Elizabeth Warren continues to go after TurboTax.
Ahead of the April 15 tax filing deadline, the Massachusetts Senator released an ad on April 9 in an attempt to point Americans away from TurboTax and other tax filing software companies that advertise free services.
Warren is part of a group of politicians who have attempted to fight online tax prep firms like TurboTax.
Warren teamed up with comedian Hasan Minhaj in the clip. Minhaj, who used to host the satire news show called "Patriot Act" on Netflix, did a deep dive on doing taxes back in 2020.
In that show, Minhaj exposed how companies such as TurboTax promote free services to consumers only for majority of their services to still require additional payments. This new clip served as a continuation of Minhaj's efforts, this time with the backing of the popular senator.
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"During tax season, they take advantage of innocent taxpayers like yourself," Minhaj said in the clip. "The IRS now has a website called 'Direct File' where you can file your taxes for free directly with the IRS."
Back in 2020, Minhaj advertised the use of the website "TurboTaxSucksAss.com" which he used to help educate taxpayers on how to file their taxes for free. Minhaj says in the new clip with Warren that the site has since been taken down, but is now using this platform to promote the new site of the IRS.
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Minhaj joked that he wants taxpayers to go to "TurboTaxSucksAss.Sucks," but Warren said that she couldn't get on board with the name because of her position in the government.
She instead encouraged another link that's easy to remember: "DirectFileKicksAss.com"
The two then went back and forth, jokingly, about the name of the website until the end of the short clip encouraged users to go to the Direct File website using both links.
https://t.co/VdgQDLEDTm
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 9, 2024
Thank you, Hasan Minhaj, for spreading the word! pic.twitter.com/2vEURVYJfK
TheStreet tried both links and both go to the same Direct File site where users can file their taxes for free.
TurboTax latest advertisements have still been promoting free tax filing — though they have started to indicate that only about 37% of the population will be eligible to file for free with their service.
Intuit, the company that owns TurboTax, provided a statement to TheStreet on the news:
"Today 100% of Americans — regardless of income level or how complex their taxes are — can file their federal and state taxes completely free of charge. We are proud that over the last decade, we've helped more than 124 million Americans file their taxes completely free of charge — more than all other tax preps software companies combined. Whether people are simple filers like those eligible for IRS Direct File, or whether they are gig workers, self-employed or claim child and dependent tax credits which IRS Direct File excludes, there is a filing option available today so every American can easily and accurately file their taxes with confidence."
The company has also created a myth vs fact sheet in response to claims that it is tricking taxpayers. Part of those claims includes indicating that the IRS Direct File program is not free because it uses taxpayer dollars.
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