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The stock price is H&R Block and Intuit Shares fell after a report on Tuesday that the Trump transition team was considering creating a free tax filing app.
Shares of Intuit, which makes TurboTax tax preparation software, fell 5% on what would be its worst day since Aug. 23, when the company’s shares fell nearly 7%. H&R Block fell 8%, its worst day of 2020.
President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency has held “highly preliminary” discussions about creating a free tax filing app. “Washington Post” reports. DOGE will be led by billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and aims to cut government spending.
The DOGE tax filing app will compete with H&R Block and TurboTax.
It’s unclear where the new DOGE tax app will fit into the new policies already implemented by the Biden administration. Under the Biden administration, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) launched a pilot direct filing program in 12 states in March, allowing eligible taxpayers to file directly through the government portal. The IRS also provides free filing services through its Free Filing Program to taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of $79,000 or less.
While both Intuit and H&R Block offer free filing options, neither has a great track record of delivering these services transparently.
The Federal Trade Commission filed an administrative complaint against H&R Block in February, accusing it of deceptively marketing a free filing product and mistakenly deleting users’ ongoing tax information. At the same time, intuition Agreed to pay $141 million “They deceived millions of low-income Americans into paying for tax services that were supposed to be free,” the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said.
Neither H&R Block nor Intuit responded to requests for comment.
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