- The AGs of all 50 states and DC announced a settlement with software company Intuit Inc., which provides the popular TurboTax tax preparation software to consumers throughout the country, that resolves allegations that the company’s marketing practices violated various state consumer protection laws.
- The settlement resolves a multi-state investigation into allegations—all expressly denied by Intuit in the settlement—that Intuit’s marketing and sales practices led to customer confusion regarding customers’ eligibility and access to free versions of its online tax preparation products, as opposed to those for whom consumers must pay.
- In the settlement, Intuit agreed, among other things, to certain required disclosures and business practices regarding the advertising and marketing of free products; to not seek to rejoin the IRS’s Free File Program from which Intuit previously had withdrawn voluntarily; and to pay a total of $141 million, most of which is to be distributed by a Fund Administrator to provide restitution to certain eligible consumers, with residual funds going to the AGs of the settling states.