- Intuit withdrawing services from the Free File Alliance
- Would the US follow the global free file trend?
- Americans today have fewer options for free tax preparation
Intuit, a popular tax software provider, left the Free File Alliance last week, saying in its blog: “This decision will allow us to focus on further innovating… to better serve the complete financial health of all Americans.”
The Free File Alliance (FFA) is a consortium of tax software companies who have agreed to offer free versions of their programs to taxpayers below certain annual income levels (currently $72,000).
Recently, there has been a mass exodus from the FFA, with H&R Block having dropped out just last year. This year’s departure of TurboTax—which is used by more Americans than any other tax filing program—means that US taxpayers are left with few and far between when it comes to free filing options.
Intuit, which advertises a “free… free, free, free” version of its TurboTax software, says that it will still offer free tax filing, though not through the FFA. The company says it will be able to offer a better service to customers outside the structures of the government program.
These intentions, however, are not without monetary incentive. Intuit has been under pressure since a 2019 report, which called out the service for attracting customers with its free offering and then steering them towards their paid products. Research also found suspicious search engine coding on their website that drew viewers away from their free file option pages and directly to their paid program sites.
Would the US Follow the Global Free File Trend?
Could the removal of independent free filing software be hinting at a future of free federally-provided tax preparation services? Probably not.
Such a move, however, would fall in line with other countries like Japan, Netherlands, and the UK where taxpayers typically do not file their own returns. In these countries, the government withholds taxes from wage income and handles the necessary paperwork that, in the US, would fall under the taxpayer’s responsibility.
With free file options becoming fewer and increasingly unreliable, it’s more important than ever for taxpayers to find affordable services with tax preparers they can trust.
Call our experts at 516-541-6549 and visit our website to learn more about quality service you can always count on.