COLUMBUS – More than 100,000 Ohioans will split $5 million under the terms of a $141 million settlement signed by the attorneys general of all 50 states and the District of Columbia with the company behind TurboTax for making misleading promises about its free tax preparation services.
Under the terms of a settlement signed by the attorneys general of all 50 states, Intuit Inc. will suspend TurboTax’s “free, free, free” ad campaign and pay restitution to nearly 4.4 million taxpayers, including 163,367 Ohioans who are eligible for a payout after Attorney General Dave Yost says they were deceived into paying for tax services that should have been free.
“Intuit’s scheme to make a buck by tricking responsible Ohio taxpayers is unacceptable. We are holding Intuit accountable and putting money back into consumers’ pockets,” Yost said.
Under the agreement, Intuit will provide restitution to consumers who started using TurboTax’s Free Edition for tax years 2016 through 2018.
Consumers are expected to get a direct payment of about $30 for each year that they paid for filing services that should have been free.
New York Attorney General Letitia James began investigating Intuit after the news organization ProPublica reported in 2019 that the company was charging low-income customers for tax services that they should have received for free.
A multistate investigation found that Intuit engaged in deceptive and unfair trade practices that limited consumers’ participation in the Internal Revenue Service’s Free File program.
Intuit deliberately confused tax filers about the similarity between its own “freemium” product, TurboTax Free, which allows taxpayers earning $34,000 or less to file their taxes free, and the Internal Revenue Service’s Free File program, which is available to approximately 70% of taxpayers.
Only about one-third of taxpayers are eligible for the Turbo Tax product, Yost said.