Democrats Accuse Intuit of ‘Misleading’ Taxpayers Into Paying for TurboTax

Intuit has been lobbying to end the government’s free filing program.

TurboTax

Gene J. Puskar/AP

Some Democratic lawmakers are accusing TurboTax owner Intuit of misleading taxpayers as the company advocates for shuttering the government’s free direct tax filing program.

TurboTax, which currently dominates the tax preparation market, promises free tax filing services for eligible individuals. But a new analysis by Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s staff found TurboTax covertly switched their sample taxpayer from the free edition, ultimately charging $128 for services they could file for free with Direct File.

“Your tactics are misleading and misserving taxpayers who would benefit from this free and easy-to-use alternative to your company’s commercial tax preparation tools,” Sens. Warren and Ron Wyden, the top Democrats on the Senate Banking and Finance committees, respectively, and Rep. Mark Pocan wrote in a letter to Intuit shared exclusively with NOTUS.