Tax season isn’t that far away and more of us than ever before will be filing our annual return online.
We’re going online because of a combination of increasing comfort with the Internet and tax software that makes it ever easier. It also helps that you get a refund deposited into your account in just a few days.
The change in our filing habits has been as dramatic as the popularity of Do-it-Yourself programs like TurboTax.
Turbo Tax is a product sold by Intuit, a company that develops and sells financial, tax and accounting software. It sells these products to small businesses, accountants, and individuals. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, CA and more than 95% of its revenues and earnings come from sales in the U.S. That means it has been more or less immune to the ongoing trade war between China and the U.S.
A recent CNBC article noted that Intuit’s shares are up about 36% this year, an impressive run for any company in a time-frame filled with economic and political uncertainty.
Even more remarkably, Intuit’s stock is up over 850% in the past decade versus a 190% increase in the S&P 500 index. It has gained an average of 25% every single year of the last 10, according to Jefferies Group, the financial advisory firm.
Intuit is an example of a company with a strong business and brand power. Its brand is powerful, and its products create an expanding stream of revenues.
Intuit is a holding of the Harvest Tech Achievers Growth & Income ETF. The ETF (TSX:HTA, HTA.U) is an actively managed portfolio of 20 global technology leaders with an average market capitalization of $363 CAD billion as of Aug.30, 2019.
The ETF is RRSP, RRIF, RESP and TFSA eligible and distributions are available as cash or DRIP.
The companies are selected, because like Intuit, they are leading technology firms, with strong businesses and a history of profitability. They are well positioned to benefit from developing trends and potentially increase their dividends over time.
Harvest uses a covered call strategy that allows the fund to pay an additional stream of income beyond dividends in a tax efficient distribution.
For more on Harvest ETF’s click here.
