H&R Block Inc , the largest U.S. tax preparer, posted a 5 percent fall in total returns filed for the latest tax season as it continued to lose market share to rivals.

Total retail returns prepared declined by 6.6 percent, while aggregate tax preparation fees for retail operations fell 5.5 percent to $2.61 billion.

The company's dismal show in the first half of the season was somewhat offset in the second part, but even during that period total retail returns prepared fell 1.7 percent.

H&R Block provides tax return preparation services in person and online through its H&R Block at Home software, formerly known as TaxCut, which competes with rival Intuit Inc's TurboTax.

Intuit, which is gaining market share from H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc as more people move to do-it-yourself models, said on Monday that total TurboTax federal units rose 10 percent.

H&R Block shares closed at $18.11 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Anurag Kotoky in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

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