ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit investigative newsroom based in New York.
This week, we reported on how TurboTax uses and misleading advertising to trick lower-income Americans into paying to file their taxes, even though they are eligible to do it for free.
There鈥檚 a new wrinkle: It turns out, Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, is deliberately hiding the truly free edition 鈥� 鈥� from Google Search.
Intuit has done that by adding code on its site telling Google and other search engines not to list TurboTax Free File in search results.
鈥淚t鈥檚 deliberately saying: 鈥楪oogle, we don鈥檛 want you here. Do not bring us traffic,鈥欌�� said , a veteran web design and user experience expert.
The code in question, which can be found in a file called or in an HTML tag, has to be actively added to a site, as Intuit has done. It is typically used on pages that designers want to hide from the open internet, such as those that are for internal use only. Without that code, Google and other search engines default to adding a site to their search results.
鈥淩obots.txt is a big 鈥楴o, don鈥檛 go any further鈥� sign on the web,鈥� Spool said.
The code on TurboTax鈥檚 Free File site says 鈥渘oindex,nofollow鈥� 鈥� instructions for it not to show up in search results.
In contrast, the TurboTax page that puts many users on track to pay signals to Google that it should be listed in search results.
Sen. , the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement that he plans to raise Intuit鈥檚 misleading marketing with the IRS. 鈥淚ntuit鈥檚 tactics to reduce access to the Free File program and confuse taxpayers are outrageous,鈥� he said.
Here鈥檚 the page for TurboTax鈥檚 edition.
And here鈥檚 the code Intuit put in hiding it. (Special thanks to Larissa Williams on and Arkadiy Kulev on for pointing out the code.)
And here鈥檚 the main page, which, despite the 鈥淔REE Guaranteed鈥� language, puts many users on track to pay.
It instructs Google and other search engines to 鈥渋ndex,follow.鈥�
An Intuit spokesman didn鈥檛 immediately respond to requests for comment.
In exchange for the IRS promising not to create its own free, online filing tool, Intuit, H&R Block and other companies signed a deal to offer Free File options to lower-income Americans.
The fact that TurboTax Free File is effectively hidden from Google could contribute to the low rate of use. While 70% of taxpayers are eligible for Free File options from TurboTax and other tax software products, just use them each year.
Under the Free File deal, Intuit and other companies work 鈥渢o increase electronic filing of tax returns, which includes extending the benefits of online federal tax preparation and electronic filing to economically disadvantaged and underserved populations at no cost.鈥�
Intuit is the dominant player in consumer tax software, with market share reportedly in the .
We found that Intuit鈥檚 smaller competitor in the market, H&R Block, also hid its product from Google using the same sort of code. An H&R Block spokeswoman said: 鈥淲e are proud that we have helped millions of Americans file their returns under the Free File Alliance program. 鈥� Our Free File Alliance offering, like all other alliance partners, is presented in the IRS site and easily reachable through the IRS, on HRBlock.com, and also by googling 鈥楩FA H&R Block.鈥欌��
But the for that search do not directly link to H&R Block鈥檚 Free File landing page.
The Senate is currently a wide-ranging, bipartisan bill, the , that would make the tax software industry鈥檚 Free File deal with the IRS permanent. Intuit and other tax software companies have for the language in the bill.
Wyden, who is a co-sponsor of the Taxpayer First Act, said Intuit鈥檚 actions have undermined the program. 鈥淭he IRS agreement with the tax-preparation software industry requires companies to work to increase the number of taxpayers who file their taxes for free,鈥� he said. 鈥淪teering eligible taxpayers away from filing for free or blocking the Free File page from search results violates the spirit of the agreement and calls into serious question the justification for the program.鈥�
The Senate is currently in recess, and the fate of the Free File provision in the Taxpayer First Act is unclear. Spokespeople for three of the bill鈥檚 other sponsors, Sen. and Reps. and , didn鈥檛 immediately respond to requests for comment.
An IRS spokesman declined to comment on Intuit but said in a statement, 鈥淔ree File has been a successful program and partnership that’s benefited millions of taxpayers. The page is promoted by the IRS as the only site where taxpayers can view all free offerings from the software providers.鈥�
The IRS was criticized by its expert advisory council last year for 鈥溾�� of the Free File program.
Dozens of ProPublica readers whom TurboTax charged even though they were eligible to file for free have reported .
Sign up for to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
