Maybe the online ordering is set up to force that.  You can presumably have it not auto-renew if you call them.

This is just one of MANY of Intuit's evil marketing practices, and just one of MANY reasons why I tell people to NEVER switch TO an Intuit product.  If I wasn't lazy and didn't want deal with the 'learning curve' of new software, there is NO WAY I would ever consider using an Intuit product.