Warning: TurboTax 2009's Fraudulent Consent to Steal Your Income Tax Data

TurboTax 2009 ^ | 1/24/2010 | The Taxman

[catnipman]

I wanted to alert everyone here that TurboTax 2009 is going to attempt to grab your income tax data for unlimited nefarious use by themselves and their partners. Here's how:

I've sent the following information to the IRS via mailed Form 3934A, emailed via complaints@tigta.treas.gov, to ripoffreport.com and to the Journal's Walter Mossberg:

January 24, 2010

Internal Revenue Service Fraud Department
Internal Revenue Service
Fresno, CA 93888

To Whom It May Concern,

Each year Intuit comes up with a new ripoff scheme for TurboTax. I think they must be doing it for publicity purposes at this point, because no one can be that stupid, since they get caught each year and have to issue an apology.

This year's scam is a bogus "Consent" form at the start of the process that looks as if the IRS requires that it be signed. In fact, this consent form allows Intuit and their partners to paw through your tax return to decide which of their money-making ripoff products and services that they want to try and trick you into buying later on.

This consent form is deliberately obtuse and is deliberately designed to confuse and trick the users of TurboTax 2009 into granting practically unlimited consent for Intuit and their partners to utilize all information on one’s tax return for almost any purpose.

I urge you to immediately order Intuit to issue an automatic program update that eliminates this consent form as well as the underlying purposes for which it is being presented.

I’ve attached the following:

1. Exhibit A: A screen capture of the consent form from TurboTax 2009. Also, I’ve placed this online at:

Consent Form

2. Exhibit B: Supposedly the same form when printed out from TurboTax 2009, though it is quite different.

3. Exhibit C: The web page on Intuit’s web site that offers an explanation of the consent form. Notice that this explanation is substantially different than the explanation in the consent form itself, and actually admits to the actual purpose of the consent form, namely it’s needed solely for the purpose of Intuit using your tax return information for the purpose of selling you additional products and services. The link to this page is:

Intuit Web Page

Sincerely,

An Outraged Taxpayer

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

[PjhCPA]

Cheap skates. Spend a few bucks and hirer a professional. Do you do your own brain surgery?

[Atlas Sneezed]

Cheap skates. Spend a few bucks and hirer a professional. Do you do your own brain surgery?

---

Bad analogy. It’s a lot easier to prepare one’s own taxes (ask all the tax preparers) than to cut on one’s own brain.

Why would I entrust my private data to a “trained bungler” (what lawyers call CPAs) with whom there is no attorney-client privilege?

[catnipman]

The reason I use Turbo Tax is to give me all the options? If I don’t check that, will the software not optimize my return??

The only options you lose is for Intuit to sell you certain additional products and services for additional fees.

[Cicero]

I haven’t done my taxes yet this year, so I’m unsure about this.

But I will say that I’ve found TurboTax extremely helpful in the past. It sure is a lot easier than filling out all the paper forms.

[pop-aye]

I was going to use Turbo-Tax for my taxes this year until I heard that I had to be nominated for a cabinet position before they would include the “Geithner” button.

[KansasCanadian]

I don’t attempt to do my own brain surgery, but i do tip my urologist

[Red Boots]

I used to use Turbo Tax, until I found Demo-TAX. Now I just click on the “I forgot to file” button on the splash screen and fugghetaboutit.

Snort ! Thanks for the LOL !

[Eagle Eye]

Yeah, I thought Turbo Tax was supposed to do a lot of background work and steer me to options that will help my situation. I understand that they, as any other tax preparer, will try to sell me services and it is my choice to accept or decline them.

[catnipman]

But I will say that I’ve found TurboTax extremely helpful in the past. It sure is a lot easier than filling out all the paper forms.

I think TurboTax is great; I've used it for decades. It's just that Intuit has repeatedly demonstrated it's a totally unethical company, particularly with their efforts to cheat and ripoff users of TurboTax.

[Cicero]

When I see opportunities to upgrade to a more expensive program, or buy something else from them, I just turn it down. But it’s good to have some warning about this new one.

[HangThemHigh]

Thaniks for the heads up.

I dislike Intuit even more than Microsoft, but there isn’t really any alternative to Turbotax if you want to download your investment data to your fax forms.

[Ellendra]

Cheap skates. Spend a few bucks and hirer a professional. Do you do your own brain surgery?

No, but I do my own manicures.

[Publius6961]

How is this any different from the "Freecreditreports.com" scam that we are constantly bombarded with in TV commercials?
That's even worse. At least with Intuit people can get their "Free Federal Return" program.

[Neidermeyer]

Cheap skates. Spend a few bucks and hirer a professional. Do you do your own brain surgery?

**************************************************

Why don't you ...

Hire a stylist to do your hair every morning.

Hire a cook to make your breakfast .. you're not a chef or a nutritionist.

Hire a maid to clean up while you're at work.

Hire Juan to mow your lawn.

Hire a driver to take you to work , you're not a professional.

... Hey Can I just call you and get a few dozen jobs?? You seem to be made of money !!!

If you were any good as a CPA you would be overloaded with work and wouldn't want the hassle of individual tax returns.. you wouldn't spend any time getting them right anyway .. that's why people use the software

[MediaMole]

I stopped using Turbotax several years ago when their nasty rootkit copy protection safecast/C-Dilla from Macrovision ruined my DVD burner.

[PjhCPA]

If you were any good as a CPA you would be overloaded with work

I'm very selective about the clients I choose to work with.

Your analogies regarding mowing lawn, cutting hair, cleaning, etc are about as far off as mine was.

[DaveArk]

Ditto, moved to Taxcut. Moved to TaxAct this year as Taxcut evolved to be like Turbotax. Less than half the price too.

[meyer]

I don’t use TurboTax, and haven’t for a few years since they snuck that “anti-pirating” software in their product a while back. Intuit has run out of good ideas, and has become nothing but a multi-level spamming organization. Even Quicken is loaded with garbage designed solely to sell you other garbage.

It reminds me of the DoubleTree hotel that I once visited in Carmel, Indiana. The room was full of spam - a bottle of champaign with a note stating that opening the bottle constituted an agreement to buy the champaign at some outragous price. Same for candy items in the room. It was just like having a used car salesman sharing the room with you. Just like Intuit, Doubletree lost a customer.

[meyer]

I stopped using Turbotax several years ago when their nasty rootkit copy protection safecast/C-Dilla from Macrovision ruined my DVD burner.

That's what it was that turned me away. I had forgotten the details, thinking that it was an anti-pirating software of some sort.

At any rate, I don't like to deal with the constant sales pitch that Intuit includes in all their programs these days.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"I’m not seeing what the problem is. They’ve had similar things in the app forever, that’s part of why people buy TurboTax is to have it look through their tax data and present options for this year, and even recommendations to reduce your tax liability in the future. The form itself is pretty straight forward and doesn’t look at all like it comes from the IRS."

Agreed.

Seems somebody has an ax to grind.