<s>
TurboTax	B-Application
is	O
a	O
software	O
package	O
for	O
preparation	O
of	O
American	O
income	O
tax	O
returns	O
,	O
produced	O
by	O
Intuit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TurboTax	B-Application
is	O
a	O
market	O
leader	O
in	O
its	O
product	O
segment	O
,	O
competing	O
with	O
H&R	B-Application
Block	I-Application
Tax	I-Application
Software	I-Application
and	O
TaxAct	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TurboTax	B-Application
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Michael	O
A	O
.	O
Chipman	O
of	O
Chipsoft	O
in	O
1984	O
and	O
was	O
sold	O
to	O
Intuit	O
in	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intuit	O
,	O
the	O
maker	O
of	O
TurboTax	B-Application
,	O
has	O
lobbied	O
extensively	O
against	O
the	O
Internal	O
Revenue	O
Service	O
(	O
IRS	O
)	O
creating	O
its	O
own	O
online	O
system	O
of	O
tax	O
filing	O
like	O
those	O
that	O
exist	O
in	O
most	O
other	O
wealthy	O
countries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
an	O
agreement	O
with	O
the	O
IRS	O
Free	O
File	O
program	O
,	O
TurboTax	B-Application
allowed	O
individuals	O
making	O
less	O
than	O
$	O
39,000	O
a	O
year	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
free	O
version	O
of	O
TurboTax	B-Application
;	O
a	O
2019	O
ProPublica	O
investigation	O
revealed	O
that	O
TurboTax	B-Application
deliberately	O
made	O
this	O
version	O
hard	O
to	O
find	O
,	O
even	O
through	O
search	O
engines	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
it	O
deceptively	O
steered	O
individuals	O
who	O
search	O
for	O
the	O
free	O
version	O
to	O
TurboTax	B-Application
versions	O
that	O
cost	O
money	O
to	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TurboTax	B-Application
has	O
tricked	O
military	O
service	O
members	O
to	O
pay	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
filing	O
software	O
by	O
creating	O
and	O
promoting	O
a	O
"	O
military	O
discount	O
"	O
and	O
by	O
making	O
the	O
free	O
version	O
hard	O
to	O
find	O
when	O
many	O
service	O
members	O
are	O
in	O
fact	O
eligible	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
software	O
for	O
free	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
different	O
versions	O
,	O
including	O
TurboTax	B-Application
Deluxe	O
,	O
TurboTax	B-Application
Premier	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TurboTax	B-Application
is	O
available	O
for	O
both	O
federal	O
and	O
state	O
income	O
tax	O
returns	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
TurboTax	B-Application
software	O
provides	O
taxpayers	O
additional	O
support	O
for	O
their	O
self-prepared	O
returns	O
by	O
offering	O
Audit	O
Defense	O
from	O
TaxResources	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
,	O
TurboTax	B-Application
federal	O
software	O
is	O
released	O
late	O
in	O
the	O
year	O
and	O
the	O
state	O
software	O
is	O
released	O
mid-January	O
to	O
mid-February	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TurboTax	B-Application
normally	O
releases	O
its	O
new	O
versions	O
as	O
soon	O
as	O
the	O
IRS	O
completes	O
revisions	O
to	O
the	O
forms	O
and	O
approves	O
the	O
TurboTax	B-Application
versions	O
,	O
usually	O
late	O
in	O
the	O
tax	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2001	O
,	O
TurboTax	B-Application
saved	O
financial	O
institution	O
passwords	O
entered	O
by	O
users	O
to	O
servers	O
at	O
Intuit	O
and	O
the	O
home	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
programming	O
error	O
was	O
reportedly	O
fixed	O
,	O
but	O
as	O
of	O
2012	O
TurboTax	B-Application
offers	O
no	O
option	O
to	O
download	O
a	O
data	O
file	O
directly	O
from	O
the	O
financial	O
institution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2003	O
,	O
Intuit	O
faced	O
vocal	O
criticism	O
for	O
its	O
TurboTax	B-Application
activation	O
scheme	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
responded	O
by	O
removing	O
the	O
product	B-License
activation	I-License
scheme	O
from	O
its	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2005	O
TurboTax	B-Application
extended	O
its	O
offering	O
by	O
allowing	O
any	O
taxpayer	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
basic	O
version	O
of	O
its	O
federal	O
product	O
for	O
free	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Free	O
File	O
Alliance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TurboTax	B-Application
has	O
received	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
complaints	O
regarding	O
its	O
advertising	O
of	O
the	O
free	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
state	O
tax	O
filing	O
is	O
not	O
free	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
using	O
TurboTax	B-Application
to	O
file	O
state	O
returns	O
is	O
not	O
presented	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
until	O
they	O
've	O
already	O
completed	O
entering	O
their	O
information	O
for	O
federal	O
returns	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2008	O
,	O
Intuit	O
raised	O
the	O
price	O
of	O
TurboTax	B-Application
for	O
desktop	O
customers	O
by	O
$15	O
and	O
included	O
a	O
free	O
e-filing	O
for	O
the	O
first	O
return	O
prepared	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
21	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
TurboTax	B-Application
received	O
considerable	O
public	O
attention	O
at	O
the	O
Senate	O
confirmation	O
hearing	O
of	O
Timothy	O
F	O
.	O
Geithner	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
Secretary	O
of	O
Treasury	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Geithner	O
had	O
testified	O
that	O
he	O
used	O
TurboTax	B-Application
to	O
prepare	O
his	O
tax	O
returns	O
for	O
the	O
years	O
2001	O
to	O
2004	O
but	O
had	O
incorrectly	O
handled	O
the	O
self-employment	O
taxes	O
due	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
his	O
being	O
employed	O
by	O
the	O
International	O
Monetary	O
Fund	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Geithner	O
made	O
it	O
clear	O
that	O
he	O
took	O
responsibility	O
for	O
the	O
error	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
discovered	O
in	O
a	O
subsequent	O
IRS	O
audit	O
,	O
and	O
did	O
not	O
blame	O
TurboTax	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intuit	O
responded	O
by	O
releasing	O
a	O
statement	O
saying	O
"	O
TurboTax	B-Application
,	O
and	O
all	O
software	O
and	O
in-person	O
tax	O
preparation	O
services	O
,	O
base	O
their	O
calculations	O
on	O
the	O
information	O
users	O
provide	O
when	O
completing	O
their	O
returns.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Intuit	O
also	O
addresses	O
Canadian	O
tax	O
returns	O
with	O
an	O
entirely	O
separate	O
product	O
also	O
named	O
TurboTax	B-Application
,	O
but	O
previously	O
called	O
QuickTax	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
TurboTax	B-Application
's	O
"	O
free	O
file	O
program	O
"	O
page	O
(	O
)	O
contains	O
specific	O
HTML	O
tags	O
(	O
noindex	O
,	O
nofollow	O
)	O
which	O
block	O
search	O
engines	O
from	O
indexing	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TurboTax	B-Application
has	O
been	O
deceiving	O
customers	O
which	O
were	O
eligible	O
for	O
the	O
free	O
submission	O
into	O
signing	O
up	O
for	O
their	O
commercial	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
December	O
30	O
,	O
2019	O
,	O
under	O
a	O
new	O
agreement	O
from	O
the	O
IRS	O
,	O
TurboTax	B-Application
can	O
no	O
longer	O
hide	O
their	O
free	O
version	O
services	O
from	O
search	O
results	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
2003	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
TurboTax	B-Application
software	O
contained	O
digital	O
rights	O
management	O
that	O
tracked	O
whether	O
it	O
had	O
previously	O
been	O
installed	O
on	O
a	O
computer	O
by	O
writing	O
to	O
sector	O
33	O
on	O
the	O
hard	O
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intuit	O
,	O
the	O
owner	O
of	O
TurboTax	B-Application
,	O
spent	O
more	O
than	O
$11	O
million	O
on	O
federal	O
lobbying	O
between	O
2008	O
and	O
2012	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2021	O
,	O
some	O
individuals	O
who	O
used	O
Turbotax	B-Application
for	O
their	O
tax	O
filings	O
were	O
unable	O
to	O
access	O
stimulus	O
checks	O
sent	O
by	O
the	O
government	O
because	O
Turbotax	B-Application
diverted	O
the	O
checks	O
to	O
old	O
and	O
unused	O
bank	O
accounts	O
for	O
the	O
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
29	O
,	O
2022	O
,	O
the	O
Federal	O
Trade	O
Commission	O
announced	O
that	O
they	O
would	O
take	O
legal	O
action	O
against	O
Intuit	O
,	O
the	O
parent	O
company	O
of	O
TurboTax	B-Application
in	O
response	O
to	O
deceptive	O
advertising	O
of	O
its	O
free	O
tax	O
filing	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
commission	O
reported	O
that	O
the	O
majority	O
of	O
tax	O
filers	O
cannot	O
use	O
any	O
of	O
TurboTax	B-Application
's	O
free	O
products	O
which	O
were	O
advertised	O
,	O
claiming	O
that	O
it	O
has	O
misled	O
customers	O
to	O
believing	O
that	O
tax	O
filers	O
can	O
use	O
TurboTax	B-Application
to	O
file	O
their	O
taxes	O
.	O
</s>
