KATIE PORTER 111? HOUSE OFFICE BUlLl'lli-iG

DC 20515
45TH CALIFORNIA (202] 225?5601

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April 29th, 2019

Joseph Simons

Chairman

Federal Trade Commission
600 Avenue, NW
Washington, DC. 20580

Dear Chairman Simons:

I write to raise concerns about Free File Alliance (FFA) companies misdirecting eligible
taxpayers away from the Internal Revenue Service Free File program and instead
steering those families to their companies? expensive products.

According to reporting from the non-pro?t investigative journalism outlet ProP-ablz'ca, at least
two companies participating in the IRS's Free File program: Inuit's urboTax and Block?
used website code that blocked search engine queries by taxpayers seeking access to the Free
File program.I

Instead, eligible taxpayers looking to ?le their taxes for free#as an option mandated by
Congresswwould need to comb through complex websites to access free ?ling. These arti?cial
barriers run contrary to the goals of the Free File program and are designed to steer families into
paying for services that rightfully should be free of charge to them as taxpayers.

Misdirection like this is why only 3% of eligible taxpayers typically use the Free File program.2
As a result of upselling and marketing, families end up spending an estimated billion dollars a
year in unnecessary ?ling fees.3

I ask that the Federal Trade Commission immediately investigate the website code used by these
companies and determine whether such code is designed to steer customers away from free ?ling
and into the companies' proprietary products. If it is so designed, it is my belief that the code

 

1 Justin Elliott, "TurboTax Deliberately Hides Its Free File Page From Search Engines,? ProPub/ica (April 2019) at:


2 Tik Root, ?Why Are Millions Paying Online Tax Preparation Fees When They Don?t Need To?? ProPubl'ica (June
2018) at: 

3 Id.

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

violates 15 U.S.C which prohibits: ?Unfair methods of competition in or affecting
commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.?4

I have spent my career as a consumer protection attorney ?ghting against these types of abuses; I
know how misdirection like this can strip families of money that is desperately needed to pay for
rent, food, school supplies, prescription drugs, and other critical needs. This misconduct is
particularly concerning in light of FFA companies' recent lobbying against the IRS creating a
Free File portal of its own.5 I ask that the FTC respond to my request by May 15th, 2019.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 15 use. ?45(a)
51d.