AG Wins $3.75M For Washingtonians Who Paid For TurboTax

OLYMPIA, WA — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Wednesday that a multistate investigation into Intuit and it's tax perpetration software TurboTax has netted Washington $3.75 million. The money will go to repay 121,102 Evergreen State residents who paid to have TurboTax file their taxes, even though they qualified for free e-filing.

Between 2016 and 2018, the affected Washingtonians filed more than 127,000 tax returns via TurboTax's paid program, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) said. The IRS offers free electronic filing for anyone with an income below $73,000, but Intuit charged the 121,102 Washingtonians about $30 for their filings. Ferguson's office says Intuit "deceptively marketed its TurboTax Free Edition" in an attempt to bilk customers who should have been able to use its service for free.

“I will continue holding corporate interests accountable when they deceive Washingtonians into paying millions of dollars for a free service,” Ferguson said. “Intuit’s deceptively earned profits will return to hardworking Washington families to help pay for groceries, car payments and other needs.”

The Attorney General's investigation was part of a larger movement against Intuit. In total, the company has been ordered to pay $141 million for a nationwide resolution with all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

The money secured by the AGO's investigation will go to reimburse the affected Washingtonians. The Attorney General's Office eligible Washingtonians do not need to do anything to receive their restitution. They should be contacted by a claims administrator shortly, who will help arrange a repayment plan.

Intuit has also been ordered to change TurboTax so that it no longer deceptively suggests that consumers must upgrade to its paid product, change marketing materials to appear more accurate, and prompting consumers to upgrade to the paid product if they are eligible to use the free filing software.