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The creator of TurboTax, Intuit, had a frosty relationship with the IRS, and now he’s cutting back some of his stake. The hill reports that Intuit is leaving the IRS free files program after participating for almost 20 years. The company said it was “proud” of her involvement, but claimed the program’s limitations and “conflicting demands” from outside the program left her no choice but to leave.
An exit would allow Intuit to focus on “innovating further” in a way the IRS Free File program did not allow, the company said. While the company did not specify what these plans were, it argued that it could help taxpayers get refunds faster and at no cost while bringing in experts and allowing users to rely on them. their own data.
The company maintained that it was still “committed” to filing free tax returns, but that nearly 90% of returns for the past eight years were from outside the Free File program.
The move comes just a year after the New York State Department of Financial Services discovered that Intuit and four other tax preparation providers (including H&R Block) had engaged in “unfair and abusive” practices in hiding the landing pages of their free deposit pages attempting to artificially drive the paid deposit. The IRS also added protections that not only prevented attempts to hide the free deposit, but also gave the IRS the power to create its own free file option.
It is unclear whether the government’s crackdown prompted Intuit’s exit. Whatever the motivation, this decision could make it even harder for some people to file their taxes. About 3 million of Intuit’s 17 million free deposits last year went through IRS Free File. That’s a lot of people who will either have to find free alternatives or hope that TurboTax won’t incur costs.
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