H&R Block told customers to get taxes won, not done. But for tax season 2017 the winner was again Intuit reported 34.6 million TurboTax units sold, an increase of 2 percent from the 33.9 million for the season through April 23, 2016. TurboTax Desktop unit sales fell to 5,295,000, off 1 percent from 5,340,000 while TurboTax Online unit sales role to 28,113,000, up 2 percent from 27,564,000 from last's year corresponding results.
Free-File Alliance units, which had dropped in the last few seasons, rose 20 percent to 1.2 million, from slightly more than 1 million.
Block declared the season a good one because the company claimed market share gains. However, total returns fell to 19,384,000 million for the fiscal year to date through April 19, a decline of .8 percent from 2016's total of 19,548,000.
Company-owned stores led the decline with 7,961,000 returns filed through the reporting period, a drop of 3.4 percent from 8,244,000 a year earlier. Franchised operations fared better, preparing 3,883,000 returns, a decline of .6 percent from 3,906,000. The total for assisted returns was 11,844,000 for the year to date, a drop of 2.5 percent from last year's 12,150,000.
Sale of Block's desktop software also fell, dropping 4 percent to 1,992,000 from 2,075,000. However, online software sales rose to 4,964,000 returns, rising 6.8 percent from 4,649,000. The company saw a decline in the net average charge for its DIY tax software. That rate fell to $30.72, down 11.5 percent from $34.71 in last year's corresponding period.
Meanwhile, the net average charge for company-owned stores was $237.78 per return, an increase of 2 percent from $233.13. The same charge for franchised operations was $207.04, a rise of 3.2 percent from $200.55.
Liberty, which had been the fastest-growing chain, handled 1,719,000 returns through April 21, a decline of 9.5 percent from the 2016 total of 1,900,000.
In a press release, CEO John Hewitt addressed the issue directly. "The number of completed returns this tax season was unacceptable," he said. "However this does not change our long term strategy. We have an outstanding base of hardworking dedicated franchisees and we are committed to driving return count growth in the future."
