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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBut when Zimmerman got to the end of the process, TurboTax charged her $60, even though the family makes under the $66,000 income threshold to file for free. \u201cI\u2019ve got a kid in braces and I\u2019ve got a kid in preschool; $60 is half a week\u2019s worth of groceries,\u201d she said. \u201cWho needs date night this month? At least I filed my taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the commercial version of TurboTax that includes the \u201cmilitary discount,\u201d customers are charged based on the tax forms they file. The Zimmermans used a form<\/a> to claim a retirement savings credit that TurboTax required a paid upgrade to file. If they\u2019d started from the TurboTax Free File landing page instead of the military page, they would have been able to file for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like many other tax prep companies, Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, participates in the Free File program with the IRS, under which the industry offers most Americans free tax filing. In return, the IRS agrees not to create its own free filing system that would compete with the companies. But few of those who are eligible use the program, in part because the companies aggressively market paid versions, often misleading customers. We\u2019ve documented how Intuit had deliberately<\/a> made its Free File version difficult<\/a> to find, including by hiding it from search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement, Intuit spokesman Rick Heineman said, \u201cIntuit has long supported active-military and veterans, both in filing their taxes and in their communities, overseas, and in the Intuit workplace.\u201d He added: \u201cIntuit is proud to support active military, including the millions of men and women in uniform who have filed their tax returns completely free using TurboTax.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To find TurboTax\u2019s Free File<\/a> landing page, service members typically have to go through the IRS website. TurboTax Military<\/a>, by contrast, is promoted on the company\u2019s home page and elsewhere. Starting through the Military landing page directs many users to paid products even when they are eligible to get the same service for no cost using the Free File edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Intuit press release<\/a> this year announced \u201cTurboTax Offers Free Filing for Military E1- E5\u201d \u2014 but refers users to TurboTax Military and does not mention the actual Free File option. It was promoted on the company\u2019s Twitter feed with a smiling picture<\/a> of a woman wearing fatigues outside her suburban home. Google searches for \u201cTurboTax military,\u201d \u201cTurboTax for soldiers\u201d and \u201cTurboTax for troops\u201d all produce top results sending users to the TurboTax Military page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That site offers a \u201cmilitary discount.\u201d Some service members can use it to file for free, depending on their pay grade and tax situation. Others are informed \u2014 only after inputting their tax data \u2014 that they will have to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In one instance, Petty Officer Laurell, a hospital corpsman in the Navy who didn\u2019t want his full name used, was charged even though he makes under $66,000. TurboTax charged Laurell $95 this year and $100 last year, his receipts show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am upset and troubled that TurboTax would intentionally mislead members of the military,\u201d said Laurell, who has been in the service for a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using receipts, tax returns and other documentation, we verified the accounts from four service members who were charged by TurboTax even though they were eligible to use Free File. They include an Army second lieutenant, a Navy hospital corpsman and a Navy yeoman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The New York regulator investigating<\/a> TurboTax is also examining the military issue, according to a person familiar with the probe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Active-duty members of the military get greater access to Free File products than other taxpayers. All Americans who make under $66,000 can use products offered by one of 12 participating companies in the program. But each company then imposes additional, sometimes confusing eligibility requirements<\/a> based on income, age and location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those additional requirements are not imposed on service members for most of the Free File products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TurboTax\u2019s Free File edition, for example, is available to active-duty military and reservists who make under $66,000 in adjusted gross income<\/a> compared with a threshold of $34,000 for everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s unclear how many service members were charged by TurboTax, even though they could have filed for free. The company declined to respond to questions about this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jennifer Davis, government relations deputy director of the National Military Family Association<\/a>, said the group is concerned by ProPublica\u2019s findings about Americans being charged for tax services that should be free. \u201cAs an organization dedicated to improving the well-being of military families, we are concerned that many military families have fallen prey to these fraudulent actions as well,\u201d she said. Davis pointed out that service members have a range of other free tax filing options, including in-person help on many bases<\/a> and an online option through the Defense Department called MilTax<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We tested TurboTax Military and TurboTax Free File using the tax information of a Virginia-based Navy sailor and his graphic designer wife with a household income of $53,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The filing experiences had just one major difference: TurboTax Military tried to upgrade us or convince us to pay for side products six times. We declined those extras each time. Finally, the program told us we had to pay $159.98 to finish filing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that \u201cmilitary discount\u201d? All of $5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Free File version, by contrast, we were able to file completely free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s what happened when we landed on TurboTax Military:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The software took us through filing our taxes in the standard question-answer format used across all TurboTax products. We entered the sailor\u2019s employer and income information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then TurboTax told us we were going to save some money because of our service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCongrats! You qualify for our Enlisted military discount.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n We were then repeatedly offered other paid products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TurboTax recommended we purchase \u201c+PLUS,\u201d which promises \u201c24\/7 tax return access\u201d and other services for $19.99<\/b>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We were offered \u201cTurboTaxLive\u201d \u2014 access to advice from a CPA \u2014 for $194.99<\/b>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We were also offered \u201cMAX,\u201d which includes audit defense and identity loss insurance for $59.99<\/b> (a good deal, the company suggests, because the products represent a \u201c$125.00 value\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n We rejected all of these offers. We finished filing the sailor\u2019s military income and added his wife\u2019s 1099 income of $15,000 and her modest business expenses. When we were done entering their information, the software broke some bad news: We would need to upgrade to TurboTax Self-Employed for $114.99 (minus $5 thanks to the military discount).<\/p>\n\n\n\n On top of that, we were charged $44.99 to file Virginia state taxes, bringing our total to $159.98.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n When we started on TurboTax Free File instead of TurboTax Military and entered the same information, the filing experience was virtually identical, with two major differences: We weren\u2019t pitched side products such as audit defense and the final price was $0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the sailor\u2019s family was eligible for Free File, TurboTax Military never directed us to the product, even after we entered a family income of less than $66,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On May 10, the New York Department of Financial Services sent a request for documents to USAA, the insurance company that caters to service members, according to a person familiar with the investigation. USAA promotes<\/a> TurboTax Military, and DFS, which regulates insurance companies, sought records related to any deals with Intuit and other tax prep firms. Two other insurance companies, Progressive and AAA, also received requests for records from DFS. Spokespeople for the three companies didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TurboTax first launched the Military Edition in 2012. “TurboTax has a long history of supporting the military and many of our employees have served our country,\u201d the then-head of TurboTax said in the company\u2019s press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has apparently been a lucrative business. On an earnings call<\/a> six months later, Intuit\u2019s then-CEO Brad Smith boasted \u201cwe saw double-digit growth this season from the military and digital native customer segments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGiven our scale and our data capabilities,\u201d he said, \u201cwe plan to extend this advantage to even more taxpayers next season.\u201d Smith is now executive chairman of Intuit\u2019s board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, a class action was filed against Intuit by a law firm<\/a> representing a Marine, Laura Nichols, who was charged by TurboTax even though she was eligible to file for free, according to the complaint<\/a>. The suit cites ProPublica\u2019s previous reporting<\/a> on the issue. The company declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you use TurboTax Military? Please <\/i>tell us about your experience.<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you worked for Intuit or another tax preparation company? We <\/i>want to hear from you<\/i><\/a>, too. Fill out our <\/i>questionnaire<\/i><\/a> or contact Justin at <\/i>justin@propublica.org<\/i><\/a> or via Signal at 774-826-6240.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some troops who’ve filed by going to the TurboTax Military page said they were charged as much as $150 \u2014 even though, under a government deal, service members making under $66,000 are supposed to be able to file with TurboTax for free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":104071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[6698],"class_list":["post-69392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CWWINBDCZFBRHMIWDHBYUSPGUY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2019\/05\/23\/turbotax-to-troops-heres-a-discount-for-something-that-should-be-free\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/02-turbotax-enlisted-discount.jpg.jpg\")
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