(Tribune News Service) — Intuit, the company behind TurboTax, has agreed to pay $141 million to customers across the U.S. in connection to a settlement regarding deceptive practices involving its free tax-filing services.

More than 4.4 million taxpayers are eligible under the terms of the settlement by signed attorneys general of all 50 states,

The settlement comes after a 2019 ProPublica report that found the California-based company used deceptive tactics to steer low-income consumers toward its commercial products and away from federally supported free tax services. The IRS Free file program is geared towards taxpayers earning roughly $34,000 and members of the military.

Intuit withdrew from the program in 2021.

In addition to paying restitution, Intuit has agreed to suspend TurboTax’s “free, free, free” ad campaign.

Some $2.5 million of the settlement will go towards administrative costs with the rest going to consumers who started using TurboTax’s Free Edition for tax years 2016 through 2018 and were told they had to pay to file even though they were eligible to do so for free through the IRS Free File program offered by TurboTax.

Consumers are expected to receive a direct payment of about $30 for each year they were deceived into paying for filing services, administrators said. Eligible customers will automatically receive notices and a check by mail.

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