WCF Financial Bank Closed
All WCF offices will be closed on Monday, May 27th in observance of Memorial Day. Business transacted after 5:00 PM on Friday, May 24th will post on Tuesday, May 28th.,
By: Ari Lazarus March 29, 2022
Courtesy of the FTC
It’s tax time, and like many people, you might be looking for a tax preparation service — especially one that’s free. Intuit, the company that owns TurboTax, has gotten a lot of people’s attention with ads that said things like “$0 to file” and “file FREE.” The problem? For a lot of people, it’s not actually free.
Today, the FTC announced an administrative action against Intuit for misleading people about free tax filing with TurboTax and separately has asked a federal court to stop Intuit’s deceptive advertising of TurboTax. According to the administrative complaint, since at least 2016, it was only after people spent time entering sensitive personal and financial information that many learned they’d need to upgrade to a paid TurboTax product to complete and file their taxes.
So, when is it free? Only when you meet TurboTax’s definition of a “simple return” (which they’ve changed a few times since 2016). In practice, during 2020, two-thirds of all tax filers didn’t qualify for the “simple return.” That includes people who got unemployment benefits and gig workers with 1099 forms.
Looking to do your taxes for free — for real?
Spot a tax preparation service that says it’s free but isn’t? Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.