Understand, in an age where prices keep going up, and commodity costs keep going down (even thought the latter has not always reflected at retail), Intuit taking up costs on their consumers, on a product that is only a tool to help them through a civic duty that is complex and confusing, and makes them completely nervous as they go through the process of complying, was completely egregious. Also forcing the consumer to purchase the product with the efile purchase built into the cost was not exactly Intuit supporting the public (honestly, printing and sending a return to the IRS for less than a $1 is a more cost effective means than forcing the consumer base to a more expensive software proposition; your company did raise the cost, and part of that cost was to subsidize this new “free” efile). What was more astounding was the report that Intuit thought that charging their customers for printing only one prepared tax return for software they thought they purchased the license was much more greedy than you are leading us to believe here.

I have always used your products, but have come across this exploitation of the Intuit customer before. This occurred when I purchased Quickbooks for Mac (after using it for years on PC). When I went to move the files over, the Mac version could not convert, because I did not purchase an upgrade in between. Luckily for $100+, Intuit would convert the files for me. I was appalled; and in complete disbelief called Intuit, who confirmed this. I had a choice, restart with new software which would have been time consuming or acquiesce to this charge. I found a third option, buy a used version of PC software for less than half the price, just so I could convert the files to my new Mac. Disgusting.

You may think you have heard your customers, but I don’t believe you HEARD them. They want an inexpensive means to help them do a government mandated document to fulfill a civil duty and minimizing their chance of making penalizing mistakes. Intuit completely took advantage of their market leadership and exploited its core consumers. This was not addressed in your note, but should be addressed, Bob. Greed took over when consumers are just asking for a little cost effective help on complying with law, and Intuit takes the position of working on their nervousness and their lack of understanding of a complex tax code. You and Intuit should be ashamed.

However, as the H&R Block spokesperson commented, Bob, you are not the only company who makes this type of software; there is also H&R Block Tax Cut, and 2nd Story’s Tax Act. There is also the free electronic documents that the IRS provides. Perhaps a consumer revolt is warranted.

MS

We believe these changes make TurboTax the best value for consumers. Including free e-filing with every federal return means a savings of nearly $75 for some of our customers versus last year and a savings of up to $40 compared to our original pricing this year. I believe this now truly reflects our commitment to helping our customers keep more money in their pockets.

We have over 17 million loyal, passionate customers who genuinely care about what we do and who take the time to tell us. Our decision recognizes that our customers’ opinions really do count.

Bob Meighan
VP, TurboTax