Intuit owes you money if it tricked you into paying for TurboTax “Free Edition”

In the words of New York Attorney General Letitia James, "Intuit cheated millions of low-income Americans out of free tax filing services." Most of the money will go to people who were tricked into paying. The company will have to change its marketing practices as a result of an agreement it made with the AG and officials from all 50 states and DC.

According to the Attorney General's press release, people who were tricked into paying for a product will have to pay for it every year for the next three years. Impacted consumers will receive notices and a check by mail, according to the document.

TurboTax has been accused of being deceptive and opaque. There were two versions of its tax preparation software that were free. The press release states that some ads used the word "free" in as little as 30 seconds. Around 4% of the population ended up owing money when using it.

The Free File version was part of the Internal Revenue Service's program. The program came from a partnership between the government and tax companies. It was supposed to make sure that the majority of Americans had access to a free version of tax preparation software. The press release states that it prevented the IRS from creating its own competing service.

After the IRS changed the rules of the program, Intuit stopped participating in Free File. The rule change allowed the IRS to make its own free filing system, but so far it hasn't.

Lawmakers like Sen. Elizabeth Warren are scrutinizing the program's involvement. Warren accused the company of lobbying to protect its shady business practices, and also said that the products of the company were deceiving American taxpayers.

The AG's press release states that consumers won't be getting the full amount.

• Stop misrepresenting its online tax preparation products
• Improve the disclosures in its ads and marketing for its free products
• Make it clearer in TurboTax itself whether you’ll be eligible for free filing
• Not make customers start over if they switch from a paid product to a free one

The Federal Trade Commission recently sued the company over its use of the word "free" in a bid to stop false advertising.