FTC Sues Intuit to Stop Advertising Free Tax Filing Services

The Federal Trade Commission sued to stop Intuit Inc. from telling prospective customers that its tax preparation services are free -- a little more than two weeks before the U.S. tax-filing deadline for most people.

Millions of Americans file their taxes each year by April 15 using Intuit’s TurboTax software and online services. It’s free for customers, but only those with simple tax returns.

“For many others, Intuit tells them, after they have invested time and effort gathering and inputting into TurboTax their sensitive personal and financial information to prepare their tax returns, that they cannot continue for free; they ...