The FTC ruled this week that Intuit did in fact decide customers with its ads promoting “free” tax software that wasn’t, in fact, free.
In a ruling Friday, the FTC ruled that Intuit “engaged in deceptive advertising in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act” when it ran ads from free tax products and services “ for which many consumers were ineligible.”
The FTC also issued a cease-and-desist to the company from engaging in practices alleged in the FTC complaint because it felt there was a “cognizant danger of a recurring violation.”
Going forward, Intuit will only be able to advertise a service as free if it is free to all consumers, and if it discloses any part of a deal that might be misunderstood by commuters and discloses in a “clear and conspicuous manner” when an offering might not be available for the majority of US taxpayers.
The FTC filed the suit against Intuit in March of last year claiming “TurboTax is bombarding consumers with ads for ‘free’ tax filing services, and then hitting them with charges when it’s time to file.”
Intuit issued a response to the ruling, seemingly implying that the judge ruled in favor of the FTC because the judge is an employee of the FTC.
“Intuit will appeal this groundless and seemingly predetermined decision by the FTC to rule in its own favor and is confident that when the matter ultimately returns to a neutral body Intuit will prevail, as it has previously in this matter,” the company said.
The argument might in some way be mute. The IRS plans to launch a new free tax filing option for the 2024 tax season.
