Consumers who recently filed taxes with TurboTax but were eligible for the Internal Revenue Service’s Free File program will soon begin receiving checks as part of a multi-state agreement with TurboTax’s parent company, Intuit.
According Press release Thursday from the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office, eligible clients include those who paid to file federal tax returns through TurboTax for tax years 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The $141 million deal, announced a year ago, came on the heels of a 2019 ProPublica report that showed Intuit had steered low-income taxpayers toward its fee-based products after promising them access to filing services. free tax bill, in part through the use of advertisements promising «free, free, free» filings.
«Often ‘free’ didn’t mean free at all», ProPublica reported. “Many of those who started out on TurboTax Free Edition found that if their return required certain common tax forms, they would have to upgrade to a paid edition in order to file it.”
Under the terms of the settlement, eligible customers will receive a check in the mail automatically, without having to file a claim. Most are expected to receive between $29 and $30, according to the news release.
“By requiring consumers to pay for tax-filing services that should have been available free of charge, Intuit has ripped off taxpayers out of their hard-earned money,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a statement. a statement.
“Intuit’s deceptive practices and aggressive advertising campaign were unnecessary and illegal; especially when the IRS offers free tax filing services for eligible consumers.”
You can find more information about the settlement program here.