![]() ![]() Through its partnership with the federal program, called the Free File Program, Intuit allowed selected low-income people and members of the military to file their taxes through TurboTax at no charge.īut the company deliberately employed “several deceptive and unfair trade practices” to drive customers away from participating in the federal program, Ms. The TurboTax product was only free for some: taxpayers who had “simple returns.” James’s office, compared with 70 percent of taxpayers for a free federal program operated by the Internal Revenue Service. One out of every three taxpayers in the United States qualified for the company’s commercial product, “TurboTax Free Edition,” according to Ms. James’s office led a multistate investigation into Intuit’s misleading advertising after reporting by ProPublica found that the company deceived customers who were eligible for free tax services and instead rerouted them to enroll in paid versions. Intuit said in a statement that the company did not admit any wrongdoing and agreed to pay the settlement fee “to put this matter behind it.” The settlement also requires Intuit, which enticed customers with its “free, free, free” ad campaign, to stop misrepresenting its tax products. James said, adding that the settlement, signed by the attorneys general of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, was a clear reminder to companies that “deceptive marketing ploys” are illegal. The company “cheated millions of low-income Americans out of free tax filing services they were entitled to,” Ms. Refunds will be sent automatically to affected taxpayers. James announced on Wednesday that Intuit, the company creating the software, would pay back $141 million to more than four million Americans who were unfairly charged for tax services that were falsely advertised as free. That was the finding of a multistate investigation led by Attorney General Letitia James of New York. Millions of customers signed up, only to pay hidden fees later in the process. For years, the maker of the TurboTax software claimed that people could file their tax returns online for free. ![]()
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