For many couples, juggling time with the family along with work obligations means something has got to give. A solution that some families have found to be a wonderful arrangement is hiring a nanny or housekeeper. Having a capable professional…
How TurboTax is Helping Millions of Americans Receive Stimulus Payments
With millions of Americans facing an uncertain financial picture because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) — a $2 trillion stimulus package to provide financial relief to individuals, families and businesses — was signed into law.
The IRS estimates that approximately 80% of Americans will be eligible to receive a full or partial stimulus payment (economic impact payment) through the CARES Act. Intuit employees have been working around the clock to help those Americans get both their maximum tax refunds, and receive the federal stimulus payment, putting the most money in their pocket as quickly as possible when they need it most.
Congress has tasked the Department of the Treasury and the IRS with determining eligibility for and distributing stimulus payments. And for the tens of millions of taxpayers who have already filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return,are Social Security recipients or are Supplemental Security Income recipients, the IRS has all of the information it needs to distribute payments and they do not need to take any further action.
For tax filers who have not yet filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return and are required to do so, TurboTax, along with the IRS and the Department of the Treasury, strongly recommends that they file their return now, so that they can get both their tax refund and stimulus check as quickly as possible. Last year approximately 72% of taxpayers received a tax refund and the average refund was close to $3,000. The IRS expects to issue 9 out of 10 tax refunds within 21 days or less of acceptance if the taxpayer has elected to receive their refund through direct deposit. Filing 2019 returns now also will ensure that the IRS has the most current tax filing and direct deposit information, which they will use to determine and distribute individual stimulus payments.
But there is another group of Americans who do need to take action in order to receive their stimulus payment — the more than 10 million Americans who are not required to file a tax return. Because the IRS will use tax returns to determine eligibility and obtain the information needed to send individual stimulus payments, these individuals are at risk of not receiving their stimulus payment.
This is why TurboTax has developed and delivered three completely free stimulus registration tools so Americans who are not required to file a tax return can register their information with the IRS through multiple channels:
Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Tool: Developed in partnership with the IRS and the Free File Alliance, this tool allows users to electronically file the minimal information that can establish their eligibility for a stimulus payment and provide direct deposit information. Users complete only two simple steps and provide only the data necessary to receive stimulus payments. This tool is based on Free File Fillable Forms, which is software that Intuit developed and donated to the IRS. This experience is accessed from IRS.gov.
IRS Free File delivered by TurboTax Economic Impact Payment Registration Tool: This tool helps those who are not required to file a tax return to register their information with the IRS. This experience is accessed from the IRS Free File site.
TurboTax Stimulus Registration Tool: TurboTax created this new tool to help non-filers easily get their stimulus payment as quickly as possible. Users answer a few questions and then choose to receive their payment via direct deposit (strongly recommended by the IRS so taxpayers get their stimulus money more quickly) or check. As of April 13 more than 165,000 people used this tool to receive more than $230 million in stimulus payments. This experience is accessed from TurboTax.com.
TurboTax had one goal in creating these tools: ensuring Americans who do not need to file tax returns can get their stimulus money as quickly as possible. There is no fee to use any of the three stimulus registration tools, there is no upselling in the stimulus registration experience and Intuit will not use an individual’s data for future marketing.
After creating an account to access the TurboTax Stimulus Registration tool, some early users received a standard account confirmation email from Intuit. It’s the same automatically generated email received by everyone who creates a TurboTax account and contains references to TurboTax products. As soon as we learned these emails were inadvertently going to people who created accounts solely for the Stimulus Registration tool, we stopped the emails from being automatically sent.
Here’s what we’re hearing from public officials:
“People who don’t have a return filing obligation can use this tool to give us basic information so they can receive their Economic Impact Payments as soon as possible,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig.
“By creating a simplified tax form for those who need to file to receive their economic impact payment, the Free File Alliance is helping vulnerable populations weather these uncertain times,” said Richard Neal (D-MA), Ways & Means Chairman.
“Once again, public-private partnerships are proven critical to fighting the novel coronavirus,” said Ways & Means Ranking Member Kevin Brady.
Our entire focus is to help Americans through this incredibly difficult time. We are proud to be continuing to do everything we can to help people get the money some desperately need, be it a tax refund, stimulus payment or both.
The post How TurboTax is Helping Millions of Americans Receive Stimulus Payments appeared first on Intuit®: Official Blog.
Are State Tax Refunds Taxable?
For those who itemize their deductions, it’s one of the stranger parts of the tax code. First, you get to take a deduction of your state and local taxes, then all of a sudden the next year you get a…
Intuit’s letter to ProPublica editors
ProPublica’s Feb. 18 story titled TurboTax is Still Tricking Customers With Tax Prep Ads That Misuse the Word “Free” is misleading, contains unsubstantiated allegations, and includes multiple factual errors.
The article’s headline is inaccurate, deceptive and requires a correction. The word “free” as used in TurboTax’s advertising is not misleading. Last year, out of the approximately 50 million taxpayers who filed “simple returns,” more than 11 million people paid absolutely nothing to file their taxes using TurboTax Free Edition, the product referenced in TurboTax’s advertising. As the article correctly points out, eligibility for TurboTax Free Edition is clearly disclosed. Additionally, TurboTax customers who are not eligible for TurboTax Free Edition receive multiple clear and prominent notifications that there is a cost associated with the TurboTax product they have selected. There is no misuse of the word “free” and we demand a correction or change in the headline.
It is also inaccurate to say that “Intuit has amped up” its digital advertising, as the subhead states – which shows a fundamental lack of understanding about how search advertising works. Search advertising is an auction marketplace that is pay-per-click with fluctuating costs contingent on many factors; we pay only when more people click on the ads. When more or less people seek information about our product, our spending changes. Additionally, the comparison between January 2020 and January 2019 is completely invalid, as the IRS did not open tax filing until Jan. 28th last year, due to the government shutdown, so interest varied. We request that this misleading statement also be corrected.
The article states that, “organic links to Free Edition appear ahead of links to Free File in many searches.” Yet the image ProPublica uses to illustrate the story actually shows the IRS Free File site ranked as the #1 organic search result for the term “free tax filing.” That the IRS ranks #1 in organic search on a generalized query that did not include the term “IRS” demonstrates the very opposite of the article’s allegations. Your article also ignores the fact that, if one searches for “IRS free taxes” for example, the first result is for IRS.gov, and TurboTax’s IRS Free File offer outranks TurboTax Free Edition. Please acknowledge the results depicted in your own screen grab and accurately depict the landscape for organic search results.
Most egregiously, the article misleadingly states that, “Intuit does not advertise its Free File offering on Google.” What you fail to include is that Intuit has been advertising the entire IRS Free File Program. These paid search advertisements are sponsored by the Intuit-funded Tax Time Allies, a group of organizations that work together to promote Free File and VITA free tax preparation. The paid search ads referenced in your article as having come from the IRS (which notably did not confirm in your story that it had engaged in the advertising) are from Tax Time Allies, and thus are paid for by Intuit. To our knowledge, the IRS has not and does not pay for any search advertising for Free File. Over the years Intuit has spent millions of dollars promoting Free File and VITA for low-income filers and this year expects to spend $2 million to promote government supported free tax preparation. This fact completely undermines your story. Please immediately correct this factual inaccuracy.
We do agree wholeheartedly with several statements in the article: Intuit is in full compliance with the agreement between the IRS and Free File Alliance; Intuit’s online ads abide by Google’s terms; TurboTax discloses on its website that TurboTax Free Edition is free for eligible simple tax returns; and Intuit has for two decades provided free tax preparation and has helped taxpayers file more completely free tax returns than all other tax prep software companies combined, including approximately 13 million last year alone.
Based on those statements we request that ProPublica immediately correct the factual errors, misleading statements and headlines noted above and in the future provide its readers with accurate and unbiased information about Intuit.
Rick
Rick Heineman
Vice President, Corporate Communications
The post Intuit’s letter to ProPublica editors appeared first on Intuit®: Official Blog.
TIGTA Report on the IRS Free File Program
Intuit is a founding member of the IRS Free File program and has consistently and publicly supported recommendations and efforts to strengthen the program as part of our commitment to free tax preparation and our mission to empower individual taxpayers to manage their finances and receive every dollar they earned and deserve.
Today the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a report on the Free File program that reiterates findings by the previously published MITRE report and recommendations Intuit has supported, many of which are already enacted in the new MOU Addendum between FFA and IRS.
We are reviewing the report and support efforts by the IRS and FFA to further strengthen the Free File program.
The post TIGTA Report on the IRS Free File Program appeared first on Intuit®: Official Blog.