Intuit is reported to have placed its online Intuit Practice Management application in a beta testing program. The product has been available to 2,000 firms as a pilot program over the last year. While the Intuit website had previously said the product would be released after the recent tax season, it seems likely the product will debut in July or August.

Refund Anticipation Loans died following the end of tax season. But the attack on bank products utilized by tax software companies and preparers has entered a new phase. A broad-based legal challenge has been mounted against refund anticipation checks while the suits also seek damages based on fees charged for RALs for several years. Last fall, class action suits were filed against the two leading tax preparation chains, H&R Block and Liberty Tax and this month the cases were consolidated before the federal court of the Northern District of Illinois.

Just over a year ago, an executive at a tax preparation software company shared an observation about the preparation of tax returns. The Internal Revenue Service, he said, routinely finds more mistakes in CPA-prepared returns than in those signed by non CPAs. "It's because the CPAs do not prepare as many returns as the non CPAs," was the thrust of his remarks.