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1/ The 2017 tax law threatened TurboTax maker Intuit’s profits. So the company decided to address the threat by charging more lower-income Americans to file their taxes.
Here’s how it all went down — and how we at @ProPublica found out about it. 👇🏽👇🏽
Here’s how it all went down — and how we at @ProPublica found out about it. 👇🏽👇🏽
2/ In our reporting, we kept hearing stories of people who clicked “free” but were charged $100 or more by TurboTax to file their taxes, apparently because they had #studentloans. So @justinelliott and @paulkiel started looking into it. 
3/ With the help of former Intuit staffers and old versions of TurboTax from the @waybackmachine, they figured out what was going on: In response to the threat of simpler taxes ushered in by the new law, company execs huddled last year to figure out how to protect profits…
4/ What they came up with: start charging individuals with disabilities, the unemployed and people who owe money on student loans, all of whom use tax forms that TurboTax previously let people file for free.
5/ One grad student with an income of $12,000 ended up paying TurboTax more than $100 because of student loans, even though the deduction only cut her taxes by $26.
Here’s the audio of her calling Intuit and the company rejecting her refund request.
Here’s the audio of her calling Intuit and the company rejecting her refund request.
6/ Many of the people affected by the changes should have been able to file for free under a deal made between the IRS and the tax prep industry. But Intuit and other companies have taken steps to hide the truly free version, as we’ve been reporting.
propub.li/2jQ4ygw
propub.li/2jQ4ygw
7/ It turns out the strategy of charging more of these lower-income people worked well for the company: CEO @Sasan_Goodarzi publicly credited it as one of the factors that grew revenue to $2.2 billion this tax season.
8/ We tried to talk to @Intuit about it. They declined to answer detailed questions. Here’s what they would say:
“More taxpayers filed their taxes last year with TurboTax and paid absolutely nothing than any other year.”
“More taxpayers filed their taxes last year with TurboTax and paid absolutely nothing than any other year.”
9/ Read the full story here: propub.li/2leXJ8i
11/ We’re not done reporting on this.
Know anyone who’s worked at Intuit or elsewhere in the tax prep industry? Talk to us. Get in touch with @justinelliott or fill out our questionnaire:
propub.li/2keVh1v
Know anyone who’s worked at Intuit or elsewhere in the tax prep industry? Talk to us. Get in touch with @justinelliott or fill out our questionnaire:
propub.li/2keVh1v
