PROFESSIONAL TAX SOFTWARE REVIEWS 2017 PROFESSIONAL

Respondents in firms of two to five preparers and six to 20 preparers, however, were little changed at 37% and 22%, respectively. Representation of sole practitioners fell to 28% from 30% (and from 36% in 2015). The remaining seven products combined (CrossLink, GoSystem Tax RS, Intuit ProConnect Tax Online, TaxAct, TaxSlayer Pro, TaxWise, and TurboTax) were used by less than 8% of respondents, and while they are not included in the charts and analysis in this article, information about them, along with more information and data on the 'major' products, is available here.ДЇirm size: Again, more survey respondents this year were with larger firms. This may reflect an overall trend continuing from last year of relatively more survey respondents being in midsize to larger firms. 2016.)ДЄlthough it is not widely used among respondents, CCH Axcess Tax, a product used predominantly in larger firms, while not showing a big increase in absolute numbers, did grow in share of respondents from 2.5% last year to 4.4% this year. (For the results of last year's survey, see ' 2016 Tax Software Survey,' JofA, Aug. ATX, by CCH Small Firm Services, was used by 5%, the same percentage as last year. Drake, by Drake Software, and ProSeries, by Intuit, were each used by 11% of the sample. Similarly, the next tier of products by numbers of users were each within one point of last year's numbers. Those percentages are each within one point of last year's shares of users. UltraTax CS, a Thomson Reuters product, was used by 22% of respondents CCH's ProSystem fx was used by 20% and Lacerte, by Intuit, accounted for 17%.

PROFESSIONAL TAX SOFTWARE REVIEWS 2017 PROFESSIONAL

This year, the survey asked about 14 professional tax preparation software products, and, as in past years, three products together were used by a majority of respondents. PRODUCTS COVERED AND PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS Fewer CPAs than in 2016 reported encountering identity theft among their clients, it affected fewer of their clients, and they reported somewhat less difficulty in resolving the thefts that did occur (see the sidebar, ' Fewer CPAs See Tax ID Theft'). This year, we checked again on the reported incidence of tax identity theft. While their answers were largely consistent with those of previous years, they also yielded a few unexpected areas of consensus. This year, the survey yielded 3,544 responses from CPAs who prepared tax returns in 2017 for a fee. Having dealt with the vicissitudes of tax season, many of them sit down with our questionnaire to assess how well their tax preparation software helped bring them through, and we thank them for their time in sharing their insights with others in the profession. CPA tax preparers would no doubt agree that despite their experience and preparations for tax filing season, every year brings unforeseen challenges.

Professional tax software reviews 2017