise agreement that states: “except as described herein”, Liberty, Liberty’s parent company, partners, affiliates and Hispanic Tax may establish franchised or company owned outlets in your Territory….”, one would be very foolish to buy a franchise territory from Liberty.

• NCHillBilly – What are the hours required to be open starting Nov 15th? Is it everyday 5 days a week or 6 days a week. I know the one top zee (meaning writes the most in this area) is open 5 days a week – 40 hours or more. Has been for the last 2 tax seasons. It makes one wonder if this is the new world in LTS. The H & R Blocks are open most days of the week at least 6 hour days – 5 days a week.

• Beginning November 15th the required office hours are as follows:

  Monday – Friday 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
  Saturday’s 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM

• What will they be doing?

• Could this be a way to get franchisee’s in a non-compliant situation?

• November 15th is open enrollment for Obama care…I assume that most of the zees are now selling insurance.

• Nov.15 not a requirement. Optional.

• Selling Obamacare is not a money making proposition. There is no commission for the sales. People know that right? Follow the health insurance industry, one would know that little piece of jewel. But if people are going to be open for that time frame, hopefully someone would like to pay to have their taxes done.

  I would suspect it is a requirement, because the year before I left, they were going to require offices to open the day after Christmas instead of Jan 2nd. Since LTS is sold publicly it will be a matter of time, it will turn into a full time business. I like how he is going to offer accounting services. That is a real time sucker and keeps you as a zee busy.

• Facts about buying a Liberty Tax Franchise:

  1) 40,000.00 franchise fee
  2) minimum royalties – $5000.00 1st year, $8000.00 2nd year, $11,000.00 3rd year
  3) 5% advertising fee but no national marketing plan.
  4) Liberty maintains the rights to sell other tax franchisees in your territory, i.e. Hispanic tax
  5) Liberty has the right to upon a tax preparation office inside a national retail operation inside your territory and you the franchisee is not entitled to any compensation.
  6) In the past 4 years 1632 stores closed in the past 4 years with 566 stores closing in 2014. (Reported in the company’s financial statements)
  7) The company while being the fastest growing retail tax prep. service continues to have just a 2% marketing share, trailing HR Block and Jackson Hewitt.
  8) 99% of the individuals posting on here have nothing to financial gain by telling their stories.

  The above facts can not be disputed by Ed, John Barillia or John Hewitt. If you are still considering this franchise contrast what the sales people at Liberty are promising you vs. the facts. If you put your emotions aside you will not buy this franchise.

• Great post Bill…so true!

• Posting the facts about what a failed franchise concept Liberty is never gets old or redundant – as long as Liberty continues to try and sell losing territories. I have posted this before and will do so again; we have an obligation to potential investors to give them the information on how they will most likely fail if they buy a territory today.

  The diamond in the rough territory is just not available anymore. You would be a success today if you just broke even. Think very hard and do your homework if you are thinking about plunking $40,000 and other endless costs. You will be sorry if you buy – do not do it!!!

• Bill:

  In all fairness, you should elaborate much more on fact #7.

  The only reason they are ‘supposedly’ the fastest growing retail prep. service is because they lie and cheat on all their numbers. How many are FREE returns? That are included in their total prep. count? What’s the ‘real’ REVENUE earned per office, not the total return count? They take all the numbers and facts and leave out plenty to skew and slant everything to look like it’s in their favor.

  They also don’t tell you their software is bugged with spyware. They also don’t tell you the promotional items you buy from ‘their’ sources is 3000% higher than usual. There is SO MUCH they don’t tell you, the prospective franchisee. They certainly don’t tell you where to set up your office. My offices were reasonably profitable because I selected their locations and didn’t listen to them. However, it all came about because of MY own hard work & diligence, NOT the companies ‘formula’.

  What they don’t tell you is that if you come into the contract with outside customers obtained before being a Liberty franchisee, they are no longer yours and when you leave after 5 years you also have to give up those customers.

  What they also don’t tell you is that they will make your lives miserable for years & years & years after you leave. What they don’t tell you is that they will directly compete in a million different ways, win all judgements against you, subject you to every deposition, discovery, audit known to mankind.

  What they don’t tell you is that they will hunt you down, no matter the cost to them to put you in your place if you for any reason felt compelled to fight them.

  What they don’t tell you is that their 2 x 2 mile ‘territories’ are pieces of shit made up to look like a franchise that cares & supports you. NOT.

  I don’t know about now, but another thing they don’t tell you is that because there is spyware in the software, the software was always breaking down and no matter how many times you call a “Help” desk, they were never supportive, put you on hold forever, during peak days, and it took several days to fix, if that quickly.

  This is a company that will lie, cheat & steal from you. They have done that to milliions of people over the last 17 years. They need to be stopped. NOW. I continue to talk about this company to prospective franchisees quite often and I’m happy to report that when I’m done, NONE of them have joined. They have ALL chosen to back away.

  Thank goodness. My work is never done. I will continue to turn people away any chance I get. Once the company’s CEO is in jail, I will finally be able to rest just a bit easier. Back away prospective people……..go elsehwere. You will be forever grateful.

• According to Liberty Tax – Investor relations: Liberty increased its term and credit line to $275,000,000. There is a whole laundry list of subsidiaries listed along with Liberty Tax. One that caught my eye was Siempre Tax. So I googled the website and it’s in Spanish:

  SiempreTax + FUE FUNDADA Por John Hewitt, Líder de la ONU en La Industria Que ha ayudado un switch to form de ver el los Impuestos y el Negocio de Do Preparación. John comenzo do carrera Hace Más de 45 temporadas de Impuestos. Ha Hecho CRECER Liberty Tax Service en estados unidos y Canadá en Mas de 4.400 Oficinas Con Más de 2.000 franquiciados en solo diecisiete Jahr y Tiene La Oportunidad de Hacerlo de nuevo aire SiempreTax

  But thanks to google it translates to english;

  More than 40 years of experience in the tax preparation industry

  As a franchisee of SiempreTax + or “Zee” as we like to call, you have the power to make a dramatic change in your life and enjoy the whole process.

  SiempreTax + was founded by John Hewitt, a leader in the industry that has helped change the way you look and business tax preparation. John began his career more than 45 tax seasons. It has grown Liberty Tax Service in the United States and Canada in more than 4,400 offices with over 2,000 franchisees in only seventeen and have the opportunity to do it again with SiempreTax +.

  This is why owning a franchise SiempreTax + can lead to an exciting new career path and allow you to be part of the fastest growing franchise in tax preparation.

  Much of the success and growth of Liberty Tax, Inc. is the result of cutting edge marketing tactics “guerrilla” including entertainers dressed as the Statue of Liberty. SiempreTax + costumed animators also have sun to represent the brand in a fun and enjoyable way around the country. These ambassadors will attract the attention of potential customers at busy intersections, also visit businesses to promote and represent the franchise at community events. They will also participate in local parades and help franchisees to increase brand exposure in their communities.

  A franchise SiempreTax + gives you the unique opportunity to be the boss of your own business while keeping your current job, if desired.

  SiempreTax + is fully committed to customer satisfaction 100%. It is supported by the corporate team Liberty Tax Inc., available with expertise in various topics such as Care Act Affordable Health (ACA English).

  SiempreTax + can help you achieve financial independence!

  Same old shit just in a different language.

  El comprador/Let the buyer beware!

• Please remember that John Hewitt has never done a tax return. He is a flamboyant marketer only. There is no business plan with Liberty Tax and you will compete within your own territory with other Liberty franchises like Siempre. This can’t be at all fair to anybody and this too shall fail.

  To think that Hewitt wants to now operate a franchised accounting firm as well is really quite funny. I wonder how many weeks it takes to train a desktop accountant? I guess you can take the quick course and be proficient in about 3 years! Give me a break.

• Wow, now that’s the capper I would think
  So you have a territory that you paid for
  It should be protected right? That’s what you paid for
  Now Liberty can put a company store in your territory or franchise another tax return business under a different name in your territory?
  What the heck was the 40k for? Why even have a territory? Don’t tell me it’s for the Liberty name, that’s what the royalty is for.
  That just takes the cake….it all boils down to more opportunity to get a sales fee for the same territory that was already sold to someone else. Just use a different name.
  What’s the problem, the liberty name not good enough for Hispanic clients?

  The writing on the wall is becoming more and more clear. The client growth last year was pretty much the result of H&R stopping free returns.
  To keep saying your the fastest growing you’ve got to have more stores and more clients….. That is drying up. It’s evidenced in the financials. (I know I know, john is going to tell me I’m a loser and ignorant to the meanings of the financial statements)
  It’s simple math. The business growth is slowing down and this stuff is just a way to stretch the most they can squeeze as long as possible

• Liberty’s 2014 growth was not in the brick and mortar stores. Using Liberty’s financial information the office growth was an average of 15 returns per office. So when you factor in the number of new offices and Wal-Mart kiosks that open last year, there was actually no growth in existing offices.

  Liberty’s 2014 growth was in their online software, mostly free returns. So Liberty’s 2014 growth numbers are very misleading especially to anyone that is considering a Liberty Franchise.

• NCHillbilly: Great point. So much of this company is about spin and if they didn’t go public this information wouldn’t be available but because their a publicly traded company they are required to provide factual information for the benefit of potential investors. It would be nice if the FCC or the Consumer Protection Board required franchisers to provide factual information based on their entire operation in the FDD. Unfortunately our votes only count at election time, money votes and wins all the time.

  Thanks to everyone on this site who keeps working to help potential franchisees avoid investing in this company.

  Buyer Beware!!!

• Liberty is peddling franchises on facebook now. Under the ad section. They have a franchise owner, Rocky Mount NC) that they state has only been in business for 3 years. She also owns four stores. The problem is she was a tax preparer six seasons ago, and was sold one of the offices. She has been an owner for five seasons.
  I guess Liberty cannot tell the truth, just because it would not look as good.

• Does anyone know what the details are regarding the deal Liberty Tax signed with Wal-Mart? I’m trying to find out how many kiosks they are contractually obligated to open in 2015. If the franchisees’ don’t pick-up the burden of running these kiosks it will fall on the company to do so. As Ed pointed out in one of his post the kiosks are not very profitable.

  I just checked the number of Liberty offices by State and it shows they have a net loss of 11 offices from when I last looked in January of 2014. The loss would be higher but in Virginia 31 new offices opened. Only thing I can figure he must be forcing them on employees.

• Every time I drive or walk by a new Liberty Tax office, it makes me want to throw up. My skin just crawls with such sadness for these unsuspecting new owners.

  I started a list on Oct. 5 of what Liberty DOESN’T tell you. I would encourage anyone who’s been a franchisee to add to my list. There is SO MUCH they don’t tell you. We need to protect the well being of new prospective franchisees by letting them know what horrors they’re in for when signing on to be a new franchisee.

  There is just so much more negative than positive coming out of joining this franchise. Just read over this forum. Is it really worth it? NO

  When will he be held accountable? This is NO WAY to run a ‘professional tax service’. Only when he’s in jail will I be able to sleep at night. He has ruined countless lives by his greed and determination to be ‘the best’. The best at what? Being a con-artist, shark, wolf, rip-off artist…………..hold on to your money and back away from this franchise.

  I’d love more info. on facts: who’s there, who’s left, how many offices are closing, how much money they’re losing, etc.,etc.,etc. I’d also be curious to see how many new owners last 5 full years, probably not many at all. LTS doesn’t care, they have your money anyway and will turn over your territory and get paid again.

• John or Ed: Since your both know a lot about what’s going on with Liberty do you know what the number of Wal-Mart offices their obligated to open for the 2015 Tax Season?

  We all know these kiosks aren’t profitable. So why as a franchisee would you operate one, is it just because it’s in your territory? The way I’m thinking its Liberty’s obligation so let them either sell the Wal-Mart location or operate them themselves. Either way it will be a win/win for the established franchisee. If a new franchisee try’s to operate in Wal-Mart they will have to spend money to market it, staff it and run it. Most likely they won’t succeed. As an established franchisee it’s not likely they will take much business away from you. If Liberty operates it they too will need to spend money to market, staff it and run it. If they want them to be successful their going to need to spend money on advertising which could lead to some type of national advertising campaign.

• Bill,

  Did they promise you National Advertising at any point before you signed your franchisee agreement? They clearly tell you that they believe in guerilla marketing and local marketing and not TV advertising, so not sure why you keep bringing that up. I am fine with their local advertising they do in my area. Mailings, Radio, coupons, Yellow Pages, Hispanic TV, Google and giving us money for marketing supplies.

  Not sure what you are talking about and that is why everyone is ignoring you about Walmart. You don’t have to open in Walmart, Kmart, Ace or Family Dollar if you don’t want to even if corporate has an agreement to open in them. Basically it is the option of the franchisee to open or not open in these stores.

  Personally, I have chose to never open in the ones in my territory. Every year I consider it but II feel like i should focus on my brick and mortar stores and not lose concentration worrying about those other locations. I am sure it does not hurt to open in them as it would at a minimum help the brand name in your own territory. I am sure you can make a small profit too but again I have chosen not too as I rather use my resources on my stores.

• I do not think John Barilla is a Liberty Tax franchisee because most of the things he say on this board does not make sense. He just say things to agitate people with real concerns. I was a Liberty tax franchisee for over five years so I know Mr Barilla isn’t facing reality.

• I suspect John Barilla is a sales person for Liberty Tax Service.

• Sorry you get agitated when you don’t hear what you like. Misery loves company that is why the same 3-4 losers on this website make each other feel better.
  I became a franchisee 5 years ago and at the time I read this website and didn’t buy anything you guys were complaining about then and nothing has changed.

• IGNORE/IGNORE/IGNORE/IGNORE/IGNORE/IGNORE/IGNORE/IGNORE/IGNORE

  Some ‘people’ ^^ are just not worth any reply
  He is happy, woohoo. This site is for UNHAPPY franchisees. He knows that. He is agitating people on purpose.

  PLEASE IGNORE. IT’S NOT WORTH IT TO ENGAGE IN ANY CONVERSATION WITH HIM. LET HIM BE THE ONE OR TWO HAPPY PEOPLE. GOOD FOR HIM. ME? I’m thrilled beyond belief to be away from that hellhole, like the majority of us on unhappy franchisee. Maybe that happy guy should start his own forum. Bill: Honestly, you are doing great on your own. You don’t need any information from him, yucch.

• You waste money on Yellow Page ads? And you’re happy with that?

• In any business, return on investment (ROI) and operating costs needs to be covered by income. Liberty receives their yearly royalty and advertising of 19% or a minimum royalty (based on your year in business), thus reducing what income you get to keep each year. So, when you crunch the numbers, the new Zee is generally losing money every year and not able to cover their ROI. ROI is not only the $40k franchise fees but all other start-up costs. The start-up costs will vary, based on how you want your office to look (professional or ?). Nice looking offices offer an appeal to the customer to want to come back. Shoddy looking offices give the impression you are just in business to make money and are skimping on costs. So, a new Liberty franchisee starting up today, will probably be buying a territory that has not been wanted by anyone for years now or probably a former loser territory (if they buy an existing or tried territory). Either way, your ROI and operating costs, if you join Liberty now, will NOT be money well spent.

  There are Liberty territories that do well, but most new ones will fail. If the Liberty brand was so successful, Liberty corporate would be opening stores themselves and at a quick pace to increase their market share. Market share for Liberty appears to be flat after their many years in business. They are no longer the new dreamy looking kid on the block when it comes to tax prep. H&R Block kills them when it comes to market share. To dream about catching Block is just that, a dream. Liberty corporate knows all of this and they just sell their territories knowing which ones will fail and which ones may succeed. Failure often has nothing to do with the competence of those buying into the systems. One has to wonder why any person that has accumulated some wealth would throw it away by investing in this franchise operation. Doing taxes during a small period of time is stressful and limits your income possibilities. If you are thinking about buying into a tax franchise, such as Liberty, be careful to do so. You will probably not get back your ROI and you will add to those costs with losing money each year you are in business.

  To those thinking about investing in this franchise business, you should think long and hard about the negatives. If you do invest, well, many have tried to give you solid information as to the difficulties of becoming successful – just read most of the other 3949 posts. Ignore the Kool-Aid drinkers, just because they might be successful does not mean you will be successful. They probably have the cream of the crop territories that were sold to them when Liberty first started doing business. Granted, some might just be good at marketing their business but the norm today is for territories to fail.

  If you want to start a tax business, you do not need to be part of a franchise operation. You will save yourself many headaches by becoming accountable to Liberty. Go it alone and if you fail, you saved yourself $40k. If you succeed, you save 19% operating income every year. What a no brainer it is to NOT buy into this franchise business!