Prompt Cast
TurboTax Tricks Users into Paying for a Service that Should be Free
TLDR TurboTax, in partnership with the IRS, has been deceiving people into paying for tax filing services that should be free. They use confusing language and tactics to hide their free file program, leading to a decrease in profits if more people were to use it.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
A reporter uncovers a large-scale maze of capitalism in which TurboTax has been tricking people into paying for a service that should be free.
04:28
The IRS partnered with 17 companies, including TurboTax, to offer free tax filing services to the majority of Americans, with the promise that the IRS would never create their own system to compete with these companies.
08:18
Intuit, the company behind TurboTax, offers a free tax filing product for low-income individuals, but they make it extremely difficult to find and instead heavily advertise their paid product, TurboTax Free.
11:53
TurboTax has created a confusing taxonomy of the word "free" that makes it difficult to differentiate between their different products, with TurboTax Free only being free under specific circumstances and TurboTax Free File, the income-based option, being difficult to find on their website.
15:34
The website for TurboTax uses color and language to trick users into clicking on the blue "start for free" button, which actually leads to a version of the software that requires payment.
19:30
TurboTax intentionally hides their free file program from Google search results, leading to a significant decrease in the number of people using it, despite the fact that 70% of Americans are eligible for it.
23:19
TurboTax intentionally makes it difficult for eligible users to find and use their free file program, leading to a decrease in profits if more people were to use it.
27:40
The CEO of Intuit defends the company's actions, claiming that their goal was to help people and that the real enemy is ProPublica, while international readers express confusion over the concept of paying for tax preparation.
31:04
The Taxpayer First Act of 2019, which recently passed in the House with bipartisan support, includes a provision that would make it illegal for the IRS to launch its own free online tax filing system, effectively maintaining the current system where private companies charge individuals to file their taxes.
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