Checks Coming To Some WI Taxpayers Under $141M TurboTax Settlement

WISCONSIN — Some Wisconsinites who used TurboTax to file their income taxes in recent years may be getting a check soon under a $141 million class action lawsuit settlement with Intuit, the creator of the online tax preparation service, over claims it misled customers into paying for free tax services.

Taxpayers who spent money for the service in tax years 2016, 2017 and 2018, but qualified for the Internal Revenue Service’s Free File Program, will receive the checks. The settlement came after attorneys general for all 50 states and the District of Columbia sued Intuit last year.

“TurboTax's predatory and deceptive marketing cheated millions of low-income Americans who were trying to fulfill their legal duties to file their taxes,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the investigation, said in a statement Thursday when the settlement was announced. “Today we are righting that wrong and putting money back into the pockets of hardworking taxpayers who should have never paid to file their taxes.”

About 4.4 million people nationwide will receive a payment, which will range from $29 for customers who used the service one of the three years to $85 for those who used it all three years.

“More than 76,000 Wisconsinites ended up paying for tax preparation products that were marketed as being ‘free,’” said Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul in a release last year. “It’s not right for a corporation to use deceptive tactics to profit from folks who are paying their taxes.”

Of the total settlement, over $2,370,000 will head toward consumers in Wisconsin, according to Kaul

Wisconsin taxpayers who used the service during those years don’t need to do anything. Those eligible for payment will be notified by email by Rust Consulting Inc., the fund settlement administrator. The checks will be mailed the second week in May and will continue to arrive throughout the month.

However, eligible taxpayers who don’t receive payments by mid-June should contact the fund administrator through the website with their claimant ID, which is noted in the email.

There’s no need to file a claim, or to provide banking or other information.

More information is found on the settlement website.