H&R Block, one of the largest tax preparation service providers in the United States, has agreed to pay $7 million to settle a lawsuit from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which alleged that the company had deceptively marketed its online tax filing products as free.
The FTC filed a lawsuit against H&R Block in February, accusing the company of deceiving consumers into believing they could file taxes online for free, despite many not being eligible for the free products.
The company allegedly used ads that claimed the free offer applied only to “simple returns,” but did not define the term “simple return,” according to the complaint….