Troubled tax return company H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) said today that it would lay-off 400 people. The firm will also close 400 “under-performing” offices. H&R said the moves would save $140 million to $150 million in operating expenses in the next year.

Oddly enough, at the same time, the company said it would pay its former CFO, Becky Shulman, $610,560. That is about the cost of employing 20 people at H&R.

H&R Block is hardly having a tough year. It made $50.6 million in the quarter ending January 31 compared to $47.4 million in the same quarter a year ago.

The company’s CEO is paid like a king. For the 2009 fiscal year, Russell P. Smyth $2,623, 047. The announcement of the layoffs did not include any word about Smyth taking a pay cut.

Douglas A. McIntyre