Do I need to purchase a tax preparation software every year?

If I want to do my own tax returns using the available commercial softwares, do I need to buy a new version every year or the software gets updated (free) every year once you buy a copy?

Public Comments

1. buy a new one they are updated yearly
2. You have to buy a new one every year, but, you can do multiple returns using the same package So, you can find a couple people to chip in, and it;s not so expensive
3. Yes you have to buy a new one for the right year. The updates are fixes to bugs or to late changes in tax law, and don't cover the normal annual changes.