The increase in TurboTax sales was a compound of a 2-percent drop in the sale of desktop units that was countered by a 19-percent rise in the sales of TurboTax Web. There were 4.3 million desktop units sold in the most recently ended quarter, down from 4.4 million. Web sales hit 9.2 million units through Feburary 18. up from 7.7 million. Meanwhile, the company says that it believes that the number of returns filed this year will probably end up 1 percent over the 2011 filing totals.

"We believe total efiled returns year-to-date are up slightly," Smith said in last week's earnings webcast. The total, however, is still down from 2009. Smith said one issue that affects the filing totals is the tendency of consumers to wait until later in the season to file tax returns. The company has said that trend is driven by the ability of taxpayers to use efiling, instead of paper, to get their returns to the government. However, Smith noted analysis has been made more difficult because the Internal Revenue Service is providing less data this year..

Smith also pointed to the strong growth in the use of mobile versions of TurboTax. He said that TurboTax for iPad is ranking as the highest-grossing iPad App in the Apple Store.

The lack of IRS data has also made it more difficult for Intuit to ascertain market share. Intuit's data suggests it is taking market share only while retail data indicates a slight drop. "Given where we are in the season and what we have planned for the second half, we are not concerned [about retail sales]." Smith said. He noted that not only does the shift to online more than offset the decrease at retail, but that it is still early in the season.

Smith also said Intuit believes that d-i-y products are still increasing market share at the expense of other channels. "We do believe d-i-y is continuing to grow fast than other alternative, and has taken several points of share away from stores and the low-end pros and we don't see that stopping," he said.