TurboTax Response to ProPublica Article on
4/26/19
TAX
NEWS
April 26, 2019 / TurboTaxBlogTeam
TurboTax offers two free tax filing products: TurboTax Free
Edition and TurboTax Free File Program, which is part of IRS Free File. Our
intent in implementing our search practices was to make clear the distinction
between these products by educating customers so they could find the product
they were looking for. We did this by generating original content and
publishing answers to frequently asked questions about the IRS Free File
Program and the TurboTax Free File product, and optimizing that content to rank
highly in organic search. While we believe amplifying this content meaningfully
informed taxpayers and contributed to IRS Free File growth, we recognize that
our overall search approach may have made it harder for some customers to find
a TurboTax Free File Program landing page. So we are undertaking a thorough
review of our search practices to ensure we are achieving our goal of
increasing eligible taxpayers’ awareness of the IRS Free File Program and its
availability.
For two decades Intuit has publicly supported and provided free
tax preparation to low and moderate income taxpayers. In 1999 Intuit began the
Intuit Tax Freedom Project donating online tax preparation and e-filing
services to low-income taxpayers. Four years later, IRS began the Free File
Program which we were proud to join to continue our work and assistance to
those who need it most. Over the course of these years, we have donated more
than 39 million federal tax return filings directly to taxpayers or through the
IRS Free File Program and more than 17 million state tax return filings through
the 23 State Free File Programs, free of charge. And we have engaged with
more than 500 community-based organizations to educate filers about IRS free
tax assistance programs. We, along with our 9,000 employees, are proud of that
work and are deeply committed to it as a company.
We are pleased to see that the IRS Free File program grew 6%
this year, and 11% over the last two years. We are also encouraged that
during this tax season our TurboTax Free File Program donated nearly 1.2
million tax returns free of charge to taxpayers. Additionally, another 50
million taxpayers are eligible to file for no cost through TurboTax Free
Edition.
https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/tax-news/turbotax-response-to-propublica-article-on-4-26-19-43756/
https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/7435135