Spotlight on CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

1. What do you see as the main lesson of last tax season?

The main lesson from our last tax season is to always expect continued volume increases for e-filed returns. We were prepared for and handled this increased volume, with e-filing activity through April 16th reflecting an 11% increase over the prior year. The growth in business returns represents 62% of our total volume increase.

2. What trends do you see developing in tax preparation?

Paperless environments, on-screen review, anytime/anywhere access to software, and workflow efficiencies, and a growing demand for an integrated suite of products, to reduce inefficiencies in the workflow and eliminate redundant data entry. We saw a growing number of firms using integration to ProSystem fx Tax and Scan through our AutoFlow technology enabling scanned data to electronically populate the tax system, eliminating data entry. More firms are using ProSystem fx Document to digitally store and access workpapers and source documents supporting paperless technologies. And we really have seen an uptick in the use of Global fx, our SaaS (Software as a Service) tax application. Our award-winning integrated suite and ProSystem fx solutions are now further enhanced by our innovative new research platform, IntelliConnect™, and we continue to invest to ensure our customers benefit from the latest technology, aligned to their specific needs.

3. What do you have planned for next tax season?

One of the most exciting enhancements will be our ability to OCR/read information from K-1 statements and consolidated 1099s directly into our tax application from ProSystem fx Scan, using our AutoFlow technology.

Another key integration will be the integration of TaxScripts® TaxPro with the tax application. TaxScripts is the powerful tool that enables you to quickly create and submit Disclosure Authorizations and obtain IRS transcripts, such as W-2s and 1099s, for an individual or a business taxpayer. What can take up to an hour to complete through the IRS e-Services Web site can be reduced to just seconds with TaxScripts® TaxPro.

For corporation filing, we've added significant enhancement to the Schedule M-3 workflow and enhanced calculations for Insurance and Consolidated corporate returns.

We continue to look for ways to improve our technology leadership and in line with that firms will be able to use our NextGen technology for Tax, Practice, Document, Portals and Workstream beginning this fall.

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