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Antitrust Keyed to Gavil, 5th Ed.
United States v. H & R Block, Inc.
Citation:
833 F. Supp. 2d 36 (2011)Facts
Approximately 140 million Americans file tax returns annually using three main methods: pen-and-paper, assisted preparation (tax professionals), and digital do-it-yourself (DDIY) products. The DDIY market has grown significantly, with about 35-40 million taxpayers using DDIY products in 2010. The three largest DDIY providers—Intuit (TurboTax), H&R Block, and TaxACT—accounted for approximately 90% of DDIY-prepared federal returns in 2010, with market shares of 62.2%, 15.6%, and 12.8% respectively.
TaxACT, founded in 1998, has historically emphasized high-quality free product offerings as part of its business strategy. In 2004, TaxACT became the first company to offer free preparation and e-filing of federal returns for all taxpayers through the Free File Alliance (FFA), a consortium of tax preparation companies partnering with the IRS. After the IRS amended FFA rules in 2005 to prevent free-for-all offers, TaxACT became the first DDIY company to offer all taxpayers a free DDIY product directly on its website.
In October 2010, H&R Block entered into a merger agreement to acquire TaxACT for $287.5 million. H&R Block’s stated post-merger plan was to maintain both the H&R Block and TaxACT brands, with H&R Block focusing on higher-priced products and TaxACT focusing on lower-priced products.
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