The number of tax returns filed for the tax season to date still lags last year. But with the Internal Revenue Service now accepting filings, the totals are rapidly catching up with the numbers of the 2012 tax season, according to Intuit CEO Brad Smith. While the impact of the late Congressional budget action and resulting delays have been greater in January than Intuit expected, Smith said, "Our results give us confidence we are on track."
Smith made his comments this week as Intuit released its first totals for TurboTax filings and its financial results for the second-quarter ended January 31. The TurboTax report reflect the continued rapid rise in the use of online tax preparation. The number of online federal subscriptions reached 9.2 million, up 32 percent, while the number of desktop units grew to 4.3 million, up 14 percent. With the small base of free file units dropping by 27 percent, the TurboTax total was 14.1 million a 29-percent increase.
During a similar delay in 2011, taxpayers tended to send returns to preparers who held them. This year, consumers appeared m ore aware of the impact of governmental action and waited for the IRS to begin accepting returns before sending them. That shifted about $140 million in sales from Intuit's January quarter to its April quarter. For the second quarter, revenue fell to $968 million, down 3 percent from $999 million a year earlier.
However during the earnings webcast, Smith noted that figures supplied by the IRS this week reflect a rapid increasing in filing for the first two weeks of February that are in line with the 22 percent year-to-year increase that Intuit has experienced for the month to date.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind
