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Turbo Tax appears on your device in San Francisco, California on February 22, 2018.
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Federal Trade Commission A final order and opinion Monday found that popular tax preparation software TurboTax engaged in deceptive advertising and prohibited the company from advertising its services as free unless it was free to all customers. was lowered.
The agency said the tax preparation software violated the FTC Act and deceived consumers by advertising “free” tax services that many customers were not eligible for.
The FTC first sued Intuit, the owner of TurboTax. FTC staff claimed that most tax filers were unable to take advantage of the company's “free” services. “People who get 1099 forms to work in the gig economy, people who earn income from agriculture, etc.” When TurboTax advertises its products as free, it misleads customers; According to the F.T.C.
FTC Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell issued his initial decision in September, and the commission upheld the decision on Monday. Intuit had filed an appeal with the FTC as part of the process.
Intuit said in a statement Monday that it has appealed “this deeply flawed decision.” File in Federal Circuit Court outside the FTC.
“No one should be surprised that the FTC Commissioner (FTC staff) ruled in favor of the FTC, as he has done in every appeal for the past 20 years. “This is the result of a biased and broken system in which the accuser, judge, jury, and appellate judge all serve in the same case,” an Intuit spokesperson said.
The FTC ordered that Intuit cannot advertise or sell any product or service as free unless it is free to all customers.
It also could clearly disclose the percentage of customers actually eligible for free services, which approximates the advertised “free” claim, the commission said. The FTC added that if the service is not actually free for the majority of consumers, TurboTax may state that as well.
The FTC ordered Intuit to “clearly and conspicuously disclose all terms, conditions, and obligations required to obtain 'free' products and services.”
“This order requires Intuit to improve its product offerings, including pricing, refund policies, and the ability for consumers to claim tax credits and deductions or accurately file taxes online without using TurboTax's paid service. “We also prohibit misrepresentation of material facts about our products or services,” the release said. This is what the FTC said:
Approximately 4.4 million people will receive checks from TurboTax after parent company Intuit and 50 states reached a settlement last May for denying millions of low-income Americans access to free tax filing services. Ta.
An investigation was then started A 2019 ProPublica report found that the company turns eligible customers away from its federally supported tax preparation services by making them harder to find in web searches, directing them instead to paid versions of its filing services. he accused.
Most customers will receive about $30, but some customers who have used TurboTax for three consecutive years will receive up to $85. A website has also been set up to provide further information.
“TurboTax's predatory and deceptive marketing deceived millions of low-income Americans who were trying to meet their legal obligations to pay taxes,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in May 2023. This was stated in a press release on the 4th. “Today, we will right that wrong and put money back into the pockets of hard-working taxpayers who should never have paid it.”
CNN's Jordan Walinsky contributed to this report.
