Paying taxes is confusing enough without your tax software deceiving you, but that’s just what Intuit, makers of TurboTax, was accused of in a multistate lawsuit settled last year.
“TurboTax was engaging in alleged deceptive advertising with respect to free tax filing services and behavior in which they would nudge people into their product, which was called a ‘freemium’ product, which you had to pay for,” said Vince Rabago of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
Many of those customers were eligible for the IRS Free File Program.
Almost 108,000 Arizonans who needlessly paid for TurboTax to file their federal return during the 2016-2018 tax seasons will split $3.3 million. Most will receive between $29 and $30, based on their number of qualifying tax years.
Rabago says affected Arizonans don’t need to do anything to get their share.
“They would just receive the check in the mail, actually, without even having to file any kind of claim,” he said. “And it’s expected that the checks are going to start to be mailed out next week.”
