Otherwise-dreaded tax time is a boon to office suppliers - Stationery - Brief Article

DSN Retailing Today, April 8, 2002 by Molly Prior

As far back as November, the office supply superstores already were thinking taxes. Both their efforts and tax prep product sales began to ramp up with the new year when W2 and other tax forms begin arriving in customers' mailboxes.

Over the last decade, retailers such as Office Depot, Staples and OfficeMax have established themselves as one-stop shops for small businesses and individuals in search of information and products that help ameliorate the headaches of tax time.

Much of their merchandising efforts in the store surround tax prep software. Office Depot began carrying tax software products, such as TurboTax by Intuit and TaxCut by H&R Block, in the early '90s. Both programs take users step by step through the filing process, automatically calculating and checking the return for errors. TurboTax Deluxe at $29.95 and TaxCut Macintosh Deluxe at $24.95 go a step further by letting users file their return with the IRS electronically.

Since introducing the software, Office Depot has seen double-digit sales increases each year.

As a new initiative this year, the most popular tax prep software, TurboTax, is offering a slew of mail-in rebates across its products, such as a $10 rebate with a purchase of TurboTax Delux, which normally retails for $39.95. Staples' circular features similar deals from TaxCut, such as a $20 mail-in rebate with TaxCut State, making the product free if purchased with either TaxCut Deluxe or Home and Business.

In a Feb. 15 e-mail promotion, OfficeMax offered a limited time $50 rebate on its Norton AntiVirus and TaxCut Deluxe 2001 bundle, bringing the price from $74.95 to $24.95 after qualifying rebates.

The software products are given prominent placement throughout the stores, such as an endcap display in Staples and a table display in Office Depot. Many retailers, namely Office Depot, also provide copies of basic tax forms, such as 1040s, in their stores.

In the last couple of years, all three office supply retailers have built their Web sites into comprehensive tax resources for both small business and individual customers.

Under its Small Business Handbook section, Office Depot features an entire section on taxes. "Controlling Your Taxes" links to information on payroll, sales and Federal Income tax obligations.

This leading office products retailer goes a step further by offering a direct link to the Internal Revenue Service site, where consumers can download additional tax forms and access tax professionals.

Both Staples and OfficeMax house their tax products and resources under tabs dubbed "Tax Center."

Staples' online Tax Center cross-sells a range of tax products with information. Tax time needs and essentials, such as calculators, tax forms and laser cartridges, border prominently featured tax prep software. Visitors also can find a host of tax tips and advice under the tab, such as a checklist of common tax errors and ways to avoid an audit.

Last year, Staples teamed up with Automatic Data Processing. This year, the site prominently features a free one-month trial to ADP's payroll services. The retailer also has struck an online partnership with attorney and tax expert Barbara Weitman, president of BWideas.com and author of J.K. Lasser's "New Rules for Small Business Taxes."

Visitors can submit their tax questions to Weltman via the Staples discussion board. Weltman recently fielded this question from an online visitor: "I own a small business with two employees. Any big tax filing mistakes or pitfalls I should look out for and be sure to avoid?"

As part of its regular business services, Staples offers free one-on-one counseling through SCORE, Counselors to America's Small Business.

OfficeMax's online Tax Center also features a mix of tax products and information. Like Staples' tab, OfficeMax's strongly focuses on tax prep software with extras, such as online demos of QuickBooks 2002. Other featured products range from a Canon printing calculator and a Tech Solutions crosscut shredder. Like its counterparts, OfficeMax.com links visitors directly to small business tax tips, tax forms and 2002 IRS tax changes.

The traffic generated from consumers linking to tax advice and IRS forms has the potential to spill over into related product sales.

Because their core small business customers file taxes quarterly, the office supply retailers can take advantage of sales opportunities throughout the year. But the nation's tax time crunch does provide a nice seasonal opportunity, said Staples spokeswoman Debbie Hohler.

The players continue to see handsome sales in tax product up to the 11th hour of the April 15 deadline. Office Depot's resident tax expert Diane Kennedy, CPA tax strategist, said 40% of all Americans wait until the last day to file their taxes. Come April 15, retailers such as Office Depot pull tax products from the mix.