Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Announces the Filing of a Consumer Class Action Lawsuit Against Intuit Inc., Maker of TurboTax, for Improperly Charging Fees
RADNOR, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/classaction?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#classactionlt;/agt;–The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP announces that it has
filed a class action lawsuit against Intuit Inc. (“Intuit”) in the
Northern District of California (San Jose Division), captioned Allwein
v. Intuit Inc., Case No. 5:19-cv-2567, on behalf of all Free File
Program-eligible persons or entities in the United States who paid to
use a TurboTax product to file an online tax return for the 2002 through
2018 tax filing years.
Individuals who paid for TurboTax products for tax filing years
2002 through 2018, and: (i) have an adjusted gross income of $34,000 or
less; or (ii) are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit; or (iii)
are on active military duty and have an adjusted gross income of $66,000
or less, are encouraged to contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer &
Check, LLP (James Maro, Esq. or Adrienne Bell, Esq.) to discuss their
legal rights or interests at (888) 299-7706 or (610)
667-7706, or via e-mail at info@ktmc.com.
For additional information please visit www.ktmc.com/turbotax-improper-fee-class-action-lawsuit.
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is also investigating H&R
Block, Inc. for similar misconduct as that alleged in the Intuit lawsuit.
Individuals who paid for H&R Block for tax filing years 2002
through 2018, and: (i) have an adjusted gross income of $66,000 or less
AND are between 17 and 51 years old; or (ii) are eligible for the Earned
Income Tax Credit; or (iii) are on active military duty and have an
adjusted gross income of $66,000 or less, are also
encouraged to contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. Please
click on the link above for additional information.
As set forth in the complaint, in 2002, Intuit and a group of electronic
tax preparation and filing companies agreed to provide a free version of
their commercial products to lower-income Americans. In exchange, the
IRS agreed to not compete with Intuit and the other companies in
providing free, online tax return preparation and filing services (the
“Free File Program”). Despite the institution of the Free File Program,
only a small percentage of American taxpayers file their taxes for free.
For fiscal year 2018, less than 2.5 million of the 100 million eligible
taxpayers, or less than 2.5%, participated in the Free File Program.
Intuit offers a free online tax preparation and filing product called
TurboTax “Freedom Edition” that is a part of the IRS Free File Program.
Anyone who (i) has an adjusted gross income of $34,000 or less, (ii) is
eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, or (iii) is on active
military duty and has an adjusted gross income of $66,000 or less is
eligible to use TurboTax Freedom Edition.
Intuit, however, has taken deliberate efforts to hide its
fully-functional TurboTax Freedom Edition, while at the same time
aggressively marketing as “free” its TurboTax Free Edition, which is a
version of its software with limited functionality that is useless to
all but those with the simplest of tax returns. For example, Intuit has
ensured that TurboTax Freedom Edition is not available through
TurboTax’s homepage website. Only TurboTax Free Edition and its three
other paid products can be accessed directly from the TurboTax Homepage.
Intuit’s deceptive conduct directly contradicts the IRS’s stated
objective of providing free online preparation and filing for
lower-income individuals. By falsely convincing Free File
Program-eligible filers that they were unable to prepare and file their
taxes for free, despite the existence of Freedom Edition, Intuit charged
individuals for paid TurboTax products when it should have provided
Freedom Edition for free pursuant to the Free File Program. As a result
of the foregoing, plaintiff and members of the class have suffered harm
as a result of Intuit’s false advertising, fraudulent conduct, and
unfair, unlawful and deceptive trade practices.
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and
federal courts throughout the country. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check,
LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has
recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual
investors from the United States and around the world. The firm
represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who
report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the
recovery of government dollars). For more information about Kessler
Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, please visit www.ktmc.com.
Contacts
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
James Maro, Esq.
Adrienne
Bell, Esq.
280 King of Prussia Road
Radnor, PA 19087
(888)
299-7706
(610) 667-7706
info@ktmc.com