ISTT Admin

TurboTax has been put on blast for misleading users into paying to file their taxes which is supposed to be free in the first place for many. They are going as far as keeping the free versions from showing up in search engines. The IRS has released an addendum and they have eliminated a restriction against the IRS for making its own filing software. The Free File program said that the filing software had to allow lower and middle income taxpayers file for free. With that, the IRS agreed to not make its own free filing software which tax companies saw as a major threat to their business. TurboTax’s main page didn’t even have a link to the page that lets you file for free. Some of the links that said free led you to the paid version, tricking you into paying more than you should. TurboTax was targeting students and low income users, moving necessary forms like student loan interest deduction into the Deluxe tier. The Intuit company and other tax prep companies will have plenty of other ways to make money. They are facing investigations over its practices leading to pay for what is legally free.