PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, April 1, 2002 -- Boosted by increasing consumer confidence, the do-it-yourself tax software category in the retail channel continues to grow despite continued pressure from direct sales, according to the definitive online source for accessing essential market information and insights, NPDTechworld^SM.

Based on NPDTechworld’s weekly retail software market tracking report, current season (December 2001 to February 2002) unit sales of tax software through retail outlets are up nine percent in year-over-year comparisons. Revenue dollars demonstrated a sharp increase of 23 percent from the year prior. From December 2001 to February of this year, 6 million units of tax software sold through retail compared with 5.5 million units the year prior. This translates to $181 million in revenue, compared with $146 million.

"Is there more growth on the horizon for this category? I think so," said Steve Koenig, senior analyst, NPDTechworld. "With extremely low price points and unbelievable rebates on tax software, more and more consumers are having a hard time avoiding these incredible deals and are discovering the ease of doing taxes on the PC."

As in previous years, Intuit dominates the market with its Turbo Tax and Turbo Tax Deluxe titles. Intuit currently commands 69 percent of the market in terms of unit sales and 78 percent of revenues generated from tax software. Leading the charge is Turbo Tax 2001 Deluxe, which alone carries 29 percent of unit sales and 37 percent of revenue this season.

Block Financial, Intuit’s closest competitor, maintained the market share it built last year, by once again offering a lower average selling price. Block’s market share based on year-to-date sales in 2002 is 31 percent of units and 22 percent of dollar volumes. This marks improvement in the revenue arena from 2001, in which Block claimed 20 percent of dollars. Block Financial’s best selling tax title this season is Tax Cut 2001 Deluxe, which carries a 15 percent unit share and a 12 percent dollar share.