U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), along with U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) reached out to tax filing company Intuit, seeking a full accounting of the expenses related to federal research tax breaks.
The request follows Intuit’s recent disclosure that it received $94 million in federal research tax credits in 2022, while allegedly spending millions lobbying against the establishment of a free online tax filing program. The lawmakers said that Intuit’s research tax break from 2022 alone could have been enough to fund a year of a free e-File program for millions of Americans. Inuit is the company that owns TurboTax.
“(W)ith the money that the federal government used to subsidize Intuit’s research, the IRS could have offered free, online tax filing to millions of Americans, saving taxpayers the cost and risk of putting their data in the hands of the private tax preparation industry,” the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers said that Intuit has spent millions lobbying against a Direct File program run by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
“The purpose of the federal research tax credits is to spur innovation and growth for the economy as a whole, not to subsidize the profits of already dominant companies… Americans deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent, especially when their hard-earned money is being used to fund subsidies for corporations lobbying against federal programs that would benefit taxpayers.” concluded the lawmakers.
Given these concerns, the Congress members are asking Intuit to answer several questions about the expenses underlying its federal research tax breaks. They expect a response by Jan. 16.