TurboTax

Ultimately, Intuit was found to have tricked millions of Americans into paying to file their taxes when they should have been able to do so for free. The company reached a $141 million dollar settlement in May 2022 in a case led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia. (Intuit did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement.) More than 4 million people are expected to receive money as part of the settlement. It’s not clear when the payments will be made.

The Current State of Free File

Following ProPublica’s reporting in 2019, the IRS reformed the Free File program. It barred companies from using deceptive practices to deter taxpayers from using Free File and removed the prohibition on the IRS creating its own tax filing system.

Intuit left the Free File program in October 2021, citing a desire to innovate beyond what the agreement would allow. In March 2022, during the first tax season in which TurboTax did not participate in the Free File program, the FTC sued Intuit over deceptive ads for its so-called “Free” edition.

Intuit disputed the FTC’s arguments but agreed to pull the ads in question for the remainder of tax season.

After both Intuit and H&R Block left the Free File program, the future of the program was unclear. It’s still difficult to find truly free tax filing options. The

IRS created a tool to help you find this year’s Free File options.

More changes may be on the horizon for Free File. In August 2022, IRS received a mandate to look into creating a public filing system, with $15 million allocated to the study.