4.4M TurboTax Customers Get $141M Settlement Over 'Free' Filing Ads — Here's Who Is Eligible for a Check

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The parent company of the popular tax filing software TurboTax will pay a $141 million settlement for allegedly charging low-income customers for using the free version of their software.

On Wednesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that Delaware-based Intuit Inc. will pay the restitution fees for allegedly "deceiving millions of low-income Americans into paying for tax services that should have been free."

The settlement amount will go to millions of Intuit customers in the U.S. James said were "unfairly charged" in the company's "free, free, free" advertising campaign.

"Intuit cheated millions of low-income Americans out of free tax filing services they were entitled to," James said in a release. "For years, Intuit misled the most vulnerable among us to make a profit. Today, every state in the nation is holding Intuit accountable for scamming millions of taxpayers, and we're putting millions of dollars back into the pockets of impacted Americans."

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"This agreement should serve as a reminder to companies large and small that engaging in these deceptive marketing ploys is illegal," she added. "New Yorkers can count on my office to protect their wallets from white-collar scammers."

Intuit did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment, but in a statement to CNN, the company said it was "clear and fair with its customers, including with the nearly 100 million Americans who filed their taxes free of charge with our products over the last 8 years — more than all other tax prep software companies combined."

Intuit said it "admitted no wrongdoing" as part of the agreement, per CNN.

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Customers who used TurboTax's Free Edition from 2016 through 2018 will be sent a check for around $30 for each year they were charged when they were eligible for free services.

The Office of the Attorney General initially opened an investigation into Intuit following a ProPublica article that claimed the company had been steering low-income customers away from free tax services and toward its commercial products.

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James said about $2.5 million of the $141 million settlement cost will be used for administrative fund costs.