The average payment will be about $30, but those who paid in more than one of the three eligible tax seasons will get a payment for each year. The AGs said the company used the advertising to make people think their tax filing would be free, only to charge them for it once their return did not meet Intuit's definition of "simple," even though they could have filed for free through the IRS. The state attorneys general said the company deceived Americans with advertising campaigns that emphasized its products were " free, free, free" when its gratis program only covers Americans with "simple" tax returns, as defined by the company. The settlement covers TurboTax users across all 50 states and Washington, DC, who unnecessarily paid the program to have their taxes filed in 2016, 2017, or 2018 when they would have been eligible to use the Free File Program from the Internal Revenue Service. "Today we are righting that wrong and putting money back into the pockets of hardworking taxpayers who should have never paid to file their taxes." "TurboTax's predatory and deceptive marketing cheated millions of low-income Americans who were trying to fulfill their legal duties to file their taxes," James said in a statement. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the settlement effort, said Thursday those who are eligible will be contacted by email and checks will be distributed this month, one year after the settlement was originally announced. In 2016, 2017, and 2018 millions of Americans paid TurboTax to file their taxes when the IRS would have done it for free.Īn estimated 4.4 million Americans will soon receive checks as part of a $141 million settlement from Intuit, the parent company of popular tax filing software TurboTax.TurboTax and parent company Intuit agreed to the settlement last year over allegedly deceptive ads.Payments from a $141 million TurboTax settlement will be sent to 4.4 million Americans this month.CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. Market holidays and trading hours provided by Copp Clark Limited. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices Copyright S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and/or its affiliates. Standard & Poor’s and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Chicago Mercantile: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. US market indices are shown in real time, except for the S&P 500 which is refreshed every two minutes. Your CNN account Log in to your CNN account The company responded in its statement that it’s “clear and fair with its customers, including with the nearly 100 million Americans who filed their taxes free of charge with our products over the last 8 years - more than all other tax prep software companies combined.” Today, every state in the nation is holding Intuit accountable for scamming millions of taxpayers, and we’re putting millions of dollars back into the pockets of impacted Americans.” “For years, Intuit misled the most vulnerable among us to make a profit. “Intuit cheated millions of low-income Americans out of free tax filing services they were entitled to,” James wrote in a press release. James said the tactic targeted low-income consumers in particular.įilers who used TurboTax’s Free Edition for tax years 2016 through 2018 will be mailed a check for approximately $30 for each year they were charged when they should have been able to use free services. James’ office said its investigation came after a 2019 ProPublica report accused the company of steering eligible clients away from federally supported tax filing products by making them difficult to find in web searches - instead directing them toward the paid version of the company’s filing services. (INTU) said that it “admitted no wrongdoing” as part of the agreement and it expects “minimal impact to its business” from the changes demanded in the future. The settlement, announced Wednesday by New York Attorney General Letitia James, said about 4.4 million customers were “unfairly charged.” Intuit must also suspend its “free, free, free” ad campaign because it falsely lured customers with the promise of free tax preparation services, the statement added. Intuit, the owner of tax filing software TurboTax, has agreed to pay $141 million in a settlement with all 50 states for allegedly steering millions of low-income Americans away from free tax-filing services.
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