TurboTax settlement, Wisconsin DOJ announces $2.3M for consumers
MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Department of Justice secured $2,370,000 from Intuit Inc., the owner of TurboTax, a department news release indicated Thursday, May 5.
It stems from the company deceiving consumers into paying for tax services that should have been free. As a result of a multi-state agreement, Intuit will pay $141 million in restitution to millions of consumers across the nation who were unfairly charged, of which roughly $2.5 million will be used for administrative fund costs.
"More than 76,000 Wisconsinites ended up paying for tax preparation products that were marketed as being ‘free,’" Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said in the news release. "It’s not right for a corporation to use deceptive tactics to profit from folks who are paying their taxes."
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In addition, Intuit must suspend TurboTax’s "free, free, free" ad campaign that lured customers with promises of free tax preparation services, only to deceive them into paying for services. All 50 states and Washington, D.C. have signed onto the agreement.
An investigation into Intuit began after ProPublica reported that the company was using deceptive digital tactics to steer low-income consumers toward its commercial products and away from federally-supported free tax services.
Under the agreement, Intuit will provide restitution to millions of consumers who started using TurboTax’s Free Edition for tax years 2016 through 2018 and were told that they had to pay to file even though they were eligible to file for free using the version of TurboTax offered as part of the IRS Free File program. Intuit withdrew from the IRS Free File program in July 2021.
Consumers are expected to receive a direct payment of approximately $30 for each year that they were deceived into paying for filing services. Impacted consumers will automatically receive notices and a check by mail. Additional details on the agreement are available on the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Website.
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