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FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

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Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#41

Post by 1991g »

rajup wrote: post #21
bluGill wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me know if you find anyone that is better. I'm sick of TaxAct premium for the same reason. I'm ready to go back to doing my taxes by hand and mailing them in. (I'm old enough to remember doing that - it is faster than doing it on the computer except for the one year I forgot to copy line 13 of form 1234A to line 56b of form 9876B) So many dark patters where the software is pretending to take time doing a complex…

FreeTaxUsa is great for most usecases, including stock sales. It is free for federal filing, state is a bit extra ($10)

I also would vote for FreeTaxUSA, they have served me well. I do however note the irony of them being named FreeTaxUSA and in the same breath, mentioning that it costs to file. Especially given the context of the thread in general.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#42

Post by zaphod12 »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #28

Not just TurboTax, H&R Block does this shit as well. "File your taxes free! Oh, you have to file an HSA contribution? Sorry, you'll have to buy H&R Block DELUXE ($79.99) to do that!" Kinda feels like blackmail, really. If I don't file my HSA contribution I'm technically committing fraud, right?

Not sure why you're including the word 'technically,' in there - you are clearly and definitely committing tax fraud if you knowingly fail to include all of your financial information.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#43

Post by kn0where »

Good, but the situation is so much worse than just this. Most Americans could just use the IRS Free File system, which the article mentions, instead of ever giving money to Intuit or H&R Block ever again. But we don’t heavily advertise that system, because that would encourage people to use it, and if you’re going that far, you might as well let the IRS build its own tax software with all your information prefilled like they do in civilized countries.

As long as the job of Congress is to kiss the ass of every powerful industry lobby, we won’t have good things.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#44

Post by throwawayboise »

crooked-v wrote: post #26
belval wrote: post #13

I know that ship has sailed, but I really wish politicians would go back to making promises that have an impact on everyone like abolishing tax fillings. It might be different in the US, but in Canada I file my taxes using the CRA's data directly. TurboTax even fetches it directly from their website. What's the point? They have my T4, my T2202 (studies) and everything else. Just send me a letter telling me how much m…

In the US, the Republican Party has a history of intentionally pushing for cumbersome tax filing as part of encouraging people to hate the idea of taxes in general.

That's why I do my taxes manually and mail them in. I want it to be as painful as possible.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#45

Post by notch656a »

The fact that our government doesn't have the collective intelligence to just mail the tax bill using the information it already knows, with the option for the recipient to submit corrections/deductions, is a testament to the utter failure of governance in the US. Fortunately having an ineffective government can often be a feature instead of a bug.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#46

Post by kaitai »

JRKrause wrote: post #33

I manually filed a revision to a previous tax year in which I had accidentally double-payed state taxes on a schedule K-2 disbursement two years back. Without any background in this I was able to follow the IRS and state-gov websites to get everything together and ultimately received my check for the difference (many thousands of dollars). All without paying a dollar.

I manually filed taxes on paper (federal) last year and they still have not been processed. Got a letter that the IRS is sitting on my 5-figure tax payment but haven't gone through the 1040 yet.

There is an institutional (mainly Republican) commitment to strangling the IRS here in the US. Filing taxes should be free and easy.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#47

Post by throwawayboise »

mynameisash wrote: post #14
markc wrote: post #3

I was 80% done with my taxes this year when TT suddenly demanded an additional $119 to list deductible expenses on income. That’s on top of $140 to file Federal plus 1 state. I’ve been using TT for 20 years. Never again.

I'm not confident in my ability to get my taxes right (mostly due to my wife and I having owned small businesses plus my day job's stock awards and ESPP), so I've paid a local CPA to do our taxes for years now. He always did an incredible job, was happy to answer my questions for me (tax-related or not), helped us refi our house at an amazing price, and so on. His fees were something on the order of $400 or maybe eve…

It's not like an honest mistake is the end of the world. I've made tax mistakes. You get a letter from the IRS, with the amount you owe or are due back, and you settle up. There are no draconian penalties or full audits unless they suspect intentional fraud.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#48

Post by LanceH »

paulpauper wrote: post #39
Someone1234 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In theory, yes. But few people actually do because it is a painful experience. The IRS' documentation isn't actually bad, it is just that the tax system itself is incredibly (and needlessly) complicated. For example, you'd need to hand-enter every stock trade (even automated re-investments) even though your broker likely already electronically sent this information to the IRS. Using a digital solution they can often…

what is to stop someone from just underreporting and blaming laziness or the process being too complicated. either the govt. audits it themselves or does nothing. the benefit of the doubt is on your side.

Late fee interest and penalties are on their side. It's statutory that you get it right, intent doesn't matter.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#49

Post by istjohn »

jeffwask wrote: post #27
belval wrote: post #13

I know that ship has sailed, but I really wish politicians would go back to making promises that have an impact on everyone like abolishing tax fillings. It might be different in the US, but in Canada I file my taxes using the CRA's data directly. TurboTax even fetches it directly from their website. What's the point? They have my T4, my T2202 (studies) and everything else. Just send me a letter telling me how much m…

Intuit and HR Block spend way too much on US lobbying for that to change. The first step has to be repealing Citizen's United. https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-f...

Take 5 minutes to complain to your elected representatives every time you file taxes.
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