Evaluating the Relative Merits of Commercial Tax Software
Open Access
Author:
Fisher, Rachel A
Area of Honors:
Accounting
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Charles Richard Enis, Thesis Supervisor Orie Edwin Barron, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Accounting Tax Software Tax
Abstract:
It was not that many years ago that come tax filing season, most Americans would hunker down at their desks, manually enter data on paper forms with a calculator by their side, and eventually mail their income tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service. Today that image is becoming a distant memory. According to the 1040 Instructions for the 2012 tax year, “nearly 80% of all tax returns are now electronically filed.” This paper will analyze the effectiveness and merits of the three most popular commercial tax software programs: H&R Block At Home®, TaxACT®, and TurboTax®.
