The
tax season has just concluded, and once again we've shown strong results for
our online and telephone services during this busy and important time of year.
We are the first transfer agent to integrate with TurboTax and H&R Block
tax preparation software to improve the filing process for shareholders and
employee stock purchase plan participants. Nearly 155,000 account holders made
use of the TurboTax and H&R Block capabilities.
Our "quick tax" link on the Investor Center homepage, which
offers direct and immediate access to tax forms needed for filings,
continues to be a popular option with account holders. This year saw more than 305,000
uses of the quick tax link – an increase of nearly 40 percent over last year..
Just as we have in past years, we ramped up the staffing levels in our call
centers to make sure we had enough agents to work with shareholders and plan
participants to get the answers they needed in a timely fashion. To give
an idea of the amount of calls our customer service team fields, on average, the
tax-specific calls account for less than five percent of the total call volume between
Jan. 1 and Tax Day – the easy availability of tax forms and information online
likely leading to fewer calls.
