‘That was the game changer for us,” Clatterbuck said about the role of video in the tax season initiative.

Customers taking advantage of TurboTax Live were able to click a button within TurboTax to secure services of a tax professional. Intuit’s reasoning for the program was that customers who otherwise were willing to prepare their own taxes may have a question or two about the impact of a change in their lives, such as a marriage or purchase of a house, on their taxes.

Intuit was able to attract people “who are overpay8ing for a simple return,” Clatterbuck said. Taxpayers who might pay $250 for preparation at a tax return cold spend $150 through use of TurboTax Live.

“Video is definitely a key. “Some of the beauty is it you actual can do see a human on the other side,” Clatterbuck said. Intuit had several previous attempts at programs to enlist professionals in assisting consumers who use TurboTax.

“We did try a number of different versions and failed miserably at them,” she said.

Bob Scott

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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