TurboTax to Pay $141 Million Settlement For Deceiving Millions of Customers Into Paying For Tax Services That Should Have Been Free

Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, will pay $141 million to settle charges that it tricked 4.4 million customers into paying to file their taxes when they should have received the services for free.
The settlement covers tax filing years 2016 through 2018 and stems from an investigation sparked by a ProPublica report exposing Intuit's deceptive tactics.
Eligible customers, who will receive payments ranging from $29 to $85, do not need to take any action to receive their checks, which will be mailed automatically starting next week.
The settlement also requires Intuit to suspend its 'free, free, free' ad campaign and make changes to its advertising practices, though the company admitted no wrongdoing.
Authorities said Intuit's actions limited participation in the IRS's Free File program, which provides free tax prep and filing services to 70% of taxpayers.