Tax Professionals Get a Jump Start on Tax Season with TaxAct 2016 Professional Editions

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA--(Marketwired - Oct 27, 2016) -  TaxAct®, the value leader of professional tax preparation and filing solutions, today announced its 2016 Professional Federal Editions (formerly known as "Preparer's Preview Editions") are now available. Beginning today, tax professionals can get a head start on tax season with the 2016 federal products, including 1040 for individuals; 1041 for estates and trusts; 1065, 1120 and 1120S for partnerships and corporations; and 990 for tax-exempt organizations. All TaxAct 2016 Professional Federal Editions are updated with the latest tax law changes and offer comprehensive tools for organization, year-end tax planning and return preparation.

"While the role tax preparers fulfill for their clients starts with the tax return, it grows into that of a professional, trusted advisor. To better reflect those multi-faceted relationships, we have changed the name of our product from 'TaxAct Preparer's Editions' to 'TaxAct Professional Editions,'" explained Rob Gettemy, chief operating officer for TaxAct. "To that end, our release of the Professional Editions in October allows preparers to calculate clients' federal and state 2016 taxes and assist with year-end planning."

Client lists and all associated data entered into Professional Editions before year end will be securely maintained and available when the software updates to the filing versions in early January 2017. TaxAct supports all 1040, 1065, 1120 and 1120S states, and has added 1041 New Mexico and Texas State Editions, bringing the total of 1041 States to nearly 30.

Robust tools save tax professionals time in their work flow
New this year, TaxAct Professional's 1040 Client Organizers have been enhanced to help practitioners more efficiently collect the information they need from clients to begin preparing their tax returns. With updated questions that align with each section of a tax return, 2016 Client Organizers are available for Personal Information (including Affordable Care Act-related data); Income; Deductions; Credits; and Payments and Banking. Client Organizers are pre-populated with information from last year's imported returns. In addition, Organizers are now customizable based on the clients' actual tax situations, helping preparer's deliver even greater, personalized customer service.

Comprehensive in-product information helps tax practitioners complete returns more efficiently
At the request of many TaxAct Professional customers, Topics Assistant has been reinstated in the 2016 software. Topics Assistant, formerly known as Forms and Topics, enables tax professionals to quickly navigate between forms and areas of a client return and manage their workflow. Practitioners can use Topics Assistant to easily determine which parts of a return have already been completed and click to jump to the next section. They also have the option to simply enter criteria into the search bar to rapidly move to that section of the client's return.

TaxAct 2016 Professional Editions also include an Import Wizard, which provides intuitive, step-by-step guidance to help preparers easily set up their practice. The Import Wizard streamlines the set-up process including importing practitioner information, master forms and data from TaxAct returns or PDFs of 1040 returns prepared with eight other major professional tax software products. Preparers also gain efficiencies with TaxAct's flexible data-entry options. Tax professionals can choose to enter additional data using direct input into tax forms, the Q&A interview, or toggling between the two.

Driving practice growth and uncovering additional sources of revenue
"Tax professionals are in a unique position to help clients optimize their tax outcome," Gettemy said. "Financial services and wealth management are a natural extension for preparers who want to work with clients year-round, grow their practice and tap into additional sources of revenue. That's why we have teamed up with our sister company, HD Vest, to provide our Professional customers who are also HD Vest analysts, an opportunity to deliver more holistic services to clients with the 1040 Analyst®."

A unique data mining tool, the 1040 Analyst allows tax professionals to seamlessly integrate their clients' tax data from the Form 1040. They can then provide a customized client report highlighting financial services opportunities that may help clients chart a new course for their financial future. Providing this value-added service allows the tax professional to deliver even more comprehensive services to their clients while also expanding their practice. Tightly integrated with the 2016 Professional Editions, the 1040 Analyst is currently available to TaxAct customers.

Value leader in professional software and e-filing
Staying true to their best-in-value philosophy, the 2016 Professional Federal Editions are available at the same prices as last year's products: $129.99* each, with the Professional Federal Enterprise Editions at $199.99* each, State Editions at $24.99* per state per edition, and $99.99* for each All-States Edition.

TaxAct also offers low-cost, per return e-filing for all federal returns, all 1040 and business state returns and many state returns estates and trusts. Preparers can either purchase a money-saving Bundle with federal and state software plus unlimited e-filing, or pay $9.99 per SSN/EIN by return type (1040, 1041, 1065, 1120, 1120S or 990). Per-return e-filing price covers both federal and state(s) returns.

Preparers can elect to receive email and text notifications from TaxAct when clients' e-filed returns are processed by the IRS and states.

Federal Editions will be updated with any last-minute tax law changes and final IRS forms in early January. Professional State Editions will begin releasing at that time as well. E-filing will also be available in filing release facilitating expedient return submissions to the IRS and state taxing agencies as soon as the applicable agency opens for e-file acceptance.

*All prices subject to change.

About TaxAct

TaxAct is a leading provider of affordable digital and download tax preparation solutions for individuals, business owners and tax professionals. Its mission is to empower people to navigate the complexities of tax and finance with ease and accuracy at a fair price. TaxAct was one of the top three visited online tax preparation destinations for the last two tax seasons.¹ The company has assisted with approximately 65 million e-filed federal returns since 2000. To learn more about TaxAct, a business of Blucora, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOR), visit www.taxact.com.

¹ According to collective week end reports for taxact.com released by Compete Inc.