Major tax company owes 143K Illinois customers money. How to know if you’re one of them

More than 143,000 Illinois TurboTax customers will receive checks from a multi-state settlement with the tax filing software company’s owner, Intuit.

Intuit is coughing up $141 million in settlement money nationwide after the company deceived customers into paying for tax services that should have been free. Illinois will get a total of $4.38 million from the agreement.

Those who qualified for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s free file program but still paid TurboTax for tax return services in 2016, 2017 and 2018 are eligible for reimbursement. Customers will receive a check totaling between $29 and $30 for every year they paid for the services.

“I am pleased that consumers will start to receive checks under the settlement, which holds Intuit accountable for intentionally deceiving taxpayers simply to increase sales of their products,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a May 4 press release.

Qualifying individuals will get an email from Rust Consulting, the settlement fund administrator. The automatic checks will be sent out this month, starting this week.

The settlement also requires Intuit to stop its “free, free, free” advertising campaign that made customers pay after promising free services.

Lindsay Smith

The Wichita Eagle

Lindsay Smith is a suburban news reporter for the Wichita Eagle, covering the communities of Andover, Bel Aire, Derby, Haysville and Kechi. She has been on The Eagle staff since 2022 and was the service journalism reporter for three years. She has a degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism from Wichita State, where she was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Sunflower, for two years. You can reach her via email at lsmith@wichitaeagle.com.