Analysis Says TurboTax is Killer App

Posted by accountingweb on Mar 8 2000 109 printer friendly

CPAs and accounting professionals often are asked about the advantages of filing online. Here's a new angle to an already crowded playing field: Annette Hamilton of ZDNet News has christened Intuit's TurboTax the next "killer app."

The accounting news channels have been filled with story after story of online preparation sites, including H&R Block, H.D. Vest and Intuit. However, given the fact that this is only the second year taxpayers can file online, the gains are expected to be huge by the tax deadline--as high as 1 million users, according to Forrester Research.

Hamilton deems TurboTax a killer app because of three reasons:

the product saves money up front at $9.95--less than half of what the cost was last year;

the "hassle" factor is much lower because filing taxes requires no additional software or purchases; and

the time spent in receiving a refund is less based on projects by the IRS.

In the future, taxpayers may even receive a $10 tax credit if President Clinton has his way; he is proposing a credit just for filing online.

Tags

Technology

Voice of the Editor

Even though any accounting auditor would tell you it seems like there are an awful lot of tax accountants out there, surely one-third of the country isn't made up of tax preparers, so it's rather startling news to learn that one-third of Americans like to do their taxes. Who knew?

AccountingWEB