FTC Sues to Stop “Deceptive” TurboTax “Free” Ad Campaign – By Justin Elliott (ProPublica) / March 29, 2022
Following an investigation sparked by ProPublica’s coverage, the Federal Trade Commission is asking a federal court for a restraining order barring Intuit from marketing TurboTax as “free.”
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With millions of Americans scrambling to file their taxes in the next few weeks, the Federal Trade Commission asked a federal court late Monday to intervene to stop Intuit from claiming in ads that Americans can file for “free” using the company’s TurboTax software.
The FTC began investigating TurboTax in 2019 in response to ProPublica stories describing how users had been lured into using the software with promises of free filing, only to discover later they had to pay fees to finish the process.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where Intuit is based, accuses the company of engaging in deceptive marketing for years.
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