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TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

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Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#31

Post by sct202 »

Zenst wrote: post #5

I popped "file free tax returns turbotax" into Google and found the page directly listed. The page in question is https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/online/free-editi... The robots.txt for the intuit.com domain is: https://turbotax.intuit.com/robots.txt Not listing in robots.txt to block the personal-taxes folder, which has many offerings and a sub from that is the free one. I'm not seeing the block that the…

The Free Edition basically dark patterns you into a paid version of TurboTax at the end. My friend in grad school was confused and ended up paying for the deluxe version, even though she started on the free version and makes like a thousand dollars a month.

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#32

Post by linsomniac »

I've been using TurboTax for the last 4 years or so but I'm getting pretty tired of this story. I read an article a few weeks ago that mentioned CreditKarma has free tools for tax prep, so I signed up for it and I'm planning on using it next year.

I used to use an accountant because my taxes were kinda complicated, but once I sold my business they got really easy. Turbo makes it slightly easier, but honestly the IRS should just be telling me how much to pay or refund, given a small amount of input (like this year, change me from single to married with this other person filing jointly).

And worst, the last several years I've gotten letters from the IRS late in the year saying "You owe a few thousand dollars", this after Turbo got me a fairly big refund.

IRS: If you have a number in mind just tell me.

Oh, and you know that upsell Turbo does for "have your filing reviewed by a CPA and talk to a tax expert to answer questions on your filing"? I tried it this year: Couldn't find an option to have it reviewed by a CPA before filing, and when I asked one of their tax experts about a number related to an IRA disbursement last year, basically all he could tell me is "Yes, you have put a number in a box on the form".

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#33

Post by tantalor »

Arguably their agreement to "offer" the free service necessarily requires it's discoverable by normal means, including search.

“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?” “Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#34

Post by maxmcd »

I learned a little while ago that H&R Block makes a substantial amount of its revenue from "refund anticipation loans" (no citation, I couldn't find it here: https://investors.hrblock.com/static-files/4293dedf-951d-454... maybe my information is overblown).

Is there a reason there isn't a "Robin Hood for Taxes"? A service that makes all of its revenue off of refund anticipation loads and provides all tax services for free to entice customers to join?

Ignoring the problematic conflicts of interest involved in issuing loans it seems like this would align a lot of incentives. The company wants tax filing to be as simple and easy and free as possible, just as long as you do it through them.

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#35

Post by damian2000 »

dacohenii wrote: post #20
metalliqaz wrote: post #4

Yeah they do, of course they do. They are in business to make money, after all. The real story is the absolute travesty of government corruption that TurboTax and HR Block have perpetrated by making it illegal for the government to make tax filing as easy as it should be. It's one of the things I would immediately correct if I was king for a day.

There's a good Planet Money episode about this, in case you like podcasts: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/03/22/521132960/epis...

That was a great episode, the guy funded a lobbyist from his own pocket to the tune of $70k but still lost

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#36

Post by dontbenebby »

jakelazaroff wrote: post #27
metalliqaz wrote: post #4

Yeah they do, of course they do. They are in business to make money, after all. The real story is the absolute travesty of government corruption that TurboTax and HR Block have perpetrated by making it illegal for the government to make tax filing as easy as it should be. It's one of the things I would immediately correct if I was king for a day.

This is directly related, I think. One reason the IRS hasn't made it easier is a deal with the industry group "Free File Alliance", which essentially privatizes this (indeed, the page TurboTax is hiding here is their Free File page). However, while 70% of taxpayers would be eligible for free filing, in practice only 3% do — no doubt because tax prep companies make it so difficult to find and use this option. These co…

Edit: As a child comment pointed out, the issue was a brokerage account I opened in addition to the Roth IRA. (The Roth IRA deposit limit is smaller than the 401K deposit limit)

///

The problem with that is there's often caveats.

Ex: in grad school I did a summer internship, and put my profits into an IRA. Later on, I found out I could not use many free file software, because they considered handling the dividends my index funds had generated as a premium feature, even though I was below the income limit.

Eventually I found out the AARP had a free tax prep program that did not have that restriction (nor was it limited to over 65s), but it took a lot of effort to avoid paying 50+ bucks just to process a tiny, tiny bit of tax because it was in the "wrong" category.

IMHO it's not cool to nudge low income people to not save for retirement.

If anyone else has had this frustration, bookmark this page: https://secure.aarp.org/applications/VMISLocator/searchTaxAi...

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#37

Post by linsomniac »

Govt: "We need some money from you to buy things."

Me: "How much?"

Govt: "You figure it out."

Me: "Oh, I get to pay whatever I want?"

Govt: "LOL, no, we have a figure that we want you to pay."

Me: "What happens if I guess that number wrong?"

Govt: "You get to go to prison."

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#38

Post by bayouborne »

Zenst wrote: post #5

I popped "file free tax returns turbotax" into Google and found the page directly listed. The page in question is https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/online/free-editi... The robots.txt for the intuit.com domain is: https://turbotax.intuit.com/robots.txt Not listing in robots.txt to block the personal-taxes folder, which has many offerings and a sub from that is the free one. I'm not seeing the block that the…

As you can see by everyone's responses, you've been sidetracked -- exactly TurboTax's objective.
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