Technology innovation helps with free tax filing

For nearly 20 years, Intuit has been a proud member of the Free File program, helping millions of Americans access free tax filing to prepare and electronically file their tax returns. Today, more than 90% of all taxpayers e-file their taxes, and free tax preparation is currently available to 100% of American taxpayers through a combination of commercial, philanthropic, and IRS-sponsored methods. Intuit’s participation in the Free File program has helped the organization exceed its charter of increasing electronic filing to 80% and making free tax preparation available to 70% of filers. 

While we are proud of our results, Intuit no longer participates in the Free File Program due to limitations within the program and conflicting demands from those outside the program.  

Why TurboTax is no longer part of the Free File Program

Intuit’s goal is to democratize financial services that are usually only available to the wealthy by providing all Americans access to opportunities to improve their finances. The Free File program focuses solely on tax preparation and e-filing with strict requirements concerning user experiences. These laws would leave us unable to serve millions of Americans after they file their taxes and receive their tax refund – which, for many, is their biggest check of the year. 

Since moving away from the program, we’ve been able to focus on innovations to better serve the complete financial health of all Americans through tax preparation and beyond.  

It’s important to note, although we’re no longer part of the Free File Program, we still offer free tax filing services through Intuit TurboTax. We still hold firm in our commitment to helping our customers solve their biggest financial challenges. That means we need to focus on helping them not only get their biggest refund, but we must go beyond free online tax filing so they can increase savings, increase income, pay down debt, and have faster access to their money. 

We can help more customers get access to their refund faster at no cost, tap into expert resources at will, use their own data to improve their budgeting and save and invest – all of which we couldn’t effectively do as part of the Free File program. 

Now, Intuit can provide more financial benefits and empower Americans of all income levels to take control of their finances by: 

• Instilling confidence in tax filers by removing obstacles in tax preparation by importing data beyond the tax return 
• Delivering access to tax and finance experts for personal 1:1 support free of charge or at a fraction of the cost of other providers 
• Using AI models to proactively intervene with customers when they may be making a mistake or appear lost during the filing process 
• With customer consent, direct depositing refunds into free, high-yield accounts so they can save more and invest to make their money work for them 
• Extending completely free refund advances to help those in need make ends meet and enable financial benefits like lowering debt 

As a company, we are committed to helping Americans solve their biggest financial challenges, including a goal of doubling the household savings rate for customers on Intuit’s platform. Here are just a few of the ways we’ve contributed to making an impact with our customers: 

• Advancing $450 million in TurboTax filers’ refunds completely free of charge 
• Helping low-income filers obtain more than $10 billion in Earned Income Tax Credit in a single year 
• Shielding Credit Karma members from nearly $3,000 in unnecessary interest charges over the life of their auto loan 
• Assisting employees in getting paid two times faster through QuickBooks Payments 
• Helping 60% of QuickBooks business owners survive beyond their fifth year, which is 10% over the national average 

There is no question that we can only help solve more consumer financial problems by accelerating our innovation to deliver more benefits like these without the restraints of the Free File program. 

Intuit remains committed to free online tax filing

We still value our commitment to free tax filing. Intuit is the industry leader in free tax preparation – with more free tax filings than all other tax prep software companies put together.  

We are obsessed with helping millions of Americans looking to take charge of their finances so they can prosper. Intuit’s AI-driven expert platform makes it simple for consumers to make better financial decisions, helping them not only receive their maximum refund but empowering them by putting control in their hands so they can make smart money decisions and realize their financial dreams.