H & R Block Franchise Owner Committed to Service

The California H & R Block is located at 1021 West Buchanan in the Village Green Shopping Center.
The California H & R Block is located at 1021 West Buchanan in the Village Green Shopping Center.

Paul Gostomski worked for H & R Block from 1991 until 2003 when he retired from serving as a district manager in St. Louis. Retirement wasn't something he enjoyed and Gostomski returned to taxes five years later after moving to the Lake of the Ozarks.

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Associated Press

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, center, flanked by Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Markets Anthony Ryan, left, and Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Robert Steel, leaves the West Wing of the White House in Washington Tuesday after meeting with President Bush.

Working during the tax season with an H & R Block franchise owner in the Lake of the Ozarks gave him a good view of the needs and expectations of the customers in the area and piqued his desire to become a franchise owner. That happened in November of 2010.

Currently, Gostomski is the owner of H & R Block franchises in California, Eldon and Versailles. He is very happy with his current role as it gives him control and lets him run the franchise as a small business.

"Customer service is highly important," Gostomski said. "It is essentially what we do. We do taxes, but what does that mean? Most everyone needs to fill out a tax return, whether you pay taxes or not. And it is a very confusing system. You could spend a lot of time researching how to file taxes and what has changed from last year. Even when you are done putting in all that time you are still really not sure you have caught all of the little nuances. You wonder if you have missed something or left something on the table. And that is what we consider our job. We are going to make sure we have maximized everything you are entitled to or minimize what you spend with the IRS. We are going to charge for doing that, but it is a service we offer. We also do bookkeeping, payroll, along with small business, partnership, trusts and not for profits tax returns among other services."

For more of this story check out the Oct. issue of the California Democrat.