![]() These ads have run during major events, including the Super Bowl, and have also aired during this year’s NCAA Basketball Tournament: “We are asking a court to immediately halt this bait-and-switch, and to protect taxpayers at the peak of filing season.”Īs detailed in the complaint, Intuit engaged in a years-long marketing campaign centered on the promise of “free” services. “TurboTax is bombarding consumers with ads for ‘free’ tax filing services, and then hitting them with charges when it’s time to file,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. In 2020, for example, approximately two-thirds of tax filers could not use TurboTax’s free product. In fact, most tax filers can’t use the company’s “free” service because it is not available to millions of taxpayers, such as those who get a 1099 form for work in the gig economy, or those who earn farm income. The Commission alleges that the company’s ubiquitous advertisements touting their supposedly “free” products-some of which have consisted almost entirely of the word “free” spoken repeatedly-mislead consumers into believing that they can file their taxes for free with TurboTax. In addition, to prevent ongoing harm to consumers rushing to file their taxes, the Commission also filed a federal district court complaint asking a court to order Intuit to halt its deceptive advertising immediately. The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against Intuit Inc., the maker of the popular TurboTax tax filing software, by issuing an administrative complaint against the company for deceiving consumers with bogus advertisements pitching “free” tax filing that millions of consumers could not use. About the FTC Show/hide About the FTC menu items.News and Events Show/hide News and Events menu items.Advice and Guidance Show/hide Advice and Guidance menu items.Competition and Consumer Protection Guidance Documents.Enforcement Show/hide Enforcement menu items.The IRS also added protections that not only prevented attempts at hiding free filing, but gave the IRS the power to create its own free-file option. The move comes just a year after the New York State Department of Financial Services found that Intuit and four other tax prep providers (including H&R Block) had conducted "unfair and abusive" practices by hiding the landing pages for their free filing pages in an alleged attempt to artificially drive paid filing. The company maintained that it was still "committed" to free tax filing, but that almost 90 percent of filings from the past eight years came from outside of the Free File program. While the firm didn't elaborate on what those plans were, it argued that it could help taxpayers get refunds sooner at no charge while drawing on experts and letting users rely on their own data. The company said it was "proud" of its involvement, but claimed the limits of the program and "conflicting demands" from outside the program left it with little choice but to leave.Īn exit would let Intuit concentrate on "further innovating" in ways the IRS Free File program didn't allow, the company said. The Hill reports that Intuit is leaving the IRS' Free File program after participating for almost 20 years. TurboTax creator Intuit has had a chilly relationship with the IRS, and now it's cutting some of its involvement.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |