1y ago

FTC bans TurboTax from advertising ‘free’ services, calls it deceptive

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FTC bans TurboTax from advertising ‘free’ services, calls it deceptive | CNN Business

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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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.
- 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
- It's just one of the many perks of living in a first world shithole country.
- 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.
  
  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.
- 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.
- yes, this is similar to how it's done here in Brazil too, except our taxes season is between March and May

15 comments