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TurboTax Halts E-filing of State Tax Returns Because of Potential Fraud
mpicpp writes with this news from Marketwatch: Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, has stopped e-filing all state tax returns due to increased suspicion of fraud. The company says it is investigating criminal attempts to use stolen data to file fraudulent returns and claim refunds, after hearing concerns from a handful of states, Intuit spokeswoman Diane Carlini told MarketWatch. After a preliminary examination with security experts, Intuit believes its systems weren't breached, but crooks may have used TurboTax software to file fraudulent returns after stealing identities, she said. Intuit said in a release that "the information used to file fraudulent returns was obtained from other sources outside the tax preparation process." The company called pausing e-filings to states a "precautionary step." Utah, the first state to reach out to Intuit, issued a notice Thursday saying the state tax commission has discovered 28 fraud attempts that "originate from data compromised through a third-party commercial tax preparation software process," as well as 8,000 returns flagged as potentially fraudulent.
There are 2,095 negative 1-star reviews on Amazon of Intuit's TurboTax Deluxe tax preparation software. Why? Because, without telling customers, Intuit removed important functions from TurboTax Deluxe.
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Most helpful review: "The Deluxe version does not allow you to file Schedule D or E.
Most helpful critical review: "I hate being gouged, and I hate weasel word explanations even more... I am angry about the deliberate disabling of critical features in TurboTax Deluxe. No Schedules C, D, or E."
The solution? In my opinion, the CEO of Intuit should be fired. Intuit should find a new CEO who will cure Intuit of its long-term abusiveness.
I am actually a victim of this. I got my W2s on the 22nd and went to file them on TurboTax, just like I have for about the last 10 years. To my surprise my claim had been approved already by the IRS. I contacted TurboTax thinking I was going to be able to resolve it with a quick phone call for them to reset my account so I could really file my taxes. They werent able to do anything and I had to contact the IRS directly along with a few other branches and my local police department. I now have to paper file along with a Identity Theft form. My refund will now take at least 180 days to process. It could really be worse than it is. I didnt lose anything, the payment to the thieves was stopped before it was paid, just a hassle at this point. And those responsible had my refund at over $1600 short! :-P
Strangely it's not actually that issue, as plenty of other countries do their taxes that way.
The problem here (like just about all of our problems) comes from the intersection of business and government. The IRS actually looked in to free tax filing, but Intuit and their fellow companies lobbied hard to get it killed. It turns out Intuit would make a lot less money if the government did our taxes for us, so it's in their best interest to spend lots of money to prevent it from happening.