Roni Deutch, a lawyer who runs a tax resolution firm, plans to open 200 franchised tax preparation centers in Los Angeles during the next seven years.

Television ads for her law firm have made Deutch Tax Center a household name; she claims 30 percent public name recognition. But she faces established chains such as H & R; Block a brand with even higher name recognition plus a multitude of small accounting, bookkeeping and home-grown tax preparation firms.

In addition, a generation of computer users have purchased do-it-yourself programs such as Tax Cut and Turbo Tax.

But Deutch remains undeterred as she plans to expand the Roni Deutch Tax Center.

“Listen to this number: 150 million people need tax preparation help. Of that 150 million, only 15 million have bought a software package,” she said. “That leaves 135 million potential customers. Jackson Hewitt and H & R; Block only have a 23 percent share of the business. That means I get to go after 77 percent of the market, and I can penetrate that even if there are lots of mom-and-pops.”

Deutch said she plans to differentiate her tax centers from the competition by offering other financial services, including insurance, payroll, prepaid legal services and an identity theft program started by TV host John Walsh.

However, H & R; Block has already implemented such a strategy.

Ross Bengel, professor of accounting at Loyola Marymount University, pointed to the problem of adequate training among franchise-holders in the tax preparation industry. Some of his students who formerly worked at tax services “were surprised at the considerable amount of additional knowledge they learned in the course even after going through a training course at the tax service and gaining work experience there,” Bengel said.

To qualify for a Deutch franchise, entrepreneurs must complete an 11-day training session at her headquarters in Sacramento. By comparison, H & R; Block franchisees take a 15-day course on tax preparation and a five-day class on how to run the franchise.

Another looming trend increasing regulation of the industry could work against the timing of the Roni Deutch Tax Center expansion. In recent years the IRS has cracked down on preparers, with the number targeted for prosecution jumping from 73 to 196 per year since 2001. Just weeks ago, two Orange County men were sentenced to prison for putting bogus deductions on their clients’ tax returns. In California, tax preparers must complete training, bonding and registration requirements through the California Tax Education Council.

But Deutch sees an opportunity for recruitment in the regulations.

“The moms and pops are panicky,” she said. “They want to associate with a brand-name operation. I look at the timing as outstanding.”

Nationally, Deutch hopes to open 1,000 franchises in the next five to seven years. Los Angeles will be home to one-fifth of those offices. Her reasons for targeting the L.A. market include her upbringing born and raised in Granada Hills and the demographics of the market.

The typical Deutch client earns between $15,000 and $50,000 annually and is willing to pay between $99 and $200 for tax preparation, depending on the complexity. Each franchise territory will cover about 50,000 of these potential clients.

“This won’t be successful in Beverly Hills, but in 75 percent of the areas in L.A., the population fits our market,” Deutch explained.

One threat that Deutch Centers won’t face, according to Bengel, is a simplification of the tax code that would eliminate the need for professional preparers. “It’s always appropriate to ask the question, why do we need tax services?” he said. “At least part of the answer lies in the complexity of the tax law. I find it ironic that the law we have is that which was passed by our legislators and those same legislators are consistently the ones who complain about the complexity of the tax law.”