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Instant Tax Service history as a retail income tax preparation company

Instant Tax Service: Where We Came From

Where We Came From

In 1994, Fez Ogbazion was just a college kid from Ethiopia looking for a piece of the American dream… today he's the CEO of the 4th largest tax preparation company in the United States.

How did he do it? He chose the right industry, for starters, an industry that made the best of what entrepreneurs (and our customers!) value most – time.

Fez saw a need in his community for fast, local tax preparation services. People wanted exceptional service from professional tax preparers in their neighborhoods, not stuffed-shirt financial managers out in the suburbs. So Fez opened his first income tax office, Instant Refund Tax Service, in 1994.

Fez’s business grew dramatically over the next five years. In 1999, a Fortune 500 company, sensing a major local competitor, offered to buy Instant Refund Tax Service. Fez, ever the entrepreneur, accepted the deal and went on to re-invest the money from the sale into a bigger and better tax business. That fresh start became Instant Tax Service, founded in 2000.

During its first year of operations, Instant Tax Service operated 60 locations. We expanded into five new markets across the country in 2001, doubled our business in 2003, and started franchising in 2004.

Today, Instant Tax Service is one of the nation’s fastest growing franchises, with hundreds of locations in 34 states.

Company Timeline

1994

Fez Ogbazion opens his first storefront under the name “Instant Refund Tax Service.” Instant Refund Tax Service prepares and files tax returns for over 600 customers.

1995

Instant Refund Tax Service opens an additional tax preparation retail office.

1996

Instant Refund Tax Service opens two additional offices, bringing the total to four.

1997

Instant Refund Tax Service doubles in size.

1998

Instant Refund Tax Service opens 18 new locations for a total of 26 retail offices.

1999

Fez sells Instant Refund Tax Service to a Fortune 500 company to generate start-up capital for a new tax business.

2000

Fez moves to Dayton, Ohio and founds Instant Tax Service.

2001

Instant Tax Service, opens tax retail offices in five new markets: Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis, Orlando, and Washington D.C. Later that year, Fez secures investments to finance expansion into additional markets in California and Nevada.

2002

Instant Tax Service continues to grow, and employs over 500 people during tax season.

2003

Instant Tax Service doubles the size of its operations in 3 years, operating over 100 offices in 7 states.

2004

Instant Tax Service begins franchising.

2005

Instant Tax Service now has offices in 15 states, including the District of Columbia.

2006

Instant Tax Service has 173 offices in operation, of which 36 are franchise owned, and serves over 56,000 customers.

2007

Instant Tax Service nearly triples the number of its stores from 173 to 540 nationwide.

2008

Instant Tax Service opens over 1,200 locations in 39 states.

2009

System-wide sales continue to increase, and Instant Tax Service expands into 10 new markets.

2010

Instant Tax Service is one of the few tax preparation companies with the Refund Anticipation Loan.

2011

Instant Tax takes another step towards the future with a change to a more progressive tax preparation software.