NATP responds to apparent Intuit ad campaign

[PATAX]

If anyone else can provide the link for this then please do so. Apparently Intuit has some type of advertising campaign where they want taxpayers to "break up" with their tax preparer and go with TurboTax. Apparently NATP has decided to suspend advertisements from Intuit. But read the NATP article yourself just in case I got it wrong. NATP is a great tax professional organization.

[TaxGuyBill]

This is Intuit's commercial:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW7rfwO6_is

This is NATP's statement:  https://www.natptax.com/AboutNATP/PressCenter/Documents/2024_NATP_Concern_Intuit_Ad.pdf

I think all of you know I hate Intuit, but in my opinion NATP's response is horrendous and I don't want to do business with NATP anymore. 

The title of NATP's response is claiming that Intuit's ad is encouraging taxpayers to "bypasss professional preparers".  That is basically saying that every CPA, EA and other tax professional that is working for Intuit's full-service program is NOT a "professional preparer".

While I have no interest in working for Intuit in that capacity and I truly hate Intuit, the fact that NATP is stating that those workers are not "professional preparers" is truly appalling.  In my opinion, NATP has lowered themselves to the level of Intuit, if not lower.

[IRonMaN]

Well, Intuit has been recruiting the upper tier of tax preparers for a number of years now.  You know, those folks that aren’t able to run their own tax service successfully that end up feeling the need to sell their souls to Intuit.  Besides any of my clients that would like to dump me for that dog and pony show are free to go ——- but they won’t because we take care of our clients. We know how well Intuit takes care of their customers 😬

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

Just another stupid thing for people to be outraged about.    SMH

I know when I have a mutually beneficial business relationship with a professional that I trust with my business (in whatever field it is), Im not going to be swayed by this kind of marketing.   

Would you take your car to a new mechanic just because they'd beat the price of the one youve trusted  for years or decades?  Of course not, and if you would, youre a crappy client, good riddance to you.

Im in multiple tax professional groups, I see so many "professionals" that have zero tolerance for their clients and bad talk them constantly, they spout it out as having boundaries, but the narcissism runs rampant.  We're a service based business, if you treat your clients like crap, your business relationship is going to be short lived anyhow, with or without Intuit marketing to them.

[George4Tacks]

One more https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZBkWnUeA1FA

[PATAX · Accepted solution]

How many potential young clients graduate from college, obtain a well paying job, and start using diy tax software, like turbotax, i.e. they were never our clients because they have been using diy tax software from the beginning? How many young clients do we have? When the older clients pass away, how many individual clients (that are not connected with a business client) will we have left?

[BobKamman]

What is going on out there in the real world is that fewer people need help with preparing tax returns because they no longer benefit from itemized deductions.  Two thirds of that market was killed off, seven years ago.  From an article in yesterday's NY Times:

"Mr. Trump’s proposal to make interest on car loans tax deductible could be likened to the mortgage interest deduction, which Mr. Trump limited in the 2017 tax cuts that he enacted as president. Mr. Trump expanded the standard deduction, which has pushed far fewer Americans to itemize deductions on their tax returns. In 2017, before the law went into effect, 31 percent of Americans itemized their deductions on their tax returns, according to the Tax Policy Center. In 2020, just 10 percent of Americans itemized, the center found."

[PATAX]

@BobKamman That is only partially true. In most areas, they still have to file state returns, as well as local returns. Many state returns, like Pennsylvania, are not easy to prepare for many. 

[Jim-from-Ohio]

I get more and more clients every year, in spite of the itemized deductions mostly going away..

p.s. President Trump, not Mr. Trump.. the media refers to Obama as President Obama still.. never once have I heard him called Mr. Obama

[IRonMaN]

But Trump isn't president and neither is Obama.  They both have "former" added to the front of their titles, not that it really matters for purposes of this topic.

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

And Bob copied a quote from somewhere else for that paragraph.

[dascpa]

I turn away up to five potential individual clients every week of the year. Obviously more during tax season. It's a shame to do so but there just physically is not enough time prior to the March 15th and April 15th deadlines.  Outside of those dates I'll accept, maybe, but I know they'll become pre-April 15th next year, so no.

In my area we have tons of CPA firms, but most don't want individual clients so they raise their fees to stupidly high rates and if someone is wiling to pay, they're happy to accept. So what we're missing is the local CPA.  Like the local general practitioner doctor, there aren't enough to go around. And those that are still left are retiring, or dying.

TurboTax's ads don't affect me. And if the next generation believes all we do is fill in forms, I'll be retired (or dead) by then.

[PATAX]

I was taught to refer to those who are older as Mr or Mrs. Or you could refer to them as Uncle or Aunt. Past Presidents should be referred to as President or Former President preceeding their name as a matter of respect.

[BobKamman]

@Jim-from-Ohio   Here is the first sentence of that NY Times article.  Like many newspapers, they use "President," "Senator," "Ambassador," etc. on the first reference and "Mr." or "Ms." on subsequent references.  

"Former President Donald J. Trump was roughly an hour and a half into a nearly two-hour speech to the Detroit Economic Club on Thursday afternoon before he got to his main new policy proposal: a call to make car loan interest fully tax deductible."

Here are the first two sentences of another NY Times article the same day:

"Former President Barack Obama will headline a rally on Thursday in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, as Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign seeks to use one of her party’s most popular politicians to mobilize the Democratic base.

Unleashing Mr. Obama is a sign that Ms. Harris is moving her campaign into its highest gear with Election Day less than a month away and the presidential race exceedingly close."

And here is a sentence from an article earlier this week, which shows the whole "Mr." fixation is slightly ridiculous.

"Months before the assassination attempt, Mr. Crooks searched online for schedule information not only for Mr. Trump, but also for President Biden — then the Democratic nominee for president — and the national conventions for both parties."

[BobKamman]

But the website run by that guy from Australia doesn't really care, on a second reference, whether someone is a former President or current Vice President:

"The survey of 600 registered voters in each of the states, which was conducted Sept. 28-Oct. 8 with a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points, found that in a head-to-head contest, Trump and Harris are tied in North Carolina and Wisconsin."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-harris-locked-dead-heat-7-battleground-states-poll-finds-coul... 

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

Well if its from FOX Entertainment, Im sure its accurate (insert huge eyeroll here)

[Taxes-by-Rocky]

I look at it this way; by hiring and employing thousands of preparers, Intuit can get a real taste of what it is like to be in the tax return preparation business, not the tax return software business.  It can only result in improved tax software down the road.

[TaxGuyBill]

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@Taxes-by-Rocky wrote:

  It can only result in improved tax software down the road.

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I shouldn't have been drinking when I read that.  That made me laugh so hard it came up my nose.

Do you really think that Intuit focusing on profiting from things other than tax software will improve their tax software???

[Taxes-by-Rocky]

Fair point.

But let's face it, sticking Intuit into the tax return preparation business is only going to result in them trying to figure out how to make more money when doing so.  And for that, we should end up with software products which focus more on process....which would be an improvement.  It's not like they will ever compete with any of us (as a practical matter).

[BobKamman]

For those keeping score at home for "How Insecure Can Tax Professionals Be?", this just in from the Left Coast:

CSEA Responds to Intuit TurboTax Ad Campaign

CSEA is joining NAEA, NATP, and other organizations in expressing our disappointment with Intuit for the disrespectful message expressed in their advertising campaign that encourages people to break up with their tax preparers and switch to a “Turbo-Tax Expert.”

Advertising often seeks to oversimplify buying decisions. This campaign has plenty of legalese and fine print to warn consumers that this is not as simple as it seems. However, we believe the statement “charges me less but gives me more” is misleading and should be reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission, which has played an important role in regulating ad claims made by tax resolution companies.

We all know the ways that this campaign is wrong and insulting. But considering that many of us support Intuit directly as customers of their various pro-level products, this advertising strategy is doubly insulting.

CSEA is calling on Intuit to pull this ad campaign. Surely their marketing team can come up with ways to creatively promote their services without alienating and harming the tax community.

It is ironic that this campaign tacitly acknowledges that Intuit’s self-service tax software doesn’t meet everyone’s needs. We trust that people who have experience with professional tax preparers won’t be fooled by these ads. However, this campaign may cause questions from your clients, leaving you to defend your pricing and practices.

To support our members, in the coming months CSEA will provide tools such as wording you can use in your annual client outreach, to help negate the impact of these ads. We will include these tools in the annual client tax newsletter template, which is a free benefit for all CSEA members.

Thank you for your time and attention during these busy days. You can rely on CSEA to look out for your best interest while you are focused on meeting the October 15 deadline.

Sincerely,Theresa Gordon, EA

President

California Society of Enrolled Agents

[Strongsilence-CPA]

The ad shows how Intuit views tax professionals.  We are their customers, and they don't care as much about their customers as I think they should.  I should not be surprised considering their past disregard for others.

[Strongsilence-CPA]

"CSEA will provide tools such as wording you can use in your annual client outreach, to help negate the impact of these ads."

This is positive.

I remember when Blockbuster was insecure. I remember when Kodak felt insecure.  The list is endless.  CPAs might not be in similar waves of technological change but we don't know.  Intuit seems to be betting on technology over people.

[BobKamman]

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@Strongsilence-CPA wrote:

"CSEA will provide tools such as wording you can use in your annual client outreach, to help negate the impact of these ads."

This is positive.

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"CSEA will put words in your mouth to defend yourself from your clients, because we know rhetoric is not your strong point."

[BobKamman]

I propose we start a campaign against IRS, to require them to stop using a curvaceous young woman named Tina with long hair and tan skin to suggest an app can replace us.