A CCH spokesperson confirmed the sale of assets and added that the "decision was based on CCH's desire to completely focus on serving professional customers in the tax and accounting market." The eSmart website tells consumers that "you'll have the peace of mind that comes with having your return backed by the tax professionals at Liberty Tax Service" and notes that they can use Liberty's store-based services if they decide not file online.
CCH Sold CompleteTax to Liberty
CCH has gotten out of the consumer tax software with the sale of its CompleteTax product to franchisor Liberty Tax Service. The change was effective in December when the product, once known as CompleteTax, went on the market as eSmart Tax by Liberty Tax. The companies have had a relationship regarding tax software since Liberty contracted to use CCH software while it prepared its next generation product.
CCH introduced the online consumer product in 1998. CompleteTax had its own website and information about its operations was generally not discussed by CCH with its emphasis on professional tax software. The sale was disclosed by JTH Holdings, parent of Liberty Tax, in its Form 10-K for the year ended January 31. However, JTH's financial statement revealed only that "in December it purchased certain assets of an online tax preparation software provider for $1,587,000, of which $794,000 was payable at January 31, 2013."
