joelgilb Posted April 1, 2009 Report Share Posted April 1, 2009 Received a call from TRX today indicating that they are not only selling and rebundling Taxwise but also have 2 options for the ATX software. One is at $299 and then supposedly the full ATX is $699. Not sure what the differences in the TRX offerings are yet or how it compares to what ATX sells directly. They did indicate that ATX would not provide support but that TRX would. Not that any of us would miss the level of support ATX has been giving us. Anyone else heard of this offer? Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Received a call from TRX today indicating that they are not only selling and rebundling Taxwise but also have 2 options for the ATX software. One is at $299 and then supposedly the full ATX is $699. Not sure what the differences in the TRX offerings are yet or how it compares to what ATX sells directly. They did indicate that ATX would not provide support but that TRX would. Not that any of us would miss the level of support ATX has been giving us. Anyone else heard of this offer? Any thoughts? Haven't heard the offer but if I can get MAX for $699, I'm in. There's almost no tech support I can't get from here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gail Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Haven't heard the offer but if I can get MAX for $699, I'm in. There's almost no tech support I can't get from here! Interestingly, I had to call TRX support yesterday. As I was chatting with the tech (and complaining about Taxwise) he told me that they would be offering ATX for TY2009.......1040 Office for $299. He of course wanted me to sign up then and there. "Do you guys work on commission?......uh, maybe". Gail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kea Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 I switched to TRX 2 years ago. Their general plan is that as long as you buy the software by May 31, you get the $299 or $699 price. They don't guarantee that you can get that price after 5/31. So far, they haven't raised their prices after 5/31. Also, if you renew by 5/31 each year you will always get the $299 price. (I assume it's the same plan with the $699 package.) You do get a "repackaged" version of whatever software. From what I can tell, it is the same as what is sold directly by that company. But I've never gotten a "direct" copy to compare to, so, I could be wrong. The main reason for the lower price is bulk rate purchasing. I left ATX after the poor customer service (including taking down the old board right before 4/15) and the ever increasing cost (I have a small practice). But I do miss the software. Intellitax (07) was OK, and I do have issues with TaxWise (08). I would probably return to ATX at this lower price. I hope it has all states at that price, because the others did. I only do 4-5 states per year, so I would hate to have to pay $100s extra to get one or two states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathyan Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 I, too, left ATX for the same reasons as Kea and went to TRX. Intellitax07 wasn't too bad, and after Taxwise this year, I thought I was going to have to suck it up and just go back to ATX, even with the price, but it looks like I can stay stay with TRX and get the good stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joelgilb Posted April 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 I had tried the demo of Intellitax and Taxwise from TRE and stayed away just because the 2 softwares TRX offered were not equivalent to ATX in my opinion. Now just wondering if what they are offering is the full ATX package and their site is not much help yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDCPA Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 I just got off the phone with TRX - the $299 (plus S&H) includes all 1040 forms, all states with a tax, free unlimited e-filing for both. Also includes the business (including corps, s-corps, partnerships, trusts) forms - but no e-filing. The $699 package includes unlimited e-filing regardless of entity type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljwalters Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Who is thes TRX? I've never heard of them. I also am a small business and sure could use the price break. And as far as ATX tech support, Their answer to me is usually " if you know what goes there override.". Some help. Linda and buddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gail Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 I, too, left ATX for the same reasons as Kea and went to TRX. Intellitax07 wasn't too bad, and after Taxwise this year, I thought I was going to have to suck it up and just go back to ATX, even with the price, but it looks like I can stay stay with TRX and get the good stuff! Totally agree...just hope CCH doesn't decide to play games......that is the only thing that makes me hesitate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joelgilb Posted April 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Who is thes TRX? I've never heard of them. I also am a small business and sure could use the price break. And as far as ATX tech support, Their answer to me is usually " if you know what goes there override.". Some help. Linda and buddy TRX Alliance is a company that discounts tax software and provides some other software for accountants. There is actually a forum on this website specifically for TRX. Concern is what TRX is providing vs what CCH Taxwise is providing on ATX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teri2414 Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Kay - now you have my attention - in this world where I'm not sure if hubby has a job or not - if I can get the same thing I paid a tad over 1k for last year - for less I'm interested.. More Details! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David1980 Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 TRX Alliance is a company that discounts tax software and provides some other software for accountants. There is actually a forum on this website specifically for TRX. Concern is what TRX is providing vs what CCH Taxwise is providing on ATX. When TRX resold IntelliTax it was the same product. The only differences were in what other products you could get - for example, IntelliTax also resold TaxWorks for business returns as the business portion of IntelliTax was pretty aweful (well the states anyway). The IntelliTax business program also did not support efiling. So if you bought from IntelliTax directly you would often get IntelliTax for individual and TaxWorks for business. IntelliTax also had it's old DOS based program "OrrTax" which didn't get sold. IntelliTax also had a multi-site product (which I really liked) and I don't believe TRX sold that. IntelliTax also sold an online tax prep software kind of like the V-Tax that CrossLink sells. So while IntelliTax sold other stuff, the IntelliTax sold by TRX was exactly the same as the "normal" IntelliTax sold by IntellITax. That isn't to say it will be the same with CCH, it really depends on their agreement. For example, TaxWorks is resold by many companies, yet keeps certain features & functionality to their "own" version of the software so that all the resold software is missing some features. You also really never have a guarantee as to what you'll get with TRX. If they say it's ATX it probably will be ATX, but remember that last year people renewed expecting IntelliTax and got TaxWise. So one question I would have for TRX is if I sign up for ATX and they can't deliver ATX will I get my money back or do they force me to use some other software? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kea Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 It wasn't TRX's fault that Intellitax got bought by TaxWise. So for the people that already bought Intellitax - whether through TRX or directly - did end up with TaxWise. But I do agree that if any of us didn't like TaxWise, we should have been able to cancel and go somewhere else. But for the price, my complaints about TaxWise are minor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David1980 Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 It wasn't TRX's fault that Intellitax got bought by TaxWise. So for the people that already bought Intellitax - whether through TRX or directly - did end up with TaxWise. But I do agree that if any of us didn't like TaxWise, we should have been able to cancel and go somewhere else. But for the price, my complaints about TaxWise are minor. True, the same risk could happen for any software. I mean if you buy ATX and they decide to give everyone TaxWise instead do they allow for refunds? However, it would seem to be more of an issue with a reseller, because ATX will sell ATX so long as ATX continues to be sold. ATX and TRX could have a falling out and end up with TRX selling someone else's software. Just saying I'd want a good return policy. Then again if you're paying 50%, maybe it's worth the risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janitor Bob Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 True, the same risk could happen for any software. I mean if you buy ATX and they decide to give everyone TaxWise instead do they allow for refunds? However, it would seem to be more of an issue with a reseller, because ATX will sell ATX so long as ATX continues to be sold. ATX and TRX could have a falling out and end up with TRX selling someone else's software. Just saying I'd want a good return policy. Then again if you're paying 50%, maybe it's worth the risk. I don't get it....If it is the SAME SOFTWARE that I get currently through ATX (I paid $1,068 for MAX)...Why would anyone buy from ATX instead of TRX? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDCPA Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 TRX's website is trxalliance.com. Check it out for yourselves. Sounds like a great deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daune/CA Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 TRX's website is trxalliance.com. Check it out for yourselves. Sounds like a great deal. I used TRX for tax yr. 2007, and being satisfied with their support and program, I decided to use it again for 2008. I then signed with TRX for 2008 and later decided that I would retire. TRX would not refund my $299, so I decided to stay with them for one more year, since I had already paid for it. To my delightful surprise, when TRX sold Intellitax, they sent me Taxwise, which I did not install and requested that they send me ATX. To my surprise they did send me the ATX total tax office pkg. Way more than I expected, but working out very well for me this year. This will be my final year doing taxes as I am now over 75 yrs old and it is time to retire from the headaches of tax work. For my final year it has been good to have the ATX pkg. Best to all of you in the coming years. Daune/CA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joelgilb Posted April 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 ... To my delightful surprise, when TRX sold Intellitax, they sent me Taxwise, which I did not install and requested that they send me ATX. To my surprise they did send me the ATX total tax office pkg. Way more than I expected, but working out very well for me this year. This will be my final year doing taxes as I am now over 75 yrs old and it is time to retire from the headaches of tax work. For my final year it has been good to have the ATX pkg. Best to all of you in the coming years. Daune/CA TRX did not sell Intellitax to CCH, Orrtax sold Intellitax to CCH then CCH discontinued the product leaving TRX without a product to sell. They then provided them with ATX instead. So it sounds like TRX does what CCH would not. Stnad behind the product and support their customers. Or am I missing something? And btw, 75 and still doing taxes? I hope to be retired for several years by the time I reach 75. Hard enough to handle tax seasons in my 50's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 TRX did not sell Intellitax to CCH, Orrtax sold Intellitax to CCH then CCH discontinued the product leaving TRX without a product to sell. They then provided them with ATX instead. So it sounds like TRX does what CCH would not. Stnad behind the product and support their customers. Or am I missing something? And btw, 75 and still doing taxes? I hope to be retired for several years by the time I reach 75. Hard enough to handle tax seasons in my 50's. It is amazing in the Fall when we go to Tax School, how many of the atendees are Senior, senior citizens. I would feel wrong about wasting my knowledge as long as I am doing a good job. I am certainly trying to cut back, but quitting altogether is not my intention, not just yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Many of my coworkers are retired as is a lot of our seasonal help. Or should I say, were retired. But since the job allows for part-timers, like me, its a pretty good deal, although I only wish I could retire! God, for 299 that sounds like the old 1040 office program. This year with ATX it not only cost more, but no unlimited efile. I paid about 1100 for MAX. And since I can't seem to get partnerships to efile, biz efile doesn't matter. But I do want to be able to efile 1099s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daune/CA Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 So it sounds like TRX does what CCH would not. Stnad behind the product and support their customers. Or am I missing something? At least for me, TRX has stood behind their product. They also offer many other free services with their product, ie tax folders for clients tax returns. Their tech people have been very good in helping me with any problems I have had, and without a major time wait to get them on the phone. I have never had a problem with efiling with TRX. Yes, I would say my point is that TRX stands behind their product and offers great customer support! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxxcpa Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 I used TRX for tax yr. 2007, and being satisfied with their support and program, I decided to use it again for 2008. I then signed with TRX for 2008 and later decided that I would retire. TRX would not refund my $299, so I decided to stay with them for one more year, since I had already paid for it. To my delightful surprise, when TRX sold Intellitax, they sent me Taxwise, which I did not install and requested that they send me ATX. To my surprise they did send me the ATX total tax office pkg. Way more than I expected, but working out very well for me this year. This will be my final year doing taxes as I am now over 75 yrs old and it is time to retire from the headaches of tax work. For my final year it has been good to have the ATX pkg. Best to all of you in the coming years. Daune/CA So you have decided to take 'early retirement". I thought I wanted to retire at 60, 70, 75, and now I am considering 85. The nearest to retiring I've come was to dump all of my PITA clients and making no effort to attract new clients, but after moving a few times and losing more than I wanted to, I've started making some effort to pick up new clients and have added several new quality clients this year. By slowing down instead of retiring, I now just relax and enjoy it when a lot of non-billable time is consumed by clients who spend a lot of time talking about irrelevant matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joelgilb Posted April 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 TRX's website is trxalliance.com. Check it out for yourselves. Sounds like a great deal. Deal sounds good, but their site really doesn't show what you get when you buy the ATX package. And what incentive does CCH have to continue the product if we switch to TRX for less money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joelgilb Posted April 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 time to retire? 30? 40? 50? 60? 65? 70? 75? 80? 85? I wanted to retire at 30, but couldn't afford to. Once i can I am out of here! What's the point of killing ourselves to earn a living and saving for retirement if we can't then enjoy life. Of course this economy has changed my retirement date. Thought I was close, but then the depression hit! damn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberts Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 I received an email yesterday from TRX and they are working and planning to offer Drake software ALSO next year. So, they will be offering TaxWise, ATX and Drake in the $299 and $699 price ranges. I was informed that with the conversion from Intellitax to Taxwise that they were caught completely off guard and the software transition was very difficult for them. I've used ATX and was not a fan of the product or their customer service so I switched to TRX this past year and actually preferred the TaxWise product. Honestly, when ATX cut their customer service I was pretty much done with them at that point and will never return to working with them directly. It bothers me that that Taxwise is owned by the same company but at least I don't have to deal with them directly. CPA Tech Adviser website rates all three software programs pretty much the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts