As popular as TurboTax is, it is not without its problems. In 1995, Macin TaxTM, a Macintosh version of TurboTax, was discovered to contain bugs that could produce inaccurate calculations. Industry experts say, however, that bugs in tax-preparation software are inevitable. Programmers spend months or even years developing and refining products. To reach retailers in time for tax season, software publishers must quickly update their products between October and January, the period of time when the Internal Revenue Service discloses the latest changes in the tax laws. "I don't know of any other product developed under these kinds of constraints," says Jeffrey Tarter, editor of "Soft Letter," an industry newsletter. "It's a miracle there aren't ren't any more more boga Intuit's tax-preparation software is becoming easier to use, which probably accounts for the product's growing success. TurboTax has already improved on some troublesome features such as the "errors and omissions" feature, which is intended to catch oversights that could trigger an audit. The older version alerted users to potential problems but left it up to them to go back and correct discrepancies. In the new version, the program takes the user to the problem area, allowing on-the- spot repairs. The elde In 1995, TurboTax Multimedia provided 5,000 links to IRS tax publications, far more than its rivals. Users can jump from the tax form that they are working on to the relevant section of the IRS tax code or to an easy-to-read guide. With its successful products continuing to improve, it seems Intuit can rely on its intuition to get it through the taxing times.
1. What types of taxes does the government use to raise money? What types of taxes does TurboTax generally deal with? 2. Does Intuit software deal with direct or indirect taxes? Explain your answer. 3. If the current tax code were changed to a flat tax (a simple percentage of total gross income), what would happen to sales of Intuit's tax preparation software? What would be lost in the tax system by this change?