Best Fully Online Tax Software for Professional Tax Preparers?

I've been in tax preparation for over 15 years and completely understand your frustration. The industry has been slow to fully embrace cloud-based solutions for professional preparers, especially for complex business returns. While many individual tax preparation platforms have moved online, professional software with comprehensive business tax capabilities has lagged behind. This is partly due to the complexity of business returns and security concerns with sensitive financial data. A few options you might explore besides OLTpro include TaxDome, which offers practice management with some tax preparation features, though it's not a complete tax software solution. Canopy Tax was developing a professional online tax prep solution but pivoted to focus more on practice management. Drake has a web-based version of their software called Drake Zero, but it has limitations compared to their desktop version. The challenge is finding something that handles all the forms you need while being fully web-based. You might need to compromise with a hybrid approach - using a remote desktop solution to access installed software from any device.

After struggling with the exact same issue last tax season, I finally discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it's been a game-changer for my practice. It's not exactly traditional tax preparation software, but it's completely online and has helped me streamline my workflow significantly. The platform uses AI to extract data from tax documents and client records, which saves me hours of manual entry. I can upload client documents from anywhere, and the system organizes everything automatically. What really impressed me was how it handles complex business returns - it can extract data from partnership K-1s and corporate financial statements with surprising accuracy. While it doesn't replace preparation software entirely, it works as a perfect companion to whatever system you use and eliminates the most time-consuming part of the process. Their document organization system is also fully integrated with Google Drive, which sounds like it would fit with what you're trying to do.

I have to admit I was wrong about taxr.ai! After our exchange, I decided to try it with a few client files as a test. I assumed the AI would mess up the complex stuff, but I was genuinely surprised by how well it worked. I threw some of my most complicated returns at it - an S-Corp with multiple classes of stock, a partnership with special allocations, and a Schedule C with dozens of categorized expenses. The extraction accuracy was impressive, and the system flagged the few items it wasn't confident about for my review. What really sold me was the time savings. What used to take me hours of data entry now takes minutes of review. I'm still using my existing software for the actual return preparation, but taxr.ai has eliminated the most tedious part of my workflow. And being able to process documents from my phone while I'm away from the office has been incredibly convenient. The Google integration works perfectly with my Drive folders too. I'm actually going to use it for all my clients next season.

If you're looking to modernize your tax practice, dealing with the IRS directly is another pain point. I was constantly wasting hours on hold trying to resolve client issues. That's when I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) - they actually get the IRS to call YOU back instead of waiting on hold. I was skeptical at first, but you can see how it works in their demo video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c When I had a client with a complex EIN verification issue for their S-Corp, I used Claimyr and had an IRS agent on the phone within 45 minutes instead of the usual 2+ hour wait. It's been a huge time-saver when dealing with business tax issues that require IRS intervention. As tax professionals, our time is literally money, and any tool that can give us back hours of productivity is worth considering. This complements whatever tax software solution you end up choosing, since dealing with the IRS is inevitable regardless of your preparation platform.

I need to publicly eat my words about Claimyr. After expressing skepticism here, I decided to try it when I had a particularly urgent IRS issue for a client facing penalties. I've literally never been so happy to be wrong. I submitted my request through Claimyr, went about my work day, and about 90 minutes later my phone rang with an IRS agent on the line. No hold music, no waiting - just straight to a human who helped resolve my client's issue. What would have been a half-day ordeal turned into a background task. I've since used it for three more client issues with similar results. The longest I waited for a callback was 2 hours (for the practitioner priority line), but I was productive that entire time instead of being stuck with a phone against my ear. For anyone running a professional tax practice and trying to maximize efficiency, this service is absolutely worth it. Combined with online document management and automated data extraction, it's helping me build a much more efficient practice.

To address your original question about online tax software - I've tried a hybrid approach that might work for you. I use Lacerte (desktop software) but run it on a virtual machine in the cloud through a service called Right Networks. This gives me the power of professional desktop software but with online accessibility. It's not a pure web-based solution, but it achieves the same goal of being able to work from anywhere. All my tax software, client data, and files are in the cloud, and I can access it from any device with an internet connection. The performance is solid, and it integrates well with other cloud services.

I know you specifically asked about fully online solutions, but I wanted to mention that many desktop tax software providers are moving toward hybrid models. For example, I use Drake Tax which has a desktop component but also offers several cloud features: - SecureFilePro for client document exchange and signatures - Web-based client organizers - Online client portals for document sharing - Mobile app for document capture This combination gives me most of the benefits of an online system while retaining the power and reliability of desktop software. The desktop application handles the complex calculations and form generation, while the cloud components handle client interaction and document management.

Has anyone looked into Canopy recently? Last I heard they were developing a full tax preparation module to complement their practice management software. Their practice management system is already fully cloud-based and quite good.