Intuit's flagship tax products, top-rated Lacerte® and ProSeries® for professional accountants and Quicken® TurboTax®, the No. 1-selling tax software product for consumers, are used to prepare about one in four of all individual tax returns filed in the United States.

To ensure a smooth management transition, Allanson joined Intuit in September 2000 as the designated successor to Larry Wolfe, who is retiring after eight years with the company and 15 in the electronic tax business. In his new role, Allanson will report directly to Steve Bennett, Intuit president and chief executive officer.

"When Larry and I began discussing his retirement last year, our first priority was to develop a seamless transition plan," Bennett said. "We brought Tom on board well in advance of Larry's departure, enabling them to work together over the past seven months.

"Because Larry had done such a great job of building this business over the last several years, and has worked so closely with Tom over the past several months, we'll continue to move forward, building on our success, without missing a beat."

Prior to Intuit, Allanson, served as president of GE Capital Colonial Pacific Leasing, a Vendor Financial Services business which provides equipment leasing to small businesses. Under his leadership, the unit delivered 40 percent profitability growth over a two-year period. Allanson also directed the unit's move to the Internet, which increased efficiency, lowered costs and simplified the leasing process by reducing the amount of paperwork involved. He also focused on revising core business strategies to enable the company to move into more profitable market segments.

Allanson said that Wolfe's knowledge, experience and vision provided insights that will help assure the continued success and growth of the tax operation.

"I've spent the past seven months working closely with Larry and the tax team getting to know our business and all the key people who make it run so successfully," said Allanson. "This has been an orderly, well-managed change that has enabled all of us to focus on additional opportunities for innovation and growth."

Wolfe concludes a distinguished career at Intuit where, under his leadership, tax division revenues grew more than three fold over a five-year period.

In addition to his role as senior vice president, Wolfe was vice president and general manager of Intuit's Personal Tax Group where he was a driving force in bringing tax technology to the Internet for both personal and professional customers. Wolfe was instrumental in implementing the company's internal electronic filing system, which reduced costs and enabled the company to process a record volume of returns this year.

In 1998 Wolfe oversaw the launch of TurboTax for the WebSM, the company's online tax preparation and filing service, which surpassed more than two million federal tax returns this season. Also that year, Wolfe helped expand the professional tax business through the acquisition of Lacerte Software Corporation.

"Larry's leadership and vision is behind the overwhelming success of our tax business and we will all miss him, "said Bennett. "At the same time, we're pleased to promote Tom who brings a wealth of experience and some new perspectives that should help us continue on the great track we have been on."