Intuit

Intuit has a documented pattern of regulatory failures spanning deceptive advertising, consumer harm, and regulatory capture. The FTC ALJ found (Sep 2023) that Intuit ran a "broad, enduring, and willful deceptive ad campaign" for TurboTax, airing at least 84,356 TV ads consisting almost entirely of the word "free" — while two-thirds of filers were ineligible. Intuit deliberately hid its IRS Free File page from Google (noindex/nofollow tags, confirmed by ProPublica Apr 2019) and bought ads on "IRS Free File" keywords redirecting to paid products. 4.4 million low-income and military filers were charged for services they were legally entitled to receive free. All 50 state AGs settled for $141M (May 2022); payments distributed automatically by mail starting May 2023. The 5th Circuit vacated the FTC cease-and-desist order in Mar 2026 on constitutional/procedural grounds (Jarkesy — administrative courts cannot adjudicate fraud-type claims); the court explicitly did NOT rule on the merits. Separately, the FTC found Credit Karma (acquired by Intuit for $7.1B in 2020) falsely told consumers they were "pre-approved" for credit cards; one-third were denied, damaging credit scores. $3M settlement, 497,425 consumers affected (Sep 2022). A 2024 data breach (Dec 2023–Feb 2024) exposed SSNs, financial details, and driver's license numbers across TurboTax and Credit Karma users; class action filed Jul 2024.

Update (2026-03-31): The Fifth Circuit vacated the FTC's cease-and-desist order on March 20, 2026, holding internal adjudication unconstitutional under SEC v. Jarkesy. The factual finding of deception stands but the enforcement mechanism is dead.