H&R Block stock (HRB) surges 15% after share repurchases boost profit gains

Supreme Court rejects Stephanie Murrin tax case; 75 million paid-preparer e-filed returns in focus The Supreme Court isn’t taking up Stephanie Murrin’s tax dispute, which means investors have a number to keep in mind: 75 million e-filed returns prepared for a fee. The main concern is not widespread fraud, but that fraud by just one tax preparer can leave an IRS assessment open years after the normal three-year audit window closes.

Intuit shares jumped roughly 2.5% on Friday, beating the broader market ahead of next week’s U.S. tax-filing season kickoff.

Key Facts: As Congress’s funding lapse hit IRS operations in late Oct 2025, most paper refunds were pausedirs.gov. The IRS paid out $311.6 billion in refunds in 2025 with an average of $3,052 per taxpayerts2.tech. The new U.S. tax law raised credits for children and seniorsts2.tech, and analysts now forecast a surge in refunds in early 2026cbsnews.comeconomictimes.indiatimes.com. In state news, Virginia announced one-time income-tax rebates of $200–$400 from a budget surplusts2.tech. Abroad, India reports delays in processing large refundseconomictimes.indiatimes.com, while Taiwan is issuing a NT$10,000 “universal” cash payment to citizensbasicincome.orgbasicincome.org. Stock markets have rallied on tax-season optimism: tax-prep firms like H&R Block and Intuit are near multi-year highsreuters.comreuters.com.

Americans saw slightly fatter refunds on average this year even as the number of people getting refunds dipped. Final IRS data through October shows the average refund climbed to $3,052, about $48 more than last year’s average accountingtoday.com. That uptick may reflect higher incomes and inflation adjustments that boosted tax withholding – leading many filers to overpay a bit more and get larger refunds. In total, the IRS disbursed $311.65 billion in refunds for the 2025 season, roughly 0.6% more than the prior year el-balad.com.