TaxAct - major price increase

[Sojourner]

It appears the pricing this year for the desktop versions of TaxAct has nearly doubled from last year. I paid $32 for the Premium product a little over a year ago with a "20% off" coupon -- the regular full price was just under $40. Now the same exact product is being sold for $70! That's nearly an 80% increase in just one year.

Has anyone out there managed to get any sort of substantial discount on the desktop version of TaxAct this year? I have been diligently checking my inbox for an email offer like I received last year, but so far... nothing. I remember thinking $39.99 was pretty steep last year, but it was still far lower than TurboTax or the other mainstream alternatives. These yearly skyrocketing price increases, though, are starting to get pretty outrageous. It still looks like TA is the cheapest (especially the online version), but the gap is rapidly narrowing.

 

[braumeister]

You can still get TurboTax for half that, so why bother?

 

[Gotadimple]

New owners, new prices. Both Turbo Tax and H&R Block on less expensive (see Amazon).

 

[The Rodent]

It appears the pricing this year for the desktop versions of TaxAct has nearly doubled from last year. Now the same exact product is being sold for $70! That's nearly an 80% increase in just one year.....................

Many companies are following the business model of the drug companies. Just increase prices by a ridiculous amount. Quicken (Canada) just increased their price over 300% and went to an annual subscription model. The same increase will likely hit the U.S. in the fall of 2017 unless Quicken responds in some way to the huge consumer negative reaction.

 

[Sojourner]

New owners, new prices. Both Turbo Tax and H&R Block on less expensive (see Amazon).

Yep, looks like H&R Block Premium + State download product is $44.95 on Amazon. Thanks for the tip. Probably the best option for me due to the 10% refund bonus.

 

[OverThinkMuch]

Make sure you check the cost of e-File as well, especially for state:

From TurboTax Deluxe ($40) on Amazon: "Includes 5 free federal e-files and one download of a TurboTax State product (State: print for free or e-file for $19.99 each)"

From TaxAct ($27) website: "State Additional $33"

 

[NW-Bound]

It appears the pricing this year for the desktop versions of TaxAct has nearly doubled from last year. I paid $32 for the Premium product a little over a year ago with a "20% off" coupon -- the regular full price was just under $40. Now the same exact product is being sold for $70! That's nearly an 80% increase in just one year.

Has anyone out there managed to get any sort of substantial discount on the desktop version of TaxAct this year? I have been diligently checking my inbox for an email offer like I received last year, but so far... nothing. I remember thinking $39.99 was pretty steep last year, but it was still far lower than TurboTax or the other mainstream alternatives. These yearly skyrocketing price increases, though, are starting to get pretty outrageous. It still looks like TA is the cheapest (especially the online version), but the gap is rapidly narrowing.

I no longer have a side business, so only use the Plus version instead of the Premium. The list price is $60 which includes a state return. They offered $28 for return customers who bought early, which I did. They emailed the offer in Oct or around that time.

 

[rbmrtn]

I used TaxAct for many years but dropped them because of the price increase. SlickDeals last year had it for $10 but it didn't come out until end of march, if want to wait that long.
Here's the add from last year, https://slickdeals.net/f/8596030-taxact-premium-bundle-federal-state-10

I'm going with freetaxUSA this year because it is free via the IRS freefile site. I did TaxAct last because I qualified for it free using the IRS freefile, but this year didn't make the cut.

 

[KM]

Yeah...not happy with TaxAct at all. I've used them for years and was quite surprised at the price increase too. We have to use Premium (I believe) as we have a rental property). They still were about $10 less than the corresponding TurboTax and HR Block product....but still....

So I did relent and signed up for a special offer to do it online for $10.50. But my personal data didn't go in until I was ready to hit submit....and it came off again right after it was accepted. Who knows if that helps maintain my privacy or not - but I figured I didn't want them storing my SS # and DOB very long.

I didn't bother with state tax, as I'm in NH and all we have is an interest & dividend tax that I can do online for free with NH.

No idea what I'll do next year....but I do feel the cost for the desktop version is becoming ridiculous. If I can do it online for $10.50 there's no reason I can't download the software for a bit more. I worked in computers and software. Yes, there IS additional development and maintenance overhead to creating and maintaining a desktop version versus an online version. But their pricing model tells me they simply want to phase out the desktop version.

 

[Sojourner]

I no longer have a side business, so only use the Plus version instead of the Premium. The list price is $60 which includes a state return. They offered $28 for return customers who bought early, which I did. They emailed the offer in Oct or around that time.

Hmm, that's weird. I just searched my inbox (including my spam folder) and could not find one discount offer from TaxAct over the past 6 months. Considering the lack of discounts (or at least, difficulty finding them) and the exorbitant yearly price increases, seems like TA is executing pretty well on a "drive our loyal customers to the competitors" business plan. The way I figure it, I'll end up actually making money by using the $45 H&R Block Premium product from Amazon after getting a 10% refund bonus.

 

[ownyourfuture]

Many companies are following the business model of the drug companies. Just increase prices by a ridiculous amount.

I was thinking the same thing.
Although tax software has a long way to go before it gets anywhere near as overpriced as prescription drugs

 

[RonBoyd]

This is the conversation I had in December:

From: "Ronald Boyd" <ron@bohill.net>
Date Received:12/11/2016 8:00:48 AM
To: "" <taxact\CSSMail>
Subject:Customer Service Request - Getting Started - Other
I have purchased every version of TaxAct since 2007 and never paid more than $22. What is it(specifically) that makes this year's version worth more than twice as much as previous versions?

Dear Ronald,

Last year we had price increases also, However because we were discontinuing the Deluxe package many customers were able to get our Premium package at 2014 Deluxe prices. While this allowed many customers steep discounts over last years price of $35.99 for Premium, we understand that this causes frustration when viewing this years prices next to last years discounted prices. We continue to improve TaxAct every year with cutting edge security updates and including even more forms and options. We have moved away from offering all IRS e-fileable forms in every package because most filers don’t need all e-fileable forms. We now provide a more customized offering with products organized by features, tax forms and schedules to help you choose the solution that’s right for your unique tax situation. Our new products are designed to closely match industry offerings, so it’s even easier to see that TaxAct is the affordable way to complete your own taxes.

TaxAct will continue to make security a priority, identifying and implementing cutting-edge technology to protect our customer information.

While some of this is new, what matters most remains unchanged: we provide the forms, features and functionality you need, for less. TaxAct is the best deal in tax.
TaxAct offers what we and our customers feel to be a quality product at a very reasonable price when evaluating comparable packages. Our products are fairly priced when considering the features and services provided.

While we encourage our customers to evaluate a number of products available in order to choose the one right for them, we are confident that after comparing TaxAct products and features to other products, TaxAct will emerge as a great value for the price.
You can compare our regularly priced products with those of some of the other tax software companies using the links below:

TaxAct Online/Over-the-Web:
www.taxact.com/compare-online

TaxAct Desktop/Download:
www.taxact.com/compare-download

A week or so later, after I cooled down, I paid the $55 for the 2016 version. (That included the Colorado State Tax forms.) I was kinda forced into this purchase because I do not make any tax payments until December and needed the Tax Program to show me exactly what I needed to deposit. Nevertheless, TaxAct is probably still the wisest choice... at least for me.

 

[Tadpole]

Because I have always used TaxAct, I just ate it this one time. I should have known something was up when I never got the emails for early very cheap reservations. Next year I look around.

 

[Sunset]

I paid $22 for TaxCut (H&R Block) for the deluxe with 1 free Fed e-file, and 1 State return included (but not efile it).
It allows me to do multiple tax returns for my lucky relatives...

 

[bingybear]

taxact had a more reasonable deal on black friday. Last year I had a pre-order at 18.95 fed+state.

 

[NW-Bound]

You made me look. Indeed, I paid $18.99 to pre-order TaxAct 2015. They billed my card right on 12/31/2015, as shown by Quicken.

 

[NW-Bound]

The TaxAct Web site does not look anything like it did 2 months ago, and the pricing is all different. They offered a state return as an option, but it is now bundled with the Fed.

I also see that they offer the simplest download version free. It says 1040 EZ/A. I wonder what it is missing. No schedules B (interest/dividend) and D (cap gains)?

I may download it to see for myself, though I already got the Plus version.

 

[samclem]

I paid $22 for TaxCut (H&R Block) for the deluxe with 1 free Fed e-file, and 1 State return included (but not efile it).
It allows me to do multiple tax returns for my lucky relatives...

TaxAct's niche has always been "it's bare-bones, but it is free/cheap." If they are now approx the same price as programs that do more and do it better, I wonder how they'll keep sales up? I have the impression these tax programs are a "sticky" product, people tend to keep using what they know even if they have heard there's a better value out there.

 

[bingybear]

I got the plus version on black friday deal for 28 (state included). I get a free turbo tax premier, one return only with state. But the state efile is about $25 according to the website.
this business is hit the phase where the price is ratcheting up.

Taxact has been advertising this season... lock the price in when you start. Maybe they won't have good late in the season deals

 

[RobbieB]

I have the impression these tax programs are a "sticky" product, people tend to keep using what they know even if they have heard there's a better value out there.

That's me, Turbo Tax forever! I don't care what it costs, I know how it works and it works good for me.

No matter what the cost, it's less than hiring someone to do it for you and I'll never do it w/o software again.

 

[GTFan]

I paid $22 for TaxCut (H&R Block) for the deluxe with 1 free Fed e-file, and 1 State return included (but not efile it).
It allows me to do multiple tax returns for my lucky relatives...

$15 for Deluxe with both e-files:

https://slickdeals.net/f/9543512-h-...ile-or-off-iso-from-mailer?v=1&src=SiteSearch

Shows as expired but still working even though price was supposed to go up a few days ago.

 

[travelover]

$15 for Deluxe with both e-files:

https://slickdeals.net/f/9543512-h-...ile-or-off-iso-from-mailer?v=1&src=SiteSearch

Shows as expired but still working even though price was supposed to go up a few days ago.

I guess I'm not too computer literate - I don't see how to take advantage of this offer.

 

[dadu007]

Is there a reason you use the downloadable version of TaxAct? I've been using the web-based version for 6 or 7 years without a problem. It always loads my previous info without fail and doesn't take up any HDD space.

 

[Gotadimple]

Is there a reason you use the downloadable version of TaxAct? I've been using the web-based version for 6 or 7 years without a problem. It always loads my previous info without fail and doesn't take up any HDD space.

Only if you prefer to keep the entire process on your computer, and if you want to do whatif analysis.

- Rita

 

[gabrewer]

Late last year I supposedly "locked in" a $15 price for the deluxe version of the web-based TaxAct. I was very unpleasantly surprised -- and very annoyed -- to find that filing my GA state return was an extra $33. I was so far along at that point that I just went ahead and did it. As I consider this to be pretty crappy and borderline deceptive treatment of a long standing customer, I will be considering other options next year.

As an aside, we have a friend who starts his tax return online every year, making notes as he goes, and then declines to finish and file when he gets to the end. He just transfers all the info to a hard copy and mails it in. I thought this was the epitome of cheap when he first told me he does this, but actually I'm kind of considering the idea myself for next year.