Can we just switch to pre-filled tax forms already? The average American spends about $200/year and 12hrs preparing their taxes. This study from last year found that pre-filled tax forms would be accurate for 42-48% of people. That is already amazing, and I'm sure that number could be doubled over 10-20 years.
FTC judge decides Intuit’s ‘free’ TurboTax ads misled consumers
21–30 of 108 posts
Re: FTC judge decides Intuit’s ‘free’ TurboTax ads misled consumers
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Other sites are no better. This yeah I went through the whole flow on H&R Block, and only at the end did they say they couldn't file my taxes because of one 1099-NEC. However I still had to pay full price to print out my forms. Which I had to print and send myself.
i've been seeing this pattern on so many posts on hn that criticize basically anything. i'm not trying to have a stab at you specifically btw, this is more meta > x is bad because of this obvious reason that it is bad > "but y and z are also bad!" what is that supposed to be a rebuttal to? is the implication that we should.. do nothing because everything else is also shit? i don't see why turbotax in this instance sh…
> i don't see why turbotax in this instance shouldn't be punished.
I don't see why they should only be punished 141 million dollars - they undoubtedly made a lot more money than that out of these shady practices. Therefore, this is just a "cost of doing business" and won't curtail such behavior in the future.
Not until the penalty is severe enough to put the fear into them.
Re: FTC judge decides Intuit’s ‘free’ TurboTax ads misled consumers
#23After a surprise bill of over $100 from H&R block I've been using FreeTaxUSA and have been very happy to pay $15 for state filing. The UI is just as good as TurboTax or H&R block.
What was the surprise bill of $100 for? My god, at that rate you might as well just hire a private accountant.
I wrote a book and had a small amount of royalty income to declare, which meant I needed the 'premium' package on top of the state filing.
I think Intuit has made almost as much money from my book as I have!
Re: FTC judge decides Intuit’s ‘free’ TurboTax ads misled consumers
#24Administrative law "judges" are unconstitutional.
That hasn’t been determined, and while they’re sometimes controversial, I’m not sure they are unconstitutional as long as there’s a path to appeal to Article III courts.
Just as a point of reference, military tribunals and immigration courts also fall outside of Article III as well.
Re: FTC judge decides Intuit’s ‘free’ TurboTax ads misled consumers
#25Administrative law "judges" are unconstitutional.
For those who may not understand your comment, this is a summary of the issue at hand here [0] and some commentary here [1].
[0] - https://wp.nyu.edu/compliance_enforcement/2023/06/12/ftc-dim...
[1] - https://ogletree.com/insights/supreme-court-ruling-questions...
Re: FTC judge decides Intuit’s ‘free’ TurboTax ads misled consumers
#26Intuit is guilty of using a whole range of dark UI patterns to trick people into paying for products they don't need. Last year I almost paid $80 (surprise at the END of the entire TurboTax flow) and clicked back 10 steps to realize that they showed a deceptive screen that implied that you had to select that option. Their marketing emails are particularly deceptive, and if you try to opt out of them and unsubscribe,…
> Their marketing emails are particularly deceptive, and if you try to opt out of them and unsubscribe, they force you to enter personal information you don't readily have access to to "confirm your identity."
That shouldn't be legal, and I'm surprised that doesn't get their emails redirected to /dev/null by everyone. Stuff like that doesn't even deserve the modicum of respect that getting sent to Spam denotes, mail providers should just reject it at the MTA until Intuit stops.
Re: FTC judge decides Intuit’s ‘free’ TurboTax ads misled consumers
#27After a surprise bill of over $100 from H&R block I've been using FreeTaxUSA and have been very happy to pay $15 for state filing. The UI is just as good as TurboTax or H&R block.
My relative works for FreeTaxUSA. I'm glad to hear you like them. She is too.
They're also great to their employees. My relative got a mostly paid vacation recently on top of great PTO.
Edit: Also, my relative is partially responsible for the UI, so she's happy to hear you like it.
Re: FTC judge decides Intuit’s ‘free’ TurboTax ads misled consumers
#28Glad to see they're facing consequences for this misleading nonsense. They got me one year where I went through the entire process only to find out at the end it cost money if I wanted to input my student loans. Due to that (and many other dark patterns noticed during the process) I will never voluntarily use an Intuit product again. FreeTaxUSA doesn't pull any nonsense & I've been happy with it every year since.
My relative works for FreeTaxUSA. She's happy to hear you're happy!
Re: FTC judge decides Intuit’s ‘free’ TurboTax ads misled consumers
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Other sites are no better. This yeah I went through the whole flow on H&R Block, and only at the end did they say they couldn't file my taxes because of one 1099-NEC. However I still had to pay full price to print out my forms. Which I had to print and send myself.
i've been seeing this pattern on so many posts on hn that criticize basically anything. i'm not trying to have a stab at you specifically btw, this is more meta > x is bad because of this obvious reason that it is bad > "but y and z are also bad!" what is that supposed to be a rebuttal to? is the implication that we should.. do nothing because everything else is also shit? i don't see why turbotax in this instance sh…
You see this in any internet discussion, such as about gun violence - “well knives can kill people too and we’re not outlawing those.”
Re: FTC judge decides Intuit’s ‘free’ TurboTax ads misled consumers
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m not going to shill too hard for a tax prep company, but I’ve used FreeTaxUSA for years and am satisfied. Cheap, simple, no hidden fees I’ve noticed.
I've used them for five or six years. They keep getting better. The name sounds super sketchy, but they're legit. They do charge for oddball forms, but they're super up front about that. Like when you select the forms they tell you the price. I have multiple income streams and multiple weirdo tax situations (farming, day job, three consulting firms, my own consulting) and it still only takes me 30 minutes to do my ta…
Relative of a FreeTaxUSA employee here.
> The name sounds super sketchy, but they're legit.
I've told them to change their name, and my relative has told them to change their name.
Their marketing department is...dumb, IMO. (My relative told me about a semi-recent marketing campaign, and it was laughable.) But quite frankly, I prefer a company where the marketing department is the only incompetent one.