Today, Alaska’s Attorney General Treg Taylor announced that consumers in Alaska who fell prey to Intuit, TurboTax’s owner, and were charged for tax services that were supposed to be free as part of the IRS Free File Program, will start receiving checks from a $141 million multi-state settlement finished in May of 2022. Nationwide, around 4.4 million consumers will be receiving checks in the mail.
In the previous year, Attorney General Taylor participated in the settlement with TurboTax to resolve allegations that Alaskans were deceived into paying for services that should have been free for them. As part of the settlement, Rust Consulting, a settlement administrator, will be mailing restitution checks to 15,568 Alaskans for a total of approximately $477,000, or about $29 apiece on average. The checks will be sent to Alaskans who used certain TurboTax products in 2016, 2017, or 2018, and the amount of each check will depend on the number of years for which each person qualifies.
Attorney General Taylor said that addressing the deception and ensuring impacted Alaskans receive restitution checks was crucial, as tax season is already a stressful time. He added, “Having trustworthy tools to work with will be one less thing our residents have to worry about.” The agreement has been signed by all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Consumers who are eligible for payment will receive notification by email from the settlement fund administrator, Rust Consulting.
These consumers will automatically receive a check in the mail without having to file a claim. Checks are expected to be mailed out starting next week. For more information regarding the settlement coverage and the settlement fund, visit www.AGTurboTaxSettlement.com.
Intuit has also agreed to reform its business practices, including:
- Refraining from making misrepresentations in connection with promoting or offering any online tax preparation products
- Enhancing disclosures in its advertising and marketing of free products
- Designing its products to better inform users whether they will be eligible to file their taxes for free; and
- Refraining from requiring consumers to start their tax filing over if they exit one of Intuit’s paid products to use a free product instead.
Intuit withdrew from the IRS Free File program in July 2021.
