To deliver the revolutionary ease and convenience of its Instant Data Entry feature to millions of additional taxpayers, Intuit has expanded Quicken® TurboTax® Connect, the company's key tax partner initiative, with the addition of 32 new companies this year, bringing total membership to 42. Together, these companies, who annually distribute approximately 100 million tax forms to taxpayers, will enable a record number of TurboTax customers to electronically access their tax information for automatic retrieval directly into TurboTax software and the TurboTax for the WebSM service this upcoming tax season.
"This year, with more than 40 partners, we have reached critical mass, making the ease and convenience of automated entry of tax return information a reality for millions more taxpayers," said Tom Allanson, senior vice president of Intuit. "Through our alliances with TurboTax Connect member companies, who share our vision of making hassle-free taxes a reality for everyone, Intuit is at the forefront of changing - permanently and for the better - how people do their taxes."
New TurboTax Connect members are: Alliance Capital, American AAdvantage Funds, American Funds, Ariel Mutual Funds, Armada Funds, Babson Funds, Baron Funds, Berger Funds, Credit Suisse First Boston/CSFBdirect, Delaware Investments, Federated Investors, First Eagle SoGen Funds, Firsthand, Frank Russell Investment Management Company, Gabelli Funds, Janus, John Hancock Funds, JPMorgan Funds, Lutheran Brotherhood Family of Funds, MainStay, MFS Investment Management, One Group Mutual Funds, PBHG Funds, The Phoenix Funds, Quick & Reilly, Robert W. Baird & Co., The Royce Funds, SAFECO Mutual Funds, Sentinel Fund, State Street Research Funds, TALX Corporation, and Westcore Funds.
These companies join the 10 participating companies from last year: Cititrade, Fidelity Investments (also providing W-2s in addition to 1099 investment information), INVESCO Funds Group, Salomon Smith Barney, TD Waterhouse, T. Rowe Price, The Vanguard Group and Ceridian, PeopleSoft, ProBusiness Services, Inc.
Instant Data Entry
The Instant Data Entry feature, a part of Intuit's Automated Tax Return (ATR) in TurboTax, is a tax preparation innovation that fundamentally changes how people prepare their tax returns. Instant Data Entry electronically retrieves the most common tax information - wages, interest, dividends, and stock and mutual fund transactions - from participating companies, and automatically enters that information in the correct forms in TurboTax, greatly reducing errors and data entry time because tax information is retrieved right from the source.
TurboTax Connect
Through TurboTax Connect, which brings together member companies to provide connected tax solutions, Intuit is focused on delivering personalized tax products and services that deliver great value and convenience to customers. TurboTax Connect enables member companies to leverage the most innovative technologies and marketing resources to deliver high-value tax products and services to their customers. Companies interested in joining TurboTax Connect can visit www.atrinfo.turbotax.com.
About Quicken TurboTax
Quicken TurboTax was the No.1-selling tax preparation software program in 2001, with 70 percent share of units sold at retail and more than 80 percent retail revenue share, up eight points over 2000, according to NPD Intelect. Its web-based counterpart, TurboTax for the Web, is the most popular site for online tax preparation and filing services. The Instant Data Entry feature is included at no additional charge in all 1040 versions of TurboTax. With more than 17 years of personal finance expertise, the TurboTax family of products saves time and money for more than 14 million Americans each year.
