origins

So it Begins

Yes, images are AI-generated. I'm no artist and this is, for the moment, a low-effort project.

I don't know how long I've had taxsoftwaresucks.com as a registered domain. I get ideas, register domains, and then do nothing with them because it starts to feel like "work." My grand dream was a site for people to report issues, "grade" their software, and then it would create a score card for the software that was publicly available.

Turns out that involves a lot of complex data collection and database management work that scared me off, so this is just a blog of my frustrating journey and experiences working with tax software.

Assuming I can continue to stay inspired for even this level of project (I may not) I'll start with where things stand as of today, and then walk back through some history. And then, perhaps, we eventually hit next tax season, when it all breaks again and taxpros become unwilling beta testers of software during our busiest time of year.

Intuit makes a decent offer, but needs more SALT.

As much as the idea of giving Intuit more money sucks, I had to do my due diligence and reach out to them for a quote. I asked them about ProConnect, as that's generally their most "modern" platform. ProConnect charges exclusively via PRP fees with minimum

Is the grass greener, or the is the poop just fresh?

Given UltraTax's attempt to rake me over the coals on my software renewal, I had to comparison shop. Let's talk features. I have ProConnect and AxcessTax as my potential alternatives. Drake didn't make the cut for Oregon reasons. Anything else wasn't at

UltraTax gives me a half-hearted alternative.

On April 29, I heard from my UT sales rep with an alternative offer. When they first reached out a week earlier, I told them I was alarmed at the steep jump in my contract, and I was actively shopping for alternatives. Do you think they expressed any concern or

Am I breaking up with UltraTax?

This story originates from a series of LinkedIn posts and Taxpros Discord rants that started around April 22. I'm at the end of my 3-year introductory contract with Thomson Reuters' UltraTax*, and it's getting ugly. Everyone in our industry knows they hit hard on the

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Intuit makes a decent offer, but needs more SALT.

Is the grass greener, or the is the poop just fresh?

UltraTax gives me a half-hearted alternative.

Am I breaking up with UltraTax?