Drake Tax Software Reviews, Pros and Cons (2024)

Reviewed January 2024

Really is the best product for the value

Reviewed February 2019

Amazing Customer Support

Great software overall. Occasionally there's bugs (on state and local) but those tend to be resolved quickly once Drake is notified

PROS

If you ever get stuck on a complicated tax return their customer service line is always a great help. I've never had to wait more than 5 minuets on hold and they usually answer in under a minuet. There's options for you to send the tax return to the customer support specialist securely so they can look at exactly what you are. If the problem was especially complicated, they would get back within the week.

CONS

The software looks a little dated. Switching between screens is not intuitive and the screens don't always match up with the forms on the tax returns. There's less accuracy on the state levels and even less on local.

Reviewed March 2022

Drake is a best in class tax preparation software.

Overall, very good. I'll be very sad if I need to leave them to find a better cloud-based tax software.

PROS

I've been using Drake for over 10 years for tax prep. The pay-per-return was a fabulous price for when my practice was very small. Now that I have nearly 200 tax returns, I use the unlimited version and it's priced much better than comparable tax prep software. And their customer service over the years has been amazing. I've used several other tax software programs over the years and so far, this is the best.

CONS

The ONLY thing I find frustrating with Drake is the inability to work in the cloud without paying $100/mo per user for their hosting service (on top of the cost of the software). I have a remote accountant that would love to help enter tax data but I'd have to pay for all of the users in my office just to have the one remote accountant have access as well so it's not cost effective. They really need a cloud-based accounting option.

Reviewed January 2021

Company ignores functionality problems and does not timely fix systems when down

It was good before the recent release of SecureFilePro but the company has miserably failed in their commitment to their customers and does not have the courtesy and commitment to address these real deficienciencies in the functionality of their software. If they cared about their customers, product and image they would have been on the phone immediately trying to understand the issues raised and how they make it impossible to work efficiently. Contact me at [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] if you care Drake.

PROS

The tax software has been easy to use and generally support on it has been good

CONS

Their SecureFilePro release just prior to tax season is a complete disaster and company is not taking steps to fix the problems. System times out every 8 minutes (they refuse to lengthen the time-out period and continually state this is they way it is going to stay), their authentication on login is now taking as much as 27 minutes to get a security code to login, when you download a JPG or DOCX document it tries to open it in Excel, they converted the tax IDs used for login from 4 digits to 9 so now clients cannot login and when their system uploads documents it creates a duplicate site for the 9 digit id, navigation now takes multiple clicks to get to desired page where before it took one or two clicks. The company is unwilling to put someone on the phone to address these issues as they have made it impractical to use. The time-out settings are absurd and make it impossible to use the product as a tool to prepare tax returns.

Reviewed March 2024

Great Tax Software

PROS

Drake Tax is easy to use and is generally very accurate. I like that it pulls information from one year to the next, which saves time on data entry. It is also very easy to speak with someone from Drake on the phone.

CONS

Sometimes navigating to a different screen can be difficult. There can also be difficulty with determining how taxes are being calculated in the program.

Reviewed April 2023

The Best Software for Tax Preparation/Management

Overall I would Highly recommend Drake Tax and accounting software.

PROS

The many functions and features provided to service your clients and provide them the best value for their money.

CONS

Billing section. Also every year we get the full package from Drake. I would love to see them maybe include a few free Continuing Education Credit with the purchase.

Reviewed April 2023

Powerful Professional Tax Prep Software!

There is a reason DrakeTax is the #1 Professional tax software in the US. It does an amazing job.

PROS

I really love the worksheets feature, it is integrated so nicely and really helps me keep track of my work. The integration with the TaxBook is also very helpful!

CONS

DrakeTax has a learning curve as it is not set up interview style, you have to know what you are doing and where to go. It also is outdated visually, it reminds me of a windows program from the 90's or early 00's.I wish the pay-per-return feature was available for corporate returns.

Reviewed April 2019

NOT FOR TAX PROFESSIONALS

PROS

Costs; easy to update yearly; efiling is accurate and timely.

CONS

Tech support is hit or miss depending on what person you get. I have dealt with clearly untrained support reps throughout the years. If you are a tax professional with a substantial number of clients, I would NOT recommend this software. Drake will not work with you at all regarding the default selections and the program is very limited when it comes to customizing it for a larger practice. Even when we point out obvious coding errors, many of them are never corrected despite repeated calls and emails to their support. Every year they seem to get worse. They really do not seem to care about the concerns and feedback of their customers. The only reason we have not changed from Drake is the investment in time it takes to change platforms. Moving thousands of clients requires a substantial investment of time even with the conversion softwares provided by other platforms. Maybe that is why Drake seems to care less for the concerns of their customers.

Reviewed May 2022

Drake review

1 Love Lacerte's tax analysis, wish Drake offered this. 2 Drake does not automatically carry info to form 4797 on disposition of assets.

PROS

Good tax, software with excellent support.

CONS

Yes, tax analysis ie maximum employer contribution. Maximum ira contribution.

Reviewed February 2021

Best customer service

Switching to drake software was a pretty easy switch. I quickly learned the software.

PROS

Drake is very straightforward compared to other tax softwares I have used. The best part is that if I ever have an issue or question their customer service responds right away!

CONS

Overall this software is great. When I do have problems the company helps very quickly. Their knowledge base is really helpful too.

Reviewed October 2018

Drake Tax

Good experience. Not great, but not too bad after all.

PROS

The software isn't hard to use, the user-interface looks fancy, and the customer support is great and responsive.

CONS

The lack of support for external gadgets like scanners. in addition to that , it lacks remote access possibilities like remote-signatures, and mobile apps that taxpayers can use to submit their data to the tax-preparers without sending them any physical copies. The user interface isn't hard, however it needs to be simplified a little.

Reviewed January 2021

Once you're up to speed it's a great cost effective product!

I've got 15 returns in progress at the moment (990, 1120S/H, 1040, 1041), and now know where to find the entry points for the data I need. When you calculate and view the return the program spits out notes on what is wrong and tells you how and where to fix things. You can print right to the portal so client communication is great. There are multi prepared, billing, and client management functionality I don't need and can't comment on. Once you're up the learning curve you are in an excellent cost effective tax return package!

PROS

I was a long time ATX user and do only a small number of returns yearly in my private practice. The yearly cost kept going up and up and my sales person was unresponsive to my cost concerns. Drake has an ATX conversion program which I tried on 2019 and it brought over some large asset lists correctly so I took the plunge. I also bought Drake's portal software and will end up spending less than half of what I spent on ATX without the ATX portal. There are lots of video tutorials and an nice set of help functionality. Usually I just played with entries until I got the tax form to be right and that was how I learned the program. The Support is GREAT. A real person answered the phone instantly(!), and they knew what they were doing.

CONS

I've used TaxSlayer, TurboTax, and ATX. ATX's big advantage is you can click on a form and go directly to the input screens and it is in general more user friendly. I learned Tax Slayer last year as an AARP Tax Aide Volunteer. With Drake there was a tougher learning curve than Tax Slayer to figure out where and how to enter data and how the program thinks with the override entries, but once you get the hang of things it becomes straight forward. There is a search bar at the bottom of the main screen which is often helpful pulling up the correct data entry screen.

Reviewed November 2018

Drake is great !!

PROS

Drake is software is really so easy to use, I been working on this software for about 2.5 years now, the most I like about it, is that all the tax forms are included, very easy to navigate around the software, in the calc window its shows you almost everything , if the return is eligible for E-filing, all the errors that need to be clear, the fees, the refund or the balance due, if there are any notes before E-filing it will show you so that you can go check that, I can even Email the returns to the taxpayer, I can use the signature pad, if the return got rejected for any reason it shows you exactly what's wrong, in order for you to resolve and resubmit , I can even set limited access to other tax preparers and adjust all that ... Drake is great, so recommended

CONS

what I really need on the software to support the remote signature ,other than that all good.

Reviewed November 2021

Great with Admin and Support

We have used Drake for years. Would love to be able to take a full-view webinar of everything the program offers. With the exception of one tax season, they have been reliable and foremost - easy to administer.

PROS

Drake's people answer the phone within a few rings and speak Americanized English. Their admin function is best we have seen; fast and easy

CONS

This appears to be a DOS-based program modified for Windows use. We have used other tax software that allows you to input the info directly into the tax form, instead of hunting through a bunch of Dos-looking screens to find the place to input info. Also - amazingly, Drake does not offer Refund or Owed updates as you input info. The learning curve due to the various Dos screens add to the length of time to implement with a new user

Reviewed June 2023

Form 8825 is manual

Use to be very good. Had very good technical with quick answers in customer service. That has totally gone downhill in the last 2 years. People answering the phone have no experience doing returns nor experience with the software. The software has many missing holes and if you don't know what you are doing as a preparer you will be sending out incorrect tax returns and the reviews do not pick up errors and there is nothing that tells you that the allocation of days on Form 8825 is manual - MANUAL!? WHAT?

PROS

The fact that data does not carry from federal to state, Form 8825 is manual for allocation of rental days to personal days and does not tell you that (how many returns have been efiled wrong?), Hard to trouble shoot, easy for a return to be wrong if you don't know what you are doing.

CONS

Form 8825 - rental property should not be manual for allocation of personal to rental days!!!

Reviewed January 2023

The Worst Drake Ever

In general, Drake has been great. 2021 had a few issues, but 2022 is a nightmare to use. I'm literally afraid to transmit returns EVERY SINGLE DAY, because EVERY SINGLE DAY I catch something that the software has broken.

PROS

Drake continues to have an easy to use interface and low system stress, allowing for computers that don't break budgets.

CONS

This is the buggiest mess ever. Forms disappear, constant calculation loops, and entire missing tax returns. I have never considered switching away from Drake until now. If this is the future, I'm going somewhere else.

Reviewed April 2023

Disappointed

This is not something I should repeat every time the file is not completely closed

PROS

Price.Close the file after five minutesStay open when we are working, which includes SundayGive Christians a day off!

CONS

When a file is NOT closed, the timer should shut down after five minutes. And why are you not open on Sunday?

Reviewed August 2022

Look no further than Drake

I switched to Drake in 2006 and will Never change again. Customer service is great and the software continues to offer everything I need to stay current and keep up to date.

PROS

Software is easy to install, easy entry on all tabs and workflow integration is great.

CONS

I have no cons with Drake software. Best choice I made.

Reviewed September 2022

Ease of use with Drake Tax

Excellent. We have gone through several companies and it is by far the most user friendly.

PROS

I love how easy forms are to find use and fill out. Easily checking for errors and tracking past years returns.

CONS

Some help features could use more instructions.

Reviewed December 2019

Great software

My overall experience with Drake tax is amazin and I recommend it highly

PROS

Drake tax is a great software that is affordable and really easy to use. They have the best support for customers as well.

CONS

With Drake tax there really is nothing bad to say. If there is a problem that arises they fix it asap.

Reviewed February 2023

Drake has changed

Good till they sold now Bad

PROS

It used to be the best I found in 40 years of practice

CONS

It sold to a company in England, and ownership customer service sales are not good

Reviewed December 2018

Drake is for beginners

Drake's ultimate appeal is the price. I would not use Drake if it was free. I use a more professional level software product that anticipates my needs as a tax professional.

PROS

Drake has the best customer service in the tax business, and is the most affordable professional tax software on the market.

CONS

It lacks a tremendous amount of features available in other tax software products. It lacks ease of use in every feature. The diagnostics are not user friendly, and are only designed to fix the most basic problems. Drake is not designed to help you along the process. It is best for a tax professional that knows exactly what result is expected. When it is wrong, you have to know exactly what to do. There is little guidance, which can lead the user to a wrong result. The printed forms do not look like a professional product.

Reviewed May 2019

Income Tax Software Review

I have used Drake software for several years and have been very pleased with both the software and their customer support.

PROS

Extremely user friendly, easy to navigate between screens and excellent customer support team.

CONS

I do not have any complaints about the product.

Reviewed January 2019

Drake Tax 2017

PROS

Easy to navigate and use. All client information was saved and available in an easy to read format. Inputting information was quick and easy to save.

CONS

Updating/rolling over to the new year. Took a couple minutes.

Reviewed August 2022

Drake

PROS

The low cost is amazing. it is also very user friendly.

CONS

Foreign Related Returns greatly needs to be improved.