WASHINGTON — A Federal Trade Commission judge on Friday issued an initial ruling against Intuit , the maker of the popular tax filing software TurboTax, saying the company deceived consumers with ads for so-called "free" tax products.
Intuit violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by promoting "free" tax products and services for which many were ineligible, according to Chief Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell.
Intuit will appeal the ruling, said Rick Heineman, a spokesperson for the company.
"It's no surprise that a case the FTC brought before itself, argued with FTC-employed lawyers, all before an FTC-employed judge got a ruling in favor of the FTC," Heineman said.
"You can't make this stuff up — it's a flawed system and a groundless ruling."
Persons:
WASHINGTON, D, Michael Chappell, Rick Heineman, Heineman
Organizations:
Federal Trade Commission, Intuit, FTC