Despite this agreement and obviously knowing that the individual is eligible to file for free, TurboTax never mentioned the free version. Remember, that according to the agreement to which TurboTax consented, an individual making less than $34,000 should be able to prepare and file her taxes for free, regardless of income source and other deductions.
TURBOTAX FILE 2019 FOR FREE
But after entering all the information, TurboTax displayed a page saying that she wasn’t eligible to file for free and would need to pay $119.99 to use Turbo Tax’s “Self-Employed” edition. ProPublica tried to fill out a tax return, for example, as an independent contractor for Task Rabbit who made $29,000 in 2018. Google search results for "IRS free file taxes" For example, ProPublica ran a test searching on Google for “irs free file taxes.” As you can see from the image below, the search results make it seem as if a user is on the path to filing for free. Second, it suppressed the landing page of the truly free product so that it would never appear.”įirst, TurboTax placed misleading ads that masqueraded as the free file service, but, in reality, steered people towards its paying products. TurboTax’s obfuscation took two forms as ProPublica describes: “buying ads to direct people who searched for the truly free version to products where they would eventually have to pay. In other words, they want three things from you: your time, your money, and your data. In our research, we've found that designers of dark patterns have three main motives: making apps more addictive, nudging you to buy more, and getting around privacy protections.
TURBOTAX FILE 2019 SOFTWARE
While there are perhaps many reasons for the limited usage-such as confusing and disparate eligibility requirements that depend on the software provider-TurboTax and other tax filing services also use deceptive design tactics, called dark patterns, to confuse and steer people away from truly free versions of their services. As Nina Olsen, the National Taxpayer Advocate, summed up, “the fact that less than 3% of eligible taxpayers are using Free File suggests the program is failing to achieve its objective.” To contextualize, it is important to note that 70% of American tax payers are eligible to file their taxes for free online using the IRS’ Free File program. The usage statistics of the Free File program are absymal.
In other words, TurboTax affirmatively opted in and committed to the IRS that it would offer free tax filing to lower-income Americans. Why would TurboTax and others agree to this? Because in return, the IRS committed not to compete and offer its own free online tax software to consumers. TurboTax requirements to receive a free federal tax return IRS Free File website
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