Court Kills FTC Ban on TurboTax's 'Free' Advertising
Fifth Circuit tosses 2024 FTC order that blocked Intuit from marketing TurboTax as free to ineligible taxpayers.
Intuit just scored a major legal win. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out a 2024 Federal Trade Commission order that barred the company from advertising its TurboTax products as "free."
The FTC's original order targeted Intuit's marketing practices, arguing the company misled consumers by promoting TurboTax as free when a large number of taxpayers didn't actually qualify for the free tier. The agency wanted the ads stopped entirely.
The appeals court disagreed and tossed the order on Friday. It's a significant blow to the FTC's enforcement efforts around deceptive advertising in the tax software space.
Intuit, which trades under INTU.O, has long faced scrutiny over its "free" branding. Critics have argued for years that the marketing funnels users in only to hit them with unexpected fees. With this ruling, the company can continue its current advertising approach — at least for now.