For the tens of thousands of professional tax preparers, this is both good news and bad. The good news is that they are benefiting from the results of the heavy investments in product improvements, including the addition of more auxiliary functions, such as tax planning, automatic client invoicing and seamless integration with write-up software and electronic tax organizers. However, posted prices of many professional tax packages are showing increases from last year. In addition, many vendors quietly offer other discounts, especially if a customer is large or is resisting renewing. Just as no two airline passengers on any given flight pay the same fare, so, it's claimed, no two tax software customers of the same vendor pay the same price either.
Most vendors flatly deny such practices.
More important, they insist that there is less discounting this year than in prior years because software sales are so strong. In part, of course, vendors are picking up more sales because the competition has thinned out. But growth is coming from other quarters, too. It can be attributed largely to strength and volatility of the stock market and the maturing of Baby Boomers. Indeed, at their new economic station many find the process too complex and the risk of mistakes and missed tax-saving opportunities too great.