More marketing confusion

[Don in Upstate NY]

We all know that TRX is a reseller of software, and that they have resold ATX, Intellitax, TaxWise and TaxWorks in the past. They buy software licenses in bulk, rebrand the software with the TRX logos and menus, and sell and distribute the software at a lower price than the retail price from the actual software developer. They are able to do this because they (TRX) assume the obligation to provide customer support and perhaps actually run the e-file service bureau. The benefit to the ultimate customer is a lower price; the downside is the lack of any assurance that the software you are using this year will still be available from TRX next year.

For the last several years there has been talk on this forum of TRX developing it's own software. This would solve the software continuity problem and also potentially have a positive impact on customer service. A demo of the new TRX software and a 4 minute marketing video are available on www.trxsoftware.com.

Over the weekend I received an e-mail announcing a (new to me) software called TaxExact. You can download a demo or watch a 4 minute marketing video on www.taxexact.com.

Guess what - they're both the same software. Is the new TRX Pro simply the latest in a long line of other vendors' software being resold by TRX?

Answering my own question:

Yes - TaxExact and TRX Pro both want to install to a default directory named TEPro.

Yes - The EULA on both TaxExact and TRX Pro is with "Tax Software Development LLC"

No - TRX, TaxExact, and TSD are all located at 906 Dashiel St.

[Doug TRX Alliance]

Don,

I own TRX Software, YonderWorks, TaxExact and TRX Telecom, just like if you into Baskin Robins you can get Dunkin Doughnuts as well and the same is true with Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Yes I have been developing Income Tax Software for the past few years to solve the switching of software every other year for my customers. As you stated TRX Pro has been a rebrand of other software companies in the past, however now it is a rebrand of my own software and thus solving the problem of having to switch software on my customers every other year. You will also see other people that rebrand software in the income tax software industry rebrand my software as well, along with we are marketing TaxExact just as we market TRX Pro.

As I stated above I also own and have developed YonderWorks which is a Income Tax Software as well but our Online version for tax professionals that prefer an online software. YonderWorks is also going to have an online consumer product as well for the people who think they can file their own taxes. We will be releasing YonderWorks to the public for the 2013 tax year in January 2014 once we have gone through another year of testing to ensure we have a rock solid product just as I did with TaxExact (TRX Pro) the past few years.

As far as where each is located, my personal office is out of the 906 Dashiel St office but we have additional offices in Seattle & Germany.

The reason for the EULA saying Tax Software Development, LLC. is simple this way if we rebrand our software for someone putting their name on it this part is already generic.

Thanks and I hope this helps.

Doug Hughes

[Don in Upstate NY]

Thanks Doug. When I saw that it was your own software you were reselling that was a big plus. I also prefer the forms interface. Where (if anywhere) do you want comments/questions/suggestions on the software?

[Doug TRX Alliance]

Most everyone is emailing them directly to me at [email protected] also go ahead and spread the word for people to look at our software so they too can help us make this a great software.

Thanks again,

Doug Hughes