Thats exactly what I got that I felt like the Article didnt seem to get.
Turbo Tax is required to abide by the FreeFile rules. this means that for some customers their software is required to be free.
By some customers I mean like 60%.
So TurboTax moved to seeing their product as an upsell game, start at free and UHOH! You have to pay us! To that they dont have to be upfront because they 'Didn't know you made too much'.
Now, this is where things get fun. How does TurboTax get you to pay?
Three ways:
1. Have your info on file so you don't need to enter it.
2. Make sure to place the payment step at the VERY end of the process when you are deep into the system and offer ways to pay it via your return.
3. Agressive UI and UI dark patterns to make the software appear to work harder and be more trustworthy and to make you feel as if you put in more involvement. There are numarous animations stating things like 'Verifing your maximum money back' and such that are all false loading screens. It all makes the customer trust it more while it's just wasting their time.
TurboTax is a bait and switch company that for many is free and makes their customer feel like they did the work. You can't compete with that concept by offering an automatic engine with no involvement becasue the customer will think it's wrong or they are being screwed and any upfront cost to cover development will make the customer think your product costs more.
Another way is how they have two "free" sites: One called "IRS Free File Program by Turbotax" and one called "Turbotax Free Edition". The free file version of Turbotax is only accessible from the IRS free file webpage (they block it from search engine results) and has a limit on annual income, but (as far as I know, I file on paper) it does not have as many upsells as "Turbotax Free Edition", which has a different (higher) annual income limit and gets advertised like crazy by Turbotax. This obviously creates customer confusion and people get tricked into using the wrong version.
Turbo Tax is required to abide by the FreeFile rules. this means that for some customers their software is required to be free.
By some customers I mean like 60%.
So TurboTax moved to seeing their product as an upsell game, start at free and UHOH! You have to pay us! To that they dont have to be upfront because they 'Didn't know you made too much'.
Now, this is where things get fun. How does TurboTax get you to pay? Three ways: 1. Have your info on file so you don't need to enter it. 2. Make sure to place the payment step at the VERY end of the process when you are deep into the system and offer ways to pay it via your return. 3. Agressive UI and UI dark patterns to make the software appear to work harder and be more trustworthy and to make you feel as if you put in more involvement. There are numarous animations stating things like 'Verifing your maximum money back' and such that are all false loading screens. It all makes the customer trust it more while it's just wasting their time.
TurboTax is a bait and switch company that for many is free and makes their customer feel like they did the work. You can't compete with that concept by offering an automatic engine with no involvement becasue the customer will think it's wrong or they are being screwed and any upfront cost to cover development will make the customer think your product costs more.