TurboTax allegedly uses tricky tactics to prevent people from filing their taxes for free, report reveals

TurboTax ad.
(Image credit: Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

Thought TurboTax was supposed to simplify life during tax season? Think again.

Despite advertising free tax filing services — which anyone who makes less than $66,000 per year is entitled to based on an agreement between the Internal Revenue Service and multiple filing companies — ProPublica reporters found out that TurboTax does quite a bit of maneuvering to make it difficult for people to actually file their taxes for free.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.