In September 2014, CEO Brad Smith told attendees at the company's Investor's Day there were six major new ProTax products. I tried to arrange interviews about this and got one only by accident at the first QuickBooks Connect. There was no communication about ProTax with the trade press until Nov. 20, 2014 after most preparers have purchased their products (and that release was not published on the website). Asked for comment, Intuit pointed out 110,000 pros use the products and filed 42 million returns last tax season and the company has made a lot of changes. The high ProTax product margins bolster the company's profitability enough that Intuit is unlikely to ever sell them and it would seem that accounting firms are important in promoting QuickBooks Online. Still one prominent analyst said he thought the vendor is unwinding its Accountants' program. Well, we'll run this up the flag pole and see which way the wind blows.
INTUIT'S STRANGE SILENCE ON PROTAX Featured
While Intuit's ProTax operations are not the normal purview of this publication, their presence impacts all of the company. Intuit does not talk much about this highly profitable business in which it holds the major share of the professional preparer market. Intuit has not published a press release about its ProTax products—Intuit Online, Pro Series, Intuit Tax Online—on its website since March 2013. Analysts say that they have trouble getting any information on these operations. "It's not just you," one commented.
