The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating Intuit and its marketing of TurboTax products, following ProPublica’s reporting that the Silicon Valley company deceived tax filers into paying when they could have filed for free. From a report: The FTC probe, run out of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, centers on whether Intuit violated the law against unfair and deceptive practices…
Tag: TurboTax
Justice Department Is Scrutinizing Takeover of Credit Karma by Intuit, Maker of TurboTax
The Department of Justice is scrutinizing Silicon Valley giant Intuit’s $7 billion takeover attempt of Credit Karma, an upstart personal finance firm that became a competitor when it launched a free tax prep offering that challenges Intuit’s TurboTax product. From a report: The probe comes after ProPublica first reported in February that antitrust experts viewed the deal as concerning because it…
What the Hell Happened To Mint?
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Fast Company: Intuit’s Mint personal-finance service wants me to know it’s sorry. Again. “We’re sorry!” its investments page bleats when I try to view my mutual funds’ performance. “Our graphs require the latest version of Adobe Flash player.” That site has spent years apologizing to me for needing Adobe’s vulnerability-riddled plug-in: since I long…
IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not To Compete With TurboTax
Finding free online tax filing should be easier this year for millions of Americans. From a report: The IRS announced significant changes Monday to its deal with the tax prep software industry. Now companies are barred from hiding their free products from search engines such as Google, and a years-old prohibition on the IRS creating its own online filing system has…
Multiple States Are Investigating Intuit Over TurboTax Free File Marketing
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ProPublica: Multiple state attorneys general, including Josh Stein of North Carolina, have opened investigations of TurboTax maker Intuit, following ProPublica’s reporting that the company charged millions of Americans for tax filing services they were eligible to receive for free, according to people with knowledge of the investigations. As part of the investigations, Intuit has…
TurboTax Started Charging the Disabled, Unemployed and Students To Make Up For Trump Tax Law
The 2017 tax overhaul directly threatened the lucrative business of Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, so it pushed students, the disabled, and unemployed to a paid tier to make up for the lost profits. ProPublica reports: Although the company draws in customers with the promise of a “free” product, its fortunes depend on getting as many customers as possible to pay….
Congress Scraps Provision To Restrict IRS From Competing With TurboTax
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ProPublica: Congressional leaders are planning to scrap a provision of an IRS reform bill making permanent the Free File deal between the government and private tax filing companies, torpedoing a long-sought goal by industry giant Intuit, the maker of TurboTax. The development, first reported by Politico Pro and confirmed to ProPublica by a House…
TurboTax Is Using A ‘Military Discount’ to Trick Troops Into Paying to File Their Taxes
“Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, created and promoted a ‘military discount’ that charges service members who are eligible to file for free,” reports ProPublica, in a story co-published with The Military Times: In patriotism-drenched promotions, press releases and tweets, TurboTax promotes special deals for military service members, promising to help them file their taxes online for free or at a discount….
Class-Action Lawsuit Says TurboTax Tricked Taxpayers Into Paying For ‘Free’ Tax Prep
Less than a week after ProPublica found that TurboTax lied to taxpayers about its free filing program, “a new class action lawsuit against TurboTax maker Intuit claims the tax service breached its agreement with the Internal Revenue Service by intentionally obscuring its free filing service and charging qualifying taxpayers anyway,” reports Gizmodo. From the report: The complaint was filed Sunday in…
TurboTax Uses Dark Patterns To Trick You Into Paying To File Your Taxes
ProPublica reports on the shady tactics TurboTax and other tax software companies use to prevent most Americans from filing their taxes for free. According to an agreement with the IRS, tax software companies are supposed to offer a “Free File” product to Americans making less than $66,000 a year. From the report: Here’s what happened when we went looking. Our first…