{"id":22448,"date":"2013-01-30T18:40:20","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T18:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resource-center.hrblock.com\/newsroom\/an-open-letter-from-bill-cobb-ceo-of-hr-block\/"},"modified":"2023-03-02T14:02:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T20:02:19","slug":"letter-from-bill-cobb-president-ceo","status":"publish","type":"newsroom","link":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/letter-from-bill-cobb-president-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"An open letter from Bill Cobb, CEO of H&#038;R Block"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Dear Clients and Future Clients,<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Today is the first day of tax season, and you might think I am writing an open letter in this forum to tell you that we are ready for you\u2014and we are! But the real reason I am writing is because I am offended that TurboTax\u00ae is targeting our 90,000 H&amp;R Block tax professionals in a series of commercials that we believe to be false and misleading.<\/p>\n<p>TurboTax is trying to promote itself on the backs of our tax professionals, misusing our nearly 60-year-old brand and taking cheap shots at hardworking plumbers and retail sales clerks, not to mention millions of Americans holding down two jobs. We say no way\u2014not on our watch.<\/p>\n<p>I am incredibly proud of our tax professionals, who for nearly six decades have built the H&amp;R Block brand, anchored by trust, and I will not let them be tarnished by some overzealous marketing campaign.<\/p>\n<p>I would never disparage their people, but let me set the record straight about ours:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We are the largest tax preparer in the industry.<sup>1<\/sup><\/li>\n<li>We sign and stand behind every return we prepare for our clients in our offices.<\/li>\n<li>Since 1955, we have prepared and signed more than 500 million tax returns in our offices \u2013 TurboTax has prepared and signed 0.<sup>2<\/sup><\/li>\n<li>We have over 7,000 Enrolled Agents (the highest credential awarded by the IRS) \u2013 more than any other tax preparation company.<\/li>\n<li>At our tax offices, the average client is served by a tax professional with over a decade of experience and hundreds of hours of training. <sup>3<\/sup><\/li>\n<li>We guarantee the accuracy of returns prepared by H&amp;R Block tax professionals.<\/li>\n<li>And, if you\u2019re one of the millions of H&amp;R Block At Home<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> software or online clients, our tax professionals will back you up, if needed, with audit support and in-person audit representation, which only H&amp;R Block At Home<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> offers at no additional charge.<\/li>\n<li>Our first-in-industry independent research and analysis advisory group, The Tax Institute, is staffed primarily by CPAs, tax attorneys, enrolled agents and former IRS agents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>At H&amp;R Block, we believe in our people. And you can meet some of these exceptional people at #IAMHRBLOCK on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>On behalf of our tax professionals and all the people of H&amp;R Block, thank you for your respect, your consideration and your business. If we haven\u2019t seen you already this year, we look forward to seeing you soon. Call 1-800-HRBLOCK to make an appointment, or go to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hrblock.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.hrblock.com<\/a> to get started.<\/p>\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-755\" src=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/billcobbsignature.png\" alt=\"BillCobbSignature\" width=\"223\" height=\"68\"><\/p>\n<p>Bill Cobb<\/p>\n<p>P.S. And to all the plumbers, retail sales clerks and other hardworking Americans, please know we would be honored to serve you.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Based on annual revenues for sales of tax preparation products and services.<\/li>\n<li>TurboTax does not provide signing return preparer services.<\/li>\n<li>Based on data from H&amp;R Block\u2019s company-owned tax offices.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">TurboTax is a registered trademark of Intuit, Inc.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a92013 HRB Tax Group, Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Clients and Future Clients, Today is the first day of tax season, and you might think I am writing an open letter in this forum to tell you that we are ready for you\u2014and we are! But the real reason I am writing is because I am offended that TurboTax\u00ae is targeting our 90,000 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26826,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[],"news-categories":[23376],"class_list":["post-22448","newsroom","type-newsroom","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-categories-around-block"],"acf":{"post_rest_thumbnail_alt_id":null},"yoast_head":"<title>A Letter from Bill Cobb, President and CEO of H&amp;R Block | H&amp;R Block<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We&#039;re ready for tax season and our tax professionals are looking forward to working with you, as always, despite recent Turbo Tax marketing campaigns.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/around-block\/letter-from-bill-cobb-president-ceo\/\" \/>\n<meta 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