Tax Filing:
Tax filling is one of the things that no matter how smart you are seems to be complicated. As tax laws get reformed quite regularly and new taxes are introduced while the old ones get scrapped, it is extremely difficult to stay up to date with the regulations one has to follow while filling their taxes. This is just one of the reasons why software applications that aid their users in tracking and filling their taxes are becoming more popular by the day.
However as convenient as these softwares might be they are not free and can cost anywhere between $50 to $300 depending on whether you wish to file for state taxes or federal or if you require the aid of an expert. While this price range may seem exorbitant to some, most agree that the amount they save through the optimized income tax returns thanks to these applications, more than makes up for the amount paid for their service.
The Solution for the middle class:
United states like many other nations wants to ensure that their citizens have an easier time performing the fundamental duty of filling their taxes and in return get the returns on their taxes that they have earned through hard and honest work. They also understand how great of an impact these tax return preparation softwares have in aiding their citizens through the process of filling their taxes. However, the fact that these softwares are expensive and cannot be afforded by everyone cannot be changed, which is why the United States government’s Internal revenue service (IRS) introduced the free file policy where if the adjusted gross income (AGI) of a household is $73,000 or less, they are qualified to demand a free tax filing service. This is a service that benefits Millions of Americans, or at least it should.
The Lawsuit:
In a shocking settlement last year Intuit Inc., the owners of the tax filling software TurboTax were ordered to pay the massive sum of $141 million dollars to approximately 4.4 million people across the country. These were people who were eligible under the free file policy of the IRS but were instead deceived by TurboTax into paying for their returns. Those who fell prey to TurboTax’s
predatory and deceptive marketing were low-income consumers eligible for free, federally supported tax service. In light of this incident TurboTax was asked to pay $141 million in restitutions in a settlement that was signed by all 50 states and the district of Columbia.
For those affected:
Thankfully the consumers who are eligible to receive these restitutions will not have to go through the arduous task of filling for the claim themselves and will instead be notified by an email from Rust consulting who are the settlement fund administrators. The checks will be received by the consumers notified through mails starting next week and the checks will be delivered to all the victims throughout the month of May. The amount received by each eligible consumer will vary from $29 to $85 depending on the number of tax years they qualify for. TurboTax’s actions cheated millions of low-income Americans out of their hard-earned cash, Americans who were just trying to fulfil their legal duties to the best of their abilities. The settlement signed in may of 2022 also made sure that the company Intuit Inc. agreed to suspend their subsidiary TurboTax’s “Free, free, free” ad campaign as it was considered misleading and unethical in nature. After the conclusion of the may 2022 settlement, the representatives of Intuit Inc. stated that the company had admitted to no wrong doings and that the agreement to pay the $141 in settlement was made just in order to put the whole incident behind the firm. They further added that this incident had forced the firm to make certain commitments regarding their advertising practices which they will follow in the coming years.
