- ORIGINAL NEWS
H&R Block used deceptive marketing and unfairly deleted tax filer data, FTC complaint alleges
- SUMMARY
Sure, here is a summary of the article: The Federal Trade Commission filed an administrative complaint against H&R Block for allegedly deceiving consumers with free filing products and wrongfully deleting their tax data.
The FTC claims that H&R Block misled consumers about who qualified for its free products and made it difficult for users to downgrade to a less expensive product.
The company is also being accused of “data-wipes” or deleting a user’s in-progress tax return information.
This action by the FTC is recently focused on investigating deceptive practices by tax filing software providers.
Last month, the FTC banned deceptive advertising from TurboTax maker Intuit.
In response, H&R Block’s chief legal officer wrote in a statement that the company provides customers with value, tax expertise, and fair pricing.
Consumers have several free tax filing options this season, including a Direct File pilot via the IRS, which will offer limited free filing for certain taxpayers in 12 states by mid-March.
In addition, the IRS Free File offers free guided software for filers with an adjusted gross income of $79,000 or less for 2023.
- NEWS SENTIMENT CHECK
- Overall sentiment:
negative
Positive
“Consumers have several free tax filing options this season, including a Direct File pilot via the IRS.”
“This is the second FTC action against tax filing software providers in recent history.”
Negative
“The Federal Trade Commission has filed an administrative complaint against H&R Block, alleging the company deceptively marketed free filing products and wrongfully deleted users’ tax data.”
“H&R Block designed its online products to present an obstacle course of tedious challenges to consumers, pressuring them into overpaying for its products.”