H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), a tax-preparation company whose colleagues include Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) and Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (NYSE: JTX), was up in the after-hours session on Monday because the market approved of the company's Q4 earnings report. At one point, shares had gained almost 5.8%, and that was on top of 1.6% gain during the regular session. Volume was okay during the regular session, not overly spectacular.

H&R Block did pretty well considering revenues declined almost 3%. Earnings from continuing operations were flat at $2.09 per diluted share. This was enough to beat estimates of $2.05 per share according to this source.

Tax specialist H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), whose colleagues include Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) and Jackson Hewitt (NYSE: JTX), prepared its Q2 earnings report for investors on Monday after the exchanges had closed. According to this article, the company met expectations for the bottom line. H&R Block saw a net loss of $0.40 per share from continuing operations. That was an improvement of two cents when compared to Q2 2007.

While the bottom line met expectations, the top line came in below what Wall Street was hoping for. The call was for a little over $397 million in sales revenue. H&R Block actually delivered $351.5 million. So, when you add it all together, you come up with something of a lukewarm quarter, in my opinion.

But you have to remember something about this business: tax season is coming up. So, even though we're talking about a loss right now, we should be talking about a profit once the fiscal year concludes. In fact, analysts are calling for H&R Block to earn around $1.63 per share. Management believes that somewhere between $1.60 and $1.70 per share is conceivable. That leaves room for a beat. And, at the stock's current price, H&R Block may be cheap.

We live in a great country.

If you want a kosher Dunkin Donut, you got it. If you want to spend $15 for a Bed Head, you can. And if you want to lay on a hammock in your neighbor's yard naked, last time I checked, it's still a free country.

If only the IRS would loosen up a little. In fact, some folks are so wary of this pitiless branch of government, they won't even claim their refunds: According to a new AOL Money & Finance feature, unclaimed refunds exceeding $2.2 billion are sitting in the IRS coffers.

And which cities are the most afraid to file? Based on Intuit reports, the ultimate Tax Procrastinating States list has been released. If you're from Houston, you win!

But wait. Maybe the IRS has loosened up a little. As Kiplinger Editorial Director Kevin McCormally tells it, "this year the IRS is taking a cue from Burger King and letting you have your refund your way." What he means is, in the past you could either get your refund as a single check or as a single electronic deposit. Now you can get it direct-deposited into three different accounts. Want to see how?