Are you one of millions owed money from TurboTax? How to make sure you don’t miss out

Millions of Americans will soon receive a check from Intuit Inc., the owner of TurboTax, after a multi-state agreement, according to New York officials.

The company will pay $141 million in restitution for deceiving low-income taxpayers into paying for tax services that should have been free, New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a May 4 news release. Payments will be sent to about 4.4 million customers.

Here’s what you need to know.

Who qualifies for a check

TurboTax customers who used the program’s “Free Edition” for tax years 2016 through 2018 and had to pay to file despite their eligibility for the IRS Free File program, will receive a check, according to James. The payments will be for approximately $30 for each year that the customer wrongly paid.

Intuit offered two free options for customers: a public-private collaboration with the IRS’ Free File program and its own “TurboTax Free Edition” option.

Unlike the IRS’s Free File program — which determines eligibility based on annual income — the TurboTax Free Edition was only free for taxpayers with “’simple returns’ as defined by Intuit,” officials said.

“Intuit engaged in several deceptive and unfair trade practices that limited consumers’ participation in the IRS Free File Program,” the investigation found. The TurboTax product is free for about one-third of US taxpayers, “while the IRS Free File products were free for 70 percent of taxpayers,” the New York Attorney General’s office said.

The investigation also revealed that during the 2019 tax season, Intuit blocked its IRS Free File page from search results and never displayed or recommended the option to customers, even to those who qualified.

How to get your payment

Qualifying customers do not need to do anything to receive their payment, James said.

Intuit will automatically notify customers and send a check by mail to those who qualify for a payment.

“No wrongdoing”

While Intuit agreed to pay the restitution, it “admitted no wrongdoing,” the company said in a news release originally shared in May 2022 when the deal was first negotiated.

“Intuit is pleased to have reached a resolution with the state attorneys general that will ensure the company can return our focus to providing vital services to American taxpayers today and in the future,” Kerry McLean, Intuit’s executive vice president and general counsel, said in the statement.

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