A national tax professionals group is unhappy with a new advertising campaign that encourages taxpayers to drop their practitioner in favor of using a tax prep juggernaut’s own bullpen of advisors.
The National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP), which says it represents more than 24,000 members across the country, said in a statement October 10 that it is “deeply disappointed” by a recently broadcasted commercial promoting Intuit’s “Full Service” offshoot of its flagship tax preparation software, TurboTax.
According to NATP, the 30-second commercial “encourages taxpayers to abandon their tax preparer” and runs afoul of Intuit’s business model by “selling professional preparation software to the tax professionals they now seem to be undermining.”
At the crux of TurboTax’s limited-time “Beat Your Price” campaign is a pitch to taxpayers with the claim that customers will spend “at least 10% less” on tax consultation by working with a TurboTax “Live Expert” instead of the licensed tax professional used to prepare tax year 2023 returns, per TurboTax’s website. Available only to “legal” U.S. residents through December 20, 2024, the program requires an eligible participant to file their 2024 individual tax return using Full Service before midnight on April 2, 2025.
But taxpayers would miss out on “tailored guidance” and potential representation before the IRS or state revenue agencies by “breaking up” with their practitioner as the commercial described, NATP argued.
“Tax preparation isn’t just about entering data or completing a form; it’s about trust, accuracy, and making informed decisions,” said CEO Scott Artman. “The personal relationship between a tax preparer and their client is crucial. A professional knows you and your financial history, keeps you compliant with regulations and can adapt strategies based on your specific needs.”
TurboTax Live Full Service involves an in-house tax expert preparing, signing, and filing tax returns on behalf of customers over the phone, who would be ineligible to use TurboTax’s mainline self-prep tool. The company says a typical call takes about an hour or two but can take longer depending on the complexity of a return, which also influences the price of the service. State return filing costs are tacked on separately on top of the base cost of $89 for federal returns, and customers need to provide a receipt for tax prep fees from the previous year to qualify for the “Beat Your Price” offer, Intuit’s website says.
“While NATP is not currently accepting advertising, sponsorship, or exhibiting dollars from Intuit due to this campaign’s direct conflict with our members’ interests, we are not advocating against using any Intuit products and respect that tax professionals make their own business decisions regarding the tools they use,” the organization clarified.
Intuit, like other major players in the commercial tax prep industry, has faced scrutiny in recent years for the marketing of its products, namely claims of false advertising regarding a lack of transparency over which returns can be filed for free. Following a major settlement and intervention by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Intuit must tread lightly in disclosing information to its customers, as mandated by an FTC decision last September.
While Full Service differs from the various tiers of the TurboTax self-prep software in that pricing is more variable and promises to be estimated during the process, the commercial purports that its experts charge less but offer “more” compared to other CPAs and licensed preparers.
In written comments provided to Checkpoint, Artman said NATP is not questioning the “qualifications or expertise” of TurboTax’s preparers, but “rather the trust, accuracy, and ability to make informed decisions based on the personal relationship that exists between a tax preparer and their client.”
Artman added that Intuit “agreed to discontinue” the ad campaign after the outreach of NATP and “others in the industry.”
Checkpoint did not immediately receive a response to a request for comment from Intuit.
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