Drake Software Reviews 364

Ugh, terrible customer support

Foreign earned income does not flow to the proper line on the 1040. The income should flow to Line 1, per IRS instructions, but instead flows to Other Earned Income. Having the income flow to Other Earned Income blocks e-filing if there is no other taxable income. Answer from support is "Sorry"

When Drake works well, it is legitimately the best. They answer the phone, the software is easy to use, and the people are really nice - five stars!
The downside is if there is a moat around experts, and essentially you need to "escalate" and wait by the phone if your account has operational issues. I do think things eventually get fixed, but it is inefficient. I wish I had asked more questions before automatically taking advice when I renewed, as I didn't anticipate the logistical issues that their suggestion caused. They do try, but if it is a complex issue, it can take some time to fix, and you can't directly contact or maintain people to fix it completely. Eventually it gets done, but it is disjointed and kind of annoying. I will still use Drake, but I do wish I had a dedicated relationship manager on the occasions I needed it.

You removed the proformas and the blank forms options. This was very important for my company.

This year you removed the proforma's from your software and then fixed the organizers so that they don't work for the business returns. I need the performa's back please.

Phone service representative was clearly not familiar with the software and was not adequately trained.

The software itself has shortcomings that should be basic components, as opposed to being items that need to be manually determined. The software was unable to create safe harbor estimates and the rep told me that it had to be done manually. He suggested using their feedback link to suggest an enhancement for future use, but that itself didnt work well.

I switched to Drake this year I have been doing returns since 1996! They have extremely untrained customer service they can't answer a simple question. DO NOT SEND THEM A RETURN, which is the first thing they ask for they do not encrypt the clients name, ss numbers, bd etc their techs can see everything! I was on hold for 20 mins for a simple mortgage interest question no resolution.

I have used Drake since 2008. This year, Drake charged me for their portal 2/3/25, even though I cancelled it after briefly using the product last year. After twelve days of requests for a refund, it has not been issued. I have turned in a dispute to the credit card company on 2/17/25. Drake customer service is very poor!!!!

Drake updates have shut us out from using the software. Support staff has not been able to fix this after 6 weeks working on it. We have over 100 returns we have to reinput into another software product to stay in business. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT! After 18 years, we are moving on.

I mistakenly entered one digit wrong of a social security number and when I corrected, they used credit for another return. When I called their support they are lying that they are working on it. It seems this software company became so cheep that they don't respect their clients and don't respond to emails and don't resolve problems. I have worst experience in 2025.

Drake is the worst software product I have probably ever used. It looks like its from 1985 and support is awful.

We are now in February and we still are unable to use the product and Drake support has no idea what the issue is with our account.

Do not buy it!!!

I switched to Drake last year, and I gave them another chance this year, however that was a big mistake on my part, this company is the worst! I will be looking for another tax software company for next year.

They have cut back on the support staff apparently opting for AI chatbots that barely trained support staff query, can't solve even the simplest requests

The Name and Address screen is so small cannot see the client's social security this software is trash. Customer service is a nightmare they answer the call zero resolution.

The date listed is just one of several as I have been changing over to a new computer. I have used Drake for over 20 years and it used to be a great company. Now Drake is terrible. Apparently Drake's owners sold out and the new owner went cheap. I noticed a decline in the qualify of Drake technical support last year. This year, Drake support has been incompetent. They appear to have gotten rid of their experienced tech support and hired untrained people to read off computer screens. They do not understand Drake Software. Level 2 support? From my recent experience, Level 2 support was someone in India who did not know the software, read off of a screen and then lied to me about what was on the page. I was looking at the same page, so I know she lied. If I had only known this problem a few months ago, I would have bought another software. Using Drake this tax season will be a painful experience, but I look forward finding a tax preparation software company that has competent technical support.

I do not recommend Drake Software. I purchased Drake after joining forums and reading what other pros had to say about the software. The sales rep lied to me and told me they had a hosted solution so it would be no issue using my MAC. After I made the decision to go with Drake, I learned that he lied to me, there is no hosted solution. You can host it through another service they offer, for an additional $1200 per user. The support representative did not understand my request, then laughed at me when I told her that I am a MAC user. Do not expect any level of customer support. The supervisor tried, and did end up sending me a coupple of links that told me to sign up hosted cloud services at an additional cost... that would have been great to know at the time of purchase. I reached out to the Amanda Watson, Onboarding and Customer Success Manager. I received a polite but canned reply with the usual pleasantries... Thank you for reaching out and sharing your experience. I am truly sorry to hear about the difficulties you've encountered and the frustration it has caused. I understand how important it is to have software that works seamlessly with your Mac, and I apologize for the miscommunication and inconvenience you have faced.

You are correct, our desktop product is not compatible with the Mac Operating System. However, we do offer some alternatives, such as our web-based software, Web1040. Currently, Web1040 is only available for individual returns. Do you prepare business returns? If not, Web1040 might be a suitable option for you.

Additionally, there is a hosting solution available, but just as you mentioned, there is a fee associated with hosting the desktop software in the cloud."

ALL OF WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT TO KNOW AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE. I Asked for a refund... was promised a call and have not heard anything from them. Success has made them lazy, they do not care abou ttheir customer at all. The massive amount of poor reviews here should tell you everything you need to know. DO NOT CHOOSE DRAKE! THE SALE TEAM ARE LIARS!!!

This is a Synopsis of what occurred:

2012 client
Unreliable support when it was most needed.
The issue
I have a client who needs to have his 2021 (yes 2021) tax return e-filed by Nov 15, 2024. If it does not get filed in time he will lose a large refund because of IRS statute of limitations on refunds. I moved recently and when I notified the IRS they changed my EFIN # (without my knowledge).
So, when I attempted to e-file the return it was rejected. To compound the issues he and his wife on traveling separately and getting signatures is difficult.

To: Support@drakesoftware
From: vicsantucci
Sent: Nov 08, 2024 at 07:28 PM EST
Subject: My efin changed

Hi,
My EFIN changed and I am unable to efile a 2021 tax which has to be submitted by Nov 15, 2024. I have attached the IRS new efin number. Please make the appropriate changes.

THERE RESPONSE

DrakeSoftware Support
Nov 8, 2024, 7:32 PM (3 days ago)

Hi, Thank you for Contacting Drake Software Support.
Below are the Instructions to change your EFIN number on your account:

Registering an EFIN or Replacing a Previously Registered EFIN
Submit a copy of your IRS e-file Application Summary showing a Provider Option Status of "Active" by uploading your document through the Support website. If you need to get a copy of your e-File Application Summary, see Drake Tax – IRS: e-File Application Summary.
1. Log in to the Drake Software Support website.
2. Click Account > Manage EFINs on the left side of the page.
3. On the Manage EFINs page:
o Enter the EFIN you want to register with Drake Software.
 If a multi-site, you MUST choose the sub office you want the EFIN registered to. If a sub-account EFIN is uploaded to the Master, it will change the Master EFIN.
o Click Select File and choose your supporting PDF document for that EFIN.
o Click Submit to upload the document to Drake Software for validation.
4. To confirm your upload, and check the status of your EFIN with Drake Software, review the list of registered EFINs at the bottom of the page. Please allow four hours for EFIN processing to be completed. The following are the codes you may see under the Status column:

So why did they just send my request with the document required to me so the process could be started!!

I immediately reach out to Drake support and was advised there is a another dept in Drake that has to process the change and they proceeded to give me a contact #. Never did they mention that this dept was not open on Saturdays (like the Drake support group is Plus it was a 3 day weekend. I requested they reach out to management in the dept in needed and they said they have no way to contact them.

I also reach out to the CEO of the company with no response!!!!

Mr. Halpin,

First let me apologize for contacting you directly but I tried using Drake's support and they were useless.

I have a client who needs to have his 2021 (yes 2021) tax return e-filed by Nov 15, 2024. If it does not get filed in time he will lose a large refund because of IRS statute of limitations on refunds. I moved recently and when I notified the IRS they changed my EFIN # (without my knowledge).
So, when I attempted to e-file the return it was rejected. I sent a request to your e-file dept and it was acknowledged but not processed. I was advised by software support that it will take 3 business days until they get to work on it. Also, software support advised that they had no way of reaching out to the e-file management dept. In addition to working in the tax business I was also in the computer / programming business so I find it strange that one of your departments cannot contact another dept. ,if needed.

This needs to be addressed ASAP or I will lose the client (he brings in 20K of revenue each year).

Please reach out to your people to assist me.

Thank you.

I have worked for both small and large size companies in addition to the Federal government and customer support always came first. I understand Drake has their rules of procedure BUT there is always and exception, especially when this was a simple programming change. Also, example comes from management and if this is an example of how the new Drake direction is, it will fail.

They did come through after all the hassle I was put through and I was able to get the return e-filed. The client was extremely upset so I waived my fee in order to keep the account.

Totally useless ... There is nothing regarding my Rightnetworks access ... cannot access it!! ???
Yes I am totally pissed at Drake service ..

Being a New Drake user, when I clicked View/Print, the whole Drake disappeared and it happened several times today. I decided to call Drake and Mr Corwyn answered. He was one of the most knowledgeable and patient representatives whom I had ever had for years. He shared the screen with me and kept trying one way after another until he solved the problem and the Drake started working. In addition, he also helped me to set up the account correctly so I could get the tax return going. What impressed me the most was “He knows Drake from the beginning to the end”. He was so outstanding that I believed he must be a senior Representative of Drake. He deserves it if not! Because, it was his excellent customer service that convinced me to believe using Drake is my best choice! Many thanks to Mr. Corwyn!