Date: 2009-06-04

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Appoints Veteran Industry Leader Harry W. Buckley Chief Executive Officer and Member of Board  

Buckley to Work with Board and External Advisors To Strengthen the Company's Performance and Enhance Shareholder Value

Board to Consider Adding New Directors

Board to Propose Redemption of Shareholder Rights Plan

PARSIPPANY, N.J., June 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The board of directors of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. (NYSE: JTX) today announced that Harry W. Buckley, former president and chief executive officer of H&R Block Tax Services, will join the company as president and CEO, effective immediately. Mr. Buckley also is a former member of the Jackson Hewitt board and a former chairman of a major Jackson Hewitt franchisee. His appointment is the latest in a series of actions undertaken by the board in an effort to improve Jackson Hewitt's performance and enhance the value of the company for all of its shareholders.

Mr. Buckley succeeds Michael C. Yerington, who is leaving the company. Mr. Buckley will also join the Jackson Hewitt board as a director. Margaret Richardson, a former Commissioner of Internal Revenue who joined the Jackson Hewitt board in June 2004, will continue to serve as non-executive chair of the board.

On behalf of the board, Ms. Richardson said, "We are delighted that Harry Buckley, who is a seasoned tax preparation industry leader with a superior record of delivering value and who has strong credibility among our franchisees, has agreed to lead Jackson Hewitt forward as it develops and implements plans to enhance the value of the company for our shareholders, customers, employees, franchisees, and other constituencies."

Other actions the board has taken in recent months include:

The engagement of one of the world's preeminent management consulting firms to assist in accelerating the turnaround of the company's performance.
The engagement of financial advisor Goldman, Sachs & Co. to assist the board in examining a range of strategic and financial alternatives for the company.
The decision to have the board's Governance Committee review the size and composition of the board, including a review of qualified candidates suggested by the company's shareholders. And,
The decision to recommend the redemption of the company's shareholder rights plan in a vote at the company's 2009 annual shareholders' meeting.
"The Jackson Hewitt board has been working with a sense of great urgency to address the company's performance," Ms. Richardson said. "We have engaged a management consulting firm to assist the board in its evaluation of how best to accelerate the turnaround of the company's performance. That work is well underway, which will help enable our new CEO to 'hit the ground running' in implementing performance-enhancing initiatives.

"While we recognize the challenges of executing any kind of transaction in the current environment, the board has also engaged Goldman Sachs to examine a range of strategic alternatives for Jackson Hewitt. The board will continue to explore all available means of enhancing value for our shareholders as we work closely with Harry and his management team to improve the company's operational and financial performance."

She concluded, "The activities undertaken by the board are being informed by our ongoing conversations with shareholders on the company's strategic direction, performance and corporate governance matters."

Mr. Buckley, 64, served as president and chief executive officer of H&R Block Tax Services, Inc., the world's largest tax preparation service, from 1988 to 1995. He joined H&R Block in 1968 as a tax preparer and subsequently served in a variety of operational and marketing roles. In January 1997, he joined the Jackson Hewitt board, where he played an instrumental role in the sale of the company to Cendant Corporation in January 1998. In November 1998, he became chairman of a major Jackson Hewitt franchisee, Tax Services of America, and also became a consultant to the company. He retired in 2002.

Mr. Buckley said, "Jackson Hewitt has many strengths on which to build, including outstanding people, a well-established brand, committed franchisees, and a top-tier distribution network. I look forward to working closely with our board, employees and franchisees as we focus on achieving stronger performance going forward."

About Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc.

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. (NYSE: JTX), with approximately 6,600 franchised and company-owned offices throughout the United States during the 2009 tax season, is an industry leader providing full service individual federal and state income tax return preparation. Most offices are independently owned and operated. Jackson Hewitt is based in Parsippany, New Jersey. More information may be obtained at www.jacksonhewitt.com. To locate the Jackson Hewitt Tax Service(R) office nearest to you, call 1-800-234-1040.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because these forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to: Jackson Hewitt's ability to execute an accelerated turnaround of performance or execute any strategic or financial alternative; Jackson Hewitt's ability to timely or effectively respond to customer trends and attract new customers, develop and make new products available through Jackson Hewitt's offices, improve Jackson Hewitt's distribution system or reduce Jackson Hewitt's cost structure; Jackson Hewitt's ability to successfully attract and retain key personnel; government initiatives that simplify tax return preparation or reduce the need for a third party tax return preparer, improve the timing and efficiency of processing tax returns or decrease the number of tax returns filed; delays in the passage of tax laws and their implementation; the trend of tax payers filing their tax returns later in the tax season; the success of Jackson Hewitt's franchised offices; Jackson Hewitt's responsibility to third parties, regulators or courts for the acts of, or failures to act by, Jackson Hewitt's franchisees or their employees; government legislation and regulation of the tax return preparation industry and related financial products, including refund anticipation loans, and the failure by Jackson Hewitt, or the financial institutions which provide financial products to Jackson Hewitt's customers, to comply with such legal and regulatory requirements; the effectiveness of Jackson Hewitt's tax return preparation compliance program; increased regulation of tax return preparers; Jackson Hewitt's exposure to litigation; the failure of Jackson Hewitt's insurance to cover all the risks associated with Jackson Hewitt's business; Jackson Hewitt's ability to protect Jackson Hewitt's customers' personal and financial information; the effectiveness of Jackson Hewitt's marketing and advertising programs and franchisee support of these programs; disruptions in Jackson Hewitt's relationships with Jackson Hewitt's franchisees; changes in Jackson Hewitt's relationships with financial product providers that could reduce the revenues Jackson Hewitt derives from Jackson Hewitt's agreements with these financial institutions as well as affect Jackson Hewitt's customers' ability to obtain financial products through Jackson Hewitt's tax return preparation offices; changes in Jackson Hewitt's relationships with retailers and shopping malls that could affect Jackson Hewitt's growth and profitability; the seasonality of Jackson Hewitt's business and its effect on Jackson Hewitt's stock price; competition from tax return preparation service providers, volunteer organizations and the government; Jackson Hewitt's reliance on technology systems and electronic communications to perform the core functions of Jackson Hewitt's business; Jackson Hewitt's ability to protect Jackson Hewitt's intellectual property rights or defend against any third party allegations of infringement by Jackson Hewitt; Jackson Hewitt's reliance on cash flow from subsidiaries; Jackson Hewitt's compliance with credit facility covenants; Jackson Hewitt's exposure to increases in prevailing market interest rates; Jackson Hewitt's quarterly results not being indicative of Jackson Hewitt's performance as a result of tax season being relatively short and straddling two quarters; Jackson Hewitt's ability to pay dividends in the future; certain provisions that may hinder, delay or prevent third party takeovers; changes in accounting policies or practices and Jackson Hewitt's ability to maintain an effective system of internal controls; impairment charges related to goodwill; and the effect of market conditions, general conditions in the tax return preparation industry or general economic conditions.

Additional information concerning these and other risks that could impact Jackson Hewitt's business can be found in Jackson Hewitt's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2008, and other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Copies are available from the SEC or Jackson Hewitt's website. Jackson Hewitt assumes no obligation, and Jackson Hewitt expressly disclaims any obligation, to update or alter any forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc.

CONTACT: Investor Relations, David G. Weselcouch, Vice President, Treasury and Investor Relations, +1-973-630-0821, or Media Relations, Sheila Cort, Vice President, Corporate Communications, +1-973-630-0680

Web Site: http://www.jacksonhewitt.com
(JTX)