Intuit sued by the FTC for defrauding customers with a 'complimentary' TurboTax publicity strategy

The Federal Trade Commission or FTC Lawsuit sued Intuit on Tuesday, alleging that the company's advertising campaign offering complimentary or free tax turbo tax ad campaign filing services through its TurboTax software is "misleading" and should be stopped.

The commercials are deceiving, according to the government inspector, since "many tax filers can't utilise the firm's 'complimentary' program because it isn't available to millions of taxpayers, such as those who obtain a 1099 document for freelance economies work or those who earn rural incomes."

According to the government department, about two-thirds of individual taxpayers would be unable to utilise the free TurboTax ad campaign in 2020, and it has sought a federal appeals court to halt Intuit's advertising strategy that advertises "complimentary" filing notwithstanding limitations.


Intuit argues the FTC's allegations are false and has promised to fight the complaint.

Intuit, in a separate press statement, stated that it was a founding member of the Internal Revenue Service's Free File programme, and chastised the FTC lawsuit for failing to recognise that the California-based firm was completely complying with IRS standards.

Kerry McLean, executive vice president and general counsel of Intuit, remarked that the FTC's claims are just not believable. Instead of discouraging consumers from making use of complimentary professional tax services, their complimentary advertisements have resulted in more Americans submitting their taxes for free than ever before, and have played a key role in spreading information about free tax preparation.

Intuit, in a separate news release, stated that it was a founding member of the Internal Revenue Service's Free File programme, and chastised the FTC for failing to recognise that the California-based firm was completely complying with IRS standards.

"The fact that Intuit followed one governmental firm's standards and policies but is now being pursued by some other reveals a fundamental gap," McClean stated. "As a result of the FTC's move, businesses will be substantially less likely to engage in consumer-beneficial public-private partnerships with the administration."

The FTC decided to act versus Intuit by a 3-1 vote.