FTC bans TurboTax from advertising ‘free’ services, calls it deceptive | CNN Business
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The Federal Trade Commission ruled in a final order and opinion Monday that TurboTax, the popular tax filing software, engaged in deceptive advertising and banned the company from advertising its services for free unless it is free for all customers.

The Federal Trade Commission ruled in a final order and opinion Monday that TurboTax, the popular tax filing software, engaged in deceptive advertising and banned the company from advertising its services for free unless it is free for all customers.

By running ads for “free” tax services that many customers were not qualified for, the tax filing software violated the FTC Act and deceived consumers, the agency said.

The FTC had first sued Intuit, TurboTax’s owner, for its deceptive advertising in 2022. The FTC staff alleged most tax filers couldn’t use the company’s “free” services — “such as those who get a 1099 form for work in the gig economy, or those who earn farm income.” TurboTax advertising their products as free misled those customers, according to the FTC.

  • @Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
    16•10 months ago

    Why do regular employees have to file their own taxes over there?

    If you run a dozen businesses then fair enough, but that shit is not normal.

    • @Seasoned_Greetings@lemm.ee
      25•10 months ago

      Answer: This very company in the ruling legally pays our politicians to sway their votes on such matters in a process called lobbying. We could have free, automatically filed taxes like the rest of the developed world, but then intuit wouldn’t be able to exploit us for money.

      So yeah. “Democracy” and capitalism.