DCAP Insurance / The Tax Zone
Bottom line
- Total investment $18K – $110K including a $25K franchise fee, 20.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 67/100.
- System contracting at -5.6% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one DCAP Insurance / The Tax Zone unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
0%
Negative
Overview
About
Franchisees operate tax preparation and accounting service centers under The Tax Zone and/or DCAP Insurance brands. Day-to-day operations include preparing individual and small-business tax returns, offering bookkeeping services, and selling insurance products. Revenue depends heavily on seasonal tax season demand and local client acquisition in a protected territory.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 16 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
A declining franchise system with no financial transparency, aggressive royalties, founder litigation history, and potential franchisor financial instability presents elevated risk unsuitable for most franchisees.
Score breakdown · what drove the 67 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-2.9% YoY with only 36 units suggests a shrinking, unstable system)
- 02MEDNo Item 19 financial disclosure (average revenue and net income not disclosed—impossible to assess profitability)
- 03MINORAggressive royalty structure (20% of gross sales for Tax Zone is among the highest in tax/accounting franchises)
- 04HIGHLitigation history involving founders (2012 lawsuit settled for $3,000 suggests disputes at ownership level)
- 05HIGH'Going Concern' status is FALSE, indicating potential financial instability at franchisor level
- 06MEDHigh initial investment range ($17.7K–$109.9K) paired with undisclosed ROI creates blind investment risk
- 07MINORDual-brand model (DCAP + Tax Zone) adds operational complexity without proven synergy data
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
30 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
DCAP Insurance / The Tax Zone · FDD (2023) PDF