Tech

U.S. Trade Commission sues Intuit for ‘free’ advertising

Published

2 years ago

March 30, 2022

ticker NEWS

The Federal Trade Commission has sued the owner of TurboTax in the federal court for ‘bogus’ advertising

The FTC claims Intuit is deceiving its customers by pitching its tax filing software, TurboTax as “free”.

“TurboTax is bombarding consumers with ads for ‘free’ tax filing services, and then hitting them with charges when it’s time to file.”
Samuel Levine, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection

The FTC alleges in 2020 “approximately two-thirds of tax filers could not use TurboTax’s free product.” This includes independent contractors with a 1,099 tax form among others.

The commission has also filed an administrative complaint and wants the Federal Court to halt Intuits’ false advertising.

But Intuit says the allegations are “untrue”.

“Over the past eight years, TurboTax products have helped nearly 100 million Americans file their taxes for free,” the company says in a statement.

The technology platform plans on fighting the allegations in court.

Rijul Baath contributed to this report

Shows

Is GenerativeAI transforming education?

Published

3 hours ago

May 3, 2024

ticker NEWS

Educators today are facing an uphill battle, so what’s the solution?

Today’s educators are passionate, but they’re up against diverse classrooms and outdated teaching methods.

In this episode, Trevor Furness, Chief Revenue Officer of Octopus B-I discuss their efforts to transform education. #funding futures

News

How AI is leveraging Amazon’s fast production

Published

1 day ago

May 2, 2024

Nathan Langridge

Amazon reported better-than-expected results for the last quarter, surpassing analysts’ estimates.

Amazon reported better-than-expected results for the last quarter, surpassing analysts’ estimates, driven by strong performance in its cloud computing and AI.

Ticker’s Ahron Young & Veronica Dudo discuss.

Tech

Tesla is slashing prices to stay competitive

Published

2 weeks ago

April 21, 2024

Reuters

Tesla cut the U.S. prices of its Model Y, Model X and Model S vehicles by $2,000 each, days after the first-quarter deliveries of the world’s most valuable automaker missed market expectations.

Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle (EV) maker lowered the prices for its Model Y base variant to $42,990, while the long-range and performance variants are now priced at $47,990 and $51,490, respectively, according to its website.

The basic version of the Model S now costs $72,990 and its plaid variant $87,990. The Model X base variant now costs $77,990 and its plaid variant is priced at $92,900.

Tesla North America also said in a post on X said it would end its referral program benefits in all markets after April 30.

Referral program allows buyers to get extra incentives through referrals from existing customers, a strategy long used by traditional automakers to boost sales.

Musk has postponed a planned trip to India where he was to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announce plans to enter the South Asian market, Reuters reported on Saturday.

On Monday Reuters reported, citing an internal memo, that the EV maker was laying off more than 10% of its global workforce.

Earlier this month Reuters reported the EV maker had canceled a long-promised inexpensive car, expected to cost $25,000, that investors had been counting on to drive mass-market growth.

The EV maker reported this month that its global vehicle deliveries in the first quarter fell for the first time in nearly four years, as price cuts failed to stir demand.

Tesla is to report first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.