The year 1997 has been a bonanza for firms that prepare tax returns for individual taxpayers, due to the complex new Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. Chicago economist Brian Wesbury constructed an index of tax complexity; his index is up 350 percent since late last June due to the act.

Among other provisions, the tax law created 11 different rates for capital gains. It also added 800 new amendments to the tax code, 290 new sections and 36 new retroactive provisions.

Henry Bloch, founder of H & R Block, the nation's largest tax preparation service, reports that business increases every time the government changes things. All that new business has sent stocks of tax preparation firms soaring just since leaks on the contents of this year's bill began appearing in July.

• In the past six months, Block has seen its stock climb 36 percent -- from $32.50 to $44.25 -- and has announced plans to open some 250 new offices.

• Jackson Hewitt Inc., the nation’s second largest preparer, saw its stock rise from $4.25 last January to $51.50 before it was snapped up by HFS Inc. at $68 a share.

• Gilman & Ciocia Inc., a third preparer, has seen its stock more than triple since July -- to $8.25 a share from $2.50.

Experts say the simpler, flatter nature of Ronald Reagan's 1986 tax law put a crimp into the tax preparation business. But 1997 completes the reversal.

When the first H & R Block Income Tax Guide was published in the 1960s, it had 196 pages. This year, it will hit 574 pages.