Even with these declines, Jackson Hewitt continues to derive a large percentage of its profits from financial products. In 2010, it earned $46.3 million in such fees, or 22% of revenues. In 2010, Jackson Hewitt’s tax preparation volume declined 8% in markets where it had RALs available versus 21% in markets where it did not have RALs.
The president of SGS Credit Services is Eugene L
Because of the loss of RALs in 2010, as well as other factors, Jackson Hewitt has struggled over the past few years. In , Hewitt filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors, from which it emerged a few months later.
Liberty Tax is the third significant commercial tax preparation chain in the country, with 3,900 locations. Liberty Tax prepared 1.9 million returns in 2010 and 2 million in 2011. The chain is well-known for hiring people to stand outside stores, dressed up in Statue of Liberty costumes as a form of advertisement during tax season.
The company is planning to go public, and filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in ) revealing that it plans to partner with a non-bank lender to make RALs
Liberty earned $14.2 million in RAL and RAC fees in 2010 or 17% of its revenue. It earned $16.5 million in RAL and RAC fees in 2011, again constituting 17% of net revenue.
In 2010, Liberty sold about 783,000 financial products to its customers, of which 300,000 were RALs.