Which turbotax products are free for military free#
The multistate investigation found that Intuit limited consumers’ participation in the IRS Free File Program, including by using confusingly similar names for both its IRS Free File product and its commercial “freemium” product.
In contrast, the TurboTax Free File product was free for 70 percent of taxpayers. However, the TurboTax “freemium” product is only free for approximately one-third of US taxpayers. In some ads, the company repeated the word “free” dozens of times in as short as 30 seconds. In recent years, TurboTax has marketed this “freemium” product aggressively, including through ad campaigns where “free” is the most prominent or sometimes the only selling point. Intuit also offered a commercial product called “TurboTax Free Edition,” which is only free for taxpayers with “simple returns” as defined by Intuit.
In exchange for participating in the program, the IRS agreed not to compete with Intuit and other companies by providing its own electronic tax preparation and filing services to American taxpayers. Intuit offered a free version of TurboTax through its participation in the IRS Free File Program, a public-private partnership with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which allows taxpayers earning roughly $34,000 and members of the military to file their taxes for free. “This nationwide settlement will bring money back to Massachusetts consumers who were harmed and prevent this deception from happening again.”Īn investigation into Intuit began after reviewing allegations that the company was using digital tactics to steer low-income consumers toward its commercial products and away from federally-supported free tax services.
“TurboTax’s misleading tactics caused millions of vulnerable consumers across the country to pay for tax preparation services that should have been free,” said AG Healey. Under the terms of the settlement, Massachusetts will receive $2.3 million for tens of thousands of eligible consumers who were allegedly deceived into paying to file their federal tax return. The settlement also requires the company to suspend TurboTax’s “free, free, free” ad campaign that lured consumers with promises of free tax preparation services, only to deceive them into paying for services. BOSTON - The owner of TurboTax, Intuit Inc., will pay a total of $141 million, including payments to millions of low-income consumers and military service members across the country, as part of a settlement reached by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia over claims that the company deceived consumers into paying for tax services that should have been free.
0 kommentar(er)
