this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2024
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FTC bans TurboTax from advertising ‘free’ services, calls it deceptive (edition.cnn.com)
submitted 1 year ago by L4s to c/technology
15 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

FTC bans TurboTax from advertising ‘free’ services, calls it deceptive::The Federal Trade Commission ruled in a final order and opinion Monday that TurboTax, the popular tax filing software, engaged in deceptive advertising and banned the company from advertising its services for free unless it is free for all customers.

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[–] demonsword 29 points 1 year ago (5 children)

This is something I don't get. I live in a "third world shithole" (Brazil). Annually, we have to fill online form (that already comes pre-filled), for most people there's a minimal amount of work involved. Only very rich people need accountants and stuff. Why the USA can't (or won't) do something like that is beyond me.

[–] finestnothing 42 points 1 year ago

It's not can't, it's won't. Tax companies like TurboTax pay a lot of money for lobbying to keep the IRS from making it free and simple

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

It's just one of the many perks of living in a first world shithole country.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Americans are largely stupid and believe taxes are more complicated than they really are. The majority can use the standard deduction, and maybe have to add child tax credits. That can be done in less than an hour manually, the hardest part would be getting a physical copy of a 1040.

[–] AA5B 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

US Taxes can be very complex and the gov’t does not know ahead of time all the details.

However:

  • salary and interest income are reported by employers
  • EZ form contains info the gov’t already knows
  • Newly increased standard deduction means that most people no longer can itemize (e

I’m not sure what’s missing to keep these from being simple and automatic for the majority: tipping income? State and local taxes? All the little nooks and crannies that make taxes complex are really not likely for most people.

I don’t know the limits are for TurboTax free filing but I’d expect most people to be able to now.

[–] 4onen 2 points 1 year ago

Actually, the standard deduction doesn't mean people can't itemize, it means it doesn't make financial sense to itemize. Itemizing is worse for them. If they want to itemize, they're still allowed to.

... At least that's what TurboTax and the other FreeFile program I used claimed.