Dailey Intuit, TurboTax Twitter Google Banner Ad

And while every tax situation is unique and different, consumers can have confidence that TurboTax has the tools, guidance and experts to help them accomplish their taxes too. According to documents obtained by ProPublica, Intuit executives knew they were deceiving customers by advertising free services that were not in fact free to everyone. It also has authorized the filing of a separate administrative complaint alleging that Intuit’s practices are illegal as they violate the FTC Act. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, based in Block’s hometown of Kansas City, rejected Block’s request Monday for a preliminary injunction against the TV ads. The same court had rejected a similar request in January (see H&R Block Loses Lawsuit Trying to Stop Intuit TV Ads). In one ad, a shopper in a women’s clothing department is greeted affectionately by a store employee who remembers doing her taxes the previous week.

• As a result, companies like Intuit, whose TurboTax is the top tax prep software, continue to confuse some customers who seek free tax prep into paying.
• The investigation was sparked by a 2019 ProPublica report which claimed that Intuit executives knew they were deceiving customers by advertising free services that were not free to everyone.
• The banner, born of a
  partnership with Google and Twitter, soothed tax-time anxiety by streaming dynamic, real-time feedback to consumer questions about taxes straight from the TurboTax Twitter page.
• The Commission is asking a federal court to put an immediate halt to Intuit’s false advertising and has also authorized the filing of an administrative complaint alleging that the company’s practices are illegal.
• Full expense that a user will bear.” According to a Google spokesperson, TurboTax’s ads do not violate its terms.

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, New York Atty. However, as the FTC says, roughly two-thirds of all tax filers in the US could not use the TurboTax free product advertised by the https://turbo-tax.org/ accounting and tax software provider in 2020. Intuit Executive Vice President and General Counsel Kerry McLean said in a blog post that the company is “pleased to have reached a resolution with the state attorneys general that will ensure the company can return our focus to providing vital services to American taxpayers today and in the future.”

Column: FTC says the maker of TurboTax deliberately tries to make your tax filing more difficult and expensive

In this role, she oversees the editorial vision of the newsroom and development of new editorial products. Jeanine joined Ad Age in 2012 as a TV reporter following stints covering the retail and media worlds for WWD, Forbes and TheStreet. The FTC offers the print at the bottom of one ad as an example of such hard-to-read language. After last year’s Super Bowl found Jason Sudekis morphing into other people and vice versa, TurboTax’s Super Bowl 57 spot doesn’t feature a big name, but rather a dancer who doesn’t have to do taxes. It’s counterintuitive, in the midst of recession, to basically say “pay somebody to do something you’ve probably been doing yourself for years and years.” But maybe TurboTax is hitting a nerve here.

• “Intuit cheated millions of low-income Americans out of free tax filing services they were entitled to,” James said.
• The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against Intuit Inc., the maker of the popular TurboTax tax filing software, by issuing an administrative complaint against the company for deceiving consumers with bogus advertisements pitching “free” tax filing that millions of consumers could not use.
• The 2023 brand campaign was created in partnership with Wieden+Kennedy, an independent creative advertising agency.

“Intuit cheated millions of low-income Americans out of free tax filing services they were entitled to,” James said in the settlement announcement. “For years, Intuit misled the most vulnerable among us to make a profit. Today, every state in the nation is holding Intuit accountable for scamming millions of taxpayers, and we’re putting millions of dollars back into the pockets of impacted Americans.” Up until July 2021, TurboTax allowed taxpayers earning up to roughly $34,000 and members of the military to file their taxes for free through the IRS Free filing program. In exchange for participating in the program, the IRS agreed not to compete with Intuit and other tax-prep companies by providing its own electronic tax preparation and filing services. As a result, companies like Intuit, whose TurboTax is the top tax prep software, continue to confuse some customers who seek free tax prep into paying.

Contact for Consumers

So-called organic links to Free Edition appear ahead of links to Free File in many searches, data from SEMRush and Ahrefs shows. TurboTax accomplishes that, search engine optimization expert Rhea Drysdale said, in part by inserting keywords — the word “free” is used 54 times on Free Edition’s webpage. By comparison, Drysdale said, the TurboTax Free File landing page uses “free” 19 times. The filing also states that Intuit hid its Free File landing page for about five months during the peak of the 2018 tax season, channeling consumers to its freemium version — which many would end up having to pay for.

• TurboTax is the latest brand to announce its Super Bowl ad plans, with Downy, FanDuel, Google and Frito-Lay’s PopCorners also advertising in the game.
• The settlement says Intuit must pay the $141 million within 30 days of the “effective date,” defined as when all parties have signed the agreement.
• The “Come to TurboTax” campaign has a total of seven films and will culminate with a spot in the NFL Super Bowl LVII, the brand’s tenth year in The Big Game.
• The change in what’s known as the Free File program came in the wake of multiple ProPublica articles that revealed how the companies in the program steered customers eligible for free filing to their paid offerings.
• TurboTax will also be one of the brands to run media on the recently launched Netflix ad supported plan, giving the brand the opportunity to reach the highly engaged Netflix audience throughout the tax season.

Intuit also hasn’t allowed its freemium edition to be used by people who have income from a farm, selling a home, a prior year state tax refund or investments, according to the FTC. A series of additional spots for English and Spanish speaking audiences provide further proof points that people are capable and highlight specific products or features. “In coming to a https://turbo-tax.org/intuit-ad-for-turbotax/ resolution on this matter, we admitted no wrongdoing and are pleased to be able to continue our strong partnership with governments to best serve the needs of taxpayers across the country,” said Intuit Executive VP and General Counsel Kerry McLean. The 2023 brand campaign was created in partnership with Wieden+Kennedy, an independent creative advertising agency.

Intuit to pay $141M over TurboTax ads

Today, every state in the nation is holding Intuit accountable for scamming millions of taxpayers, and we’re putting millions of dollars back into the pockets of impacted Americans,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said. In spite of this advertising, many consumers who took the time to gather their documents, entrust their personal information to Intuit, and begin the filing process found that they could not file their taxes for free. Intuit also addresses Canadian tax returns with an entirely separate product also named TurboTax, but previously called QuickTax. The French version has retained its original name ImpôtRapide until 2017, when it was renamed TurboImpôt. Because of the purportedly deceptive ads from Intuit, many Americans attempted to file their taxes for free using TurboTax over the years, only to find that it was all just a waste of time.

In 2003, Intuit faced vocal criticism for its TurboTax activation scheme.[18] The company responded by removing the product activation scheme from its product. In 2005 TurboTax extended its offering by allowing any taxpayer to use a basic version of its federal product for free as part of the Free File Alliance. By 2006 that offer has been limited to free federal online tax preparation and e-file for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is $28,500 or less (or $52,000 for those in the military) and those 50 or under.

TurboTax’s 2022 Super Bowl campaign, “Matchmaker,” included an elaborate set in which walls and entire rooms shift and rotated in and out of view, and a series of TurboTax customers—including “Ted Lasso” star Jason Sudeikis—transform into one another by peeling off prosthetics. The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file both the administrative complaint and federal court complaint seeking preliminary relief was 3-1, with Commissioner Noah J. Phillips dissenting. Accounting Today is a leading provider of online business news for the accounting community, offering breaking news, in-depth features, and a host of resources and services.