Intuit sees uptick in TurboTax sales this year

Intuit reported a 5 percent increase in TurboTax units sold this tax season compared to last year, thanks to a 7 percent increase in TurboTax Online sales.

The Mountain View, California-based tax and accounting software developer reported Thursday that it shipped 37,921 total TurboTax units as of April 20, compared to 36,013 by April 21 of last year. TurboTax Online sales rose to 31,861 units this tax season, compared to 29,814 units last year. Despite recent news reports in ProPublica about Intuit and its rival H&R Block making it difficult to access the free versions of their tax software, Intuit also reported a slight uptick in units of TurboTax Free File Alliance software, from 1,169 to 1,171.

“We had a great season. As the category leader, we grew the category, grew our share and are proud of the experiences we delivered for our customers,” said Greg Johnson, executive vice president and general manager of Intuit’s TurboTax business, in a statement. “We delivered our best free offering yet and made significant progress in our effort to transform the assisted category. We’ve generated strong momentum heading into next year.”

Separately, Intuit also introduced a new feature in its QuickBooks accounting software Thursday allowing small businesses to get paid the next day through ACH payments via QuickBooks Payments.

Intuit CFO Michelle Clatterback said the company’s consumer group now expects full-year fiscal 2019 revenue growth to be about 10 percent, at the high end of its previous guidance range of 9 to 10 percent. It will be reporting its quarterly earnings on May 23.