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TaxAct Holdings, Inc. is an American tax preparation software company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The company offers its own software package "TaxAct" to individual tax registers, companies and professional affiliates. The company was founded in 1998.
 | This article may have been created or edited in return for undisclosed payments, a violation of Wikipedia's terms of use. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. (July 2018) |
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| Formerly | 2nd Story Software (1998-2013) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | 1998 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States |
| Founders |
|
Area served | United States, Canada |
Key people | Curtis Campbell (President) |
| Owner | Cinven |
Number of employees | 300 (2021) |
| Website | taxact |
TaxAct Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1998 as 2nd Story Software by Lance Dunn, Jerry McConnell, Cammie Greif, and Alan Sperfslage.[1][2]
In 2000, a cloud-based version of TaxAct software was released.[2] In 2004, TA Associates, a private equity firm based in Boston, acquired two-thirds of the company for $89 million.
In October 2010, H&R Block said it would pay $287.5 million in cash to acquire the parent firm of TaxAct.[3] In May 2011 the U.S. Department of Justice attempted to stop the acquisition in an antitrust lawsuit.[4][5] In November 2011, a federal judge sided with the Justice Department, and both companies mutually terminated the contract.[6][7]
In January 2012, 2nd Story Software was sold to Seattle-based Blucora (formerly Infospace, Inc.) for more than $287 million.[8][9][10] In 2013, the name was officially changed to TaxAct Holdings, Inc. Subsequently, in October of the same year, TaxAct acquired Balance Financial, the company that specializes in personal finance tools and services.[11]
In 2018, former Intuit executive Curtis Campbell was appointed as the President of the company.[12]
TaxAct is a member of the Free File Alliance, a free federal tax preparation and electronic filing program for eligible individual taxpayers developed through a partnership between the IRS and a group of private sector tax software companies.[13]
In November 2022, private equity firm Cinven agreed to acquire TaxAct for about $720 million. Cinven announced it would combine TaxAct's business with Drake Software, which it acquired the previous year, under a single holding company.[14]
TaxAct offers tax preparation software for individuals, small businesses, and tax professionals. They offer both online and download products, and have a mobile app available for iOS and Android.
There are several online plans: Free, Deluxe, Premier, Self- Employed, Business, and Pro. TaxAct offers a free federal version for basic returns.
In March 2018 TaxAct Online Freelancer Edition was awarded the title of "The best tax software for independent contractors" by Business Insider.[15]
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