TurboTax

TurboTax
Developer(s)Intuit, Inc.
Initial release1984; 40 years ago (1984)
Operating systemWindows, Macintosh, Android, iOS
TypeTax software
LicenseProprietary
Websiteturbotax.intuit.com Edit this on Wikidata
Intuit Consumer Tax Group headquarters in San Diego (where TurboTax is developed)

TurboTax is a software package for preparation of American and Canadian income tax returns, produced by Intuit. TurboTax is a market leader in its product segment, competing with H&R Block Tax Software and TaxAct.[1] TurboTax was developed by Michael A. Chipman of Chipsoft in 1984 and was sold to Intuit in 1993.[2][3]

The company has been subject of controversy over its political influence and deceptive business practices. Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, has engaged in a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) creating its own online system of tax filing like those that exist in most other wealthy countries.[4][5][6][7] Intuit is under investigation by multiple state attorneys general, as well as New York State Department of Financial Services.[8][9]

As part of an agreement with the IRS Free File program, TurboTax allowed individuals making less than $39,000 a year to use a free version of TurboTax; a 2019 ProPublica investigation revealed that TurboTax deliberately made this version hard to find, even through search engines, and that it deceptively steered individuals who search for the free version to TurboTax versions that cost money to use.[10] TurboTax has tricked military service members to pay to use the filing software by creating and promoting a "military discount" and by making the free version hard to find when many service members are in fact eligible to use the software for free.[11]

  1. ^ Gray, Tim (February 11, 2012). "Taking Tax Software for a Walk". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 22, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  2. ^ "Michael Chipman". People. Forbes. April 18, 2012. Archived from the original on May 16, 2009. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  3. ^ Groves, Martha (September 2, 1993). "Intuit, Chipsoft Agree to Merge in $225-Million Deal". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  4. ^ Elliott, Justin (April 9, 2019). "Congress Is About to Ban the Government From Offering Free Online Tax Filing. Thank TurboTax". ProPublica. Archived from the original on April 9, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  5. ^ Day, Liz (March 26, 2013). "How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing". ProPublica. Archived from the original on April 9, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  6. ^ Justin Elliott, Paul Kiel (October 17, 2019). "Inside TurboTax's 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans From Filing Their Taxes for Free". ProPublica. Archived from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  7. ^ "IRS moves forward with a new free-file tax return system, supporters and critics mobilize". PBS NewsHour. July 20, 2023.
  8. ^ Elliott, Justin (May 10, 2019). "New York Regulator Launches Investigation Into TurboTax Maker Intuit and H&R Block". ProPublica. Archived from the original on May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  9. ^ Elliott, Justin (December 19, 2019). "TurboTax Tricked Customers Into Paying to File Taxes. Now Several States Are Investigating It". ProPublica. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  10. ^ Justin Elliott, Lucas Waldron (April 22, 2019). "Here's How TurboTax Just Tricked You Into Paying to File Your Taxes". ProPublica. Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  11. ^ Justin Elliott, Kengo Tsutsumi (May 23, 2019). "TurboTax Uses A "Military Discount" to Trick Troops Into Paying to File Their Taxes". ProPublica. Archived from the original on May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.