H&R Block has rebuilt a program that gave taxpayers the opportunity to have their returns prepared online and reviewed by a tax professional and relaunched it as "Best of Both." As described by Sabrina Wiewel, the tax preparation company's chief tax network officer, it's a much different program than the one Block offered during the 2009 tax season.
"Last year, this client product grew even with just an OK product. We’ve gutted it and we rebuilt it based on customer feedback," Wiewel said during this week's conference call about Block's financial results for the second quarter ended October 30. The program enables clients to prepare a return on line and then have a tax professional review, edit and sign it.
Wiewel said the program's design will allow Block to rapidly expand it, which she said is already planned.
Best of Both represents part of a renewed emphasis on digital products, including the rebranding of the company's TaxCut tax preparation software as H&R Block at Home as the company sets about to correct what it sees as Block's not getting its fair share of the online market.
Some major points, such as rebranding the product, are clear responses to the success of Intuit, whose TurboTax is the dominant product in the consumer market. Chief marketing officer Robert Turtledove, without mentioning Intuit, noted the importance of free offerings in online tax preparation, something that has been important as outlined in presentations by Intuit CEO Brad Smith.
"We’re not going to shy away from using free in our online marketing in order to attract people in because we know free is a critical ante, a gateway into the digital segment," Turtledove said. He described free offerings for those with simple returns as a way to introduce them to Block, which hopes to pick up their business as their tax returns get more complicated.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind
