Intuit reportedly hid its free tax filing service from Google's search engine and used unclear software design to trick people into upgrading to paid services. The company ended up paying $141 million to settle allegations it deceived low-income Americans. Despite this, Intuit's TurboTax continues to appear at the top of Google's search results for "free file taxes", while the IRS's Direct File service is harder to find. The IRS hopes that Direct File will help millions of regular people and save them money.
Key takeaways:
- The IRS is launching a new service called Direct File, which allows many Americans to file their taxes for free. It is currently available in 12 states and is aimed at those with an annual adjusted gross income of no more than $79,000.
- The service was created in response to a scandal involving Intuit, a major provider of tax preparation software, which allegedly tricked lower-income Americans into paying for tax filing services they didn't need.
- Intuit allegedly hid its free tax prep service from Google's search engine and used unclear software design to trick people into upgrading to paid offerings. The company ended up paying $141 million to settle allegations.
- Despite the controversy, Intuit's TurboTax is still prominent in Google's search results for free tax filing services. The author recommends using Direct File and not relying on Google to find the right IRS website.