H&R Block prepares for turbulent tax season because of Katrina

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- H&R Block Inc. said Wednesday it is gearing up for scores of Hurricane Katrina victims anxious to immediately file for disaster assistance and who could need extensive help filing next year's tax returns, given that their financial records are lost and their employers are at least temporarily defunct.

In addition, the Kansas City-based company is trying to determine how many of its 125 tax offices in the affected areas were damaged or destroyed in the storm.

"Rebuilding our area presence for the upcoming tax season will be a challenge, but we are well underway in assessing exactly what needs to be done," said Mark Ernst, H&R Block's chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Ernst added that all the company's employees in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have been accounted for.

Company officials said it's too early to say how much it will cost to rebuild, repair or find new office space in the affected areas. The destruction comes as the company already planned to build up to 700 additional retail offices and 400 kiosks in Wal-Mart and Sears stores across the country.

In the meantime, H&R Block officials said they are trying to track where residents in the affected areas have gone and may increase staff at offices in those places, such as Houston.

"It's not that a lot of people are going to wait until tax season to file for disaster relief," said spokeswoman Linda McDougall. "We will help them prepare returns with limited information."

McDougall said H&R Block typically spends the fall preparing for the tax season that kicks off in January and hiring thousands of people. She said that with many evacuees now without work, the company could train them to become tax filers for their fellow evacuees.

"We're looking for a way to reach out to those people," she said.

Shares of H&R Block closed down 68 cents at $25.97 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange. They have traded in a 52-week range of $22.57 to $30.