Intuit Misled Consumers With ‘Free’ TurboTax Ads, FTC Judge Says

Intuit Inc. misled consumers by claiming its TurboTax product was free when most customers needed to pay to use the popular tax preparation software, a Federal Trade Commission judge ruled.

In a decision dated Sept. 6 and released Friday, Administrative Law Judge Michael Chappell sided with the FTC, which alleged that Intuit deceived consumers with false advertisements. Intuit can appeal the judge’s ruling to the FTC’s commissioners.

Intuit “advertised to consumers that they could file their taxes online for free using TurboTax, when in truth, for approximately two-thirds of taxpayers, the advertised claim was false,” Chappell wrote.

He ordered the ...