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Turbotax banned from advertising popular tax filing product as free

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FTC bans TurboTax ad for “free” services


FTC bans TurboTax ad for “free” services

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The Federal Trade Commission is barring Intuit from advertising its popular TurboTax product as free when most consumers have to pay to use the tax filing software, calling the practice deceptive.

The FTC’s final order follows an administrative ruling in September prohibiting Intuit from marketing a service as free unless it is free for all customers, or unless the company made clear the percentage of taxpayers that would qualify for the free product.

Millions — or approximately two-thirds of tax filers — were ineligible to use TurboTax’s free product in 2020, according to the FTC. The agency called the company’s past violations “egregious” in laying out its case for a case-and-desist order. 

“For at least six years, Intuit blanketed the country with deceptive ads to taxpayers across multiple media channels,” the FTC  opinion stated

Intuit said it would immediately appeal the FTC’s order. “When the matter ultimately returns to a neutral body we will prevail,” the company said on Monday. 

“Intuit has always been clear, fair and transparent with its customers and is committed to free tax preparation,” the company added. Intuit said the FTC order contains no monetary penalty and will not significantly affect its business.

Intuit and government regulators have sparred for years over its tax preparation software. The company in 2022 agreed to pay $141 million over allegations its TurboTax software misled low-income Americans into paying to file their taxes when they were eligible to file for free. About 4.4 million taxpayers qualified for payments of up to $85 from Intuit under the settlement.



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Wisconsin school shooter was in contact with California man plotting his own attack, court documents say

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The shooter who killed a student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to the school and was in contact with a man in California whom authorities say was planning to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents that became public Wednesday.

Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told the Associated Press Wednesday. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.

A Southern California judge issued a restraining order Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires the man to turn his guns and ammunition into police within 48 hours unless an officer asks for them sooner because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.

Carlsbad is located just north of San Diego. 

According to the order, the man told FBI agents that he had been messaging Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order doesn’t say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also doesn’t detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.

CBS’ San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV reported that law enforcement searched the man’s home Tuesday night after the order was signed by the judge. 

Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes told the AP.

Police don’t know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said. Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.

“I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”

On a Madison city website providing details about the shooting, police disclosed Wednesday that two guns were found at the school, but only one was used in the shooting. A law enforcement source previously told CBS News the weapon used appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.  

Barnes told the AP that he did not know how the suspected shooter obtained the guns and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.

No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes told the AP.

Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that offers prekindergarten classes through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.

The Dan County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two people killed Wednesday as 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara.

An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.” 

West’s exact position with the school was unclear.   



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