Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. is the second largest tax-preparation service in the United States; responsible for preparing over 2 million federal, state, and local income-tax returns each year. The headquarters is located in Jersey City, New Jersey. It operated more than 6,000 franchised and company-owned locations throughout the United States, including nearly 3,000 located in Walmart stores nationwide. In January 1998, the Cendant Corporation, a consumer conglomerate, purchased Jackson Hewitt in a transaction valued at approximately $480 million. In 2004, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. was spun off as a separate company. History Foundation Jackson Hewitt was founded in 1982 by John Hewitt with a variety of investors who purchased the six-location, Norfolk, Virginia-based Mel Jackson's Tax Service and renamed it Jackson Hewitt. For the next few years, the company grew slowly, adding a handful of additional outlets. Expansion In 1986, the same year the Internal Revenue Service first began to experiment with computerized tax filing, the company began selling franchises. By the following tax season there were 22 offices. In October 1989, the Montgomery Ward department-store chain contracted with Jackson Hewitt to open offices in 169 stores across the United States. For years, Sears a competitor of Montgomery Ward had been host to H&R Block in its stores. The sudden growth was too much for the company and to avoid entering bankruptcy during tax season, Jackson Hewitt closed 67 of those offices. However, by the end of 1990, the company had returned to profitability and opened more locations in Montgomery Ward stores. By 1992, Jackson Hewitt had 515 offices in almost 30 states and was preparing 311,000 returns for taxpayers per year, making it second-largest tax preparation chain in the United States. During the following year, the company raised funds for expansion and moved into new headquarters in Virginia Beach, Virginia. By 1993, the company had 900 offices in 37 states. In January 1994, the company went public but no new stock was issued; the company's 700 investors' private shares simply converted into public ones. During that same year, the company made a deal to set up offices in Sam's Club stores on a trial basis. The trial was a success, and later that year the company launched plans to establish eighteen offices in Walmart stores, leasing space for use as combined tax preparation and business mail service sites. Cendant In December 1997, Jackson Hewitt announced that it