U.S. judge will not block Intuit TurboTax ads that FTC found deceptive

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpBy Jonathan Stempelp

pReuters – A U.S. judge on Friday refused to block TurboTax maker Intuit Inc from running ads for “free” tax filing that the Federal Trade Commission said deceived millions of taxpayers.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pU.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco denied the FTCs request for a preliminary injunction for three reasons.p

pBreyer found the risk of future harm “attenuated” because the main April 18 tax filing deadline has already passed, most taxpayers have filed their taxes, and Intuit said it has largely finished advertising for this tax season.p

pThe judge also said Intuit had removed several of the more “plausibly deceptive” ads, some repeating the word “free” a dozen times or more in 30 seconds before brief disclaimers.p

pFinally, Breyer said an FTC administrative law judge will review Intuit‘s ad practices at a Sept. 14 hearing, and likely rule before the company’s ad campaign resumes.p

pThe FTC can return to court if Intuit resumes its ads before the administrative law judge rules.p

pAn FTC spokesman declined to comment. Lawyers for Intuit did not immediately respond to requests for comment.p

pIntuit, based in Mountain View, California, ran some of the challenged ads during this years Super Bowl and NCAA college basketball tournament, the FTC said. p

pIn its March 28 lawsuit, the FTC said about twothirds of tax filers, including gig workers and people with farm income, could not use TurboTaxs free product despite ad slogans such as: “TurboTax Free is free. Free free free free.”p

pThe FTC enforces antitrust law and laws against deceptive ads. p

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pp Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York Editing by Leslie Adlerp

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