TurboTax Threatens To Tell IRS Customer Cheated On Taxes Unless They Upgrade To Deluxe Version

[Zorro]

PAHRUMP, NV—A local woman doing her taxes Thursday reportedly didn’t know what to do after an onscreen message from TurboTax threatened to tell the IRS that she cheated on her taxes unless she upgraded to the deluxe version of the tax preparation software.

“We’ve got all your information now, and we can easily change a few numbers here or there, maybe add a couple red flags—but of course all that can go away for an additional $99.99,” read the message, adding that if the woman chose not to upgrade, she risked IRS agents coming to her house and starting a years-long investigation that could land her in prison for tax fraud.

“With TurboTax Deluxe, you can rest easy knowing that we’ve gone through over 350 potential deductions and credits to maximize your refund, and we won’t tell the IRS that your claimed dependents are actually dead and you’ve been scamming the government. It’s not too late to save yourself from years and years of headaches and massive fines. It’s simple: Just click the button to upgrade, and we won’t use your Social Security number to open a bunch of accounts in the Maldives and then inform the IRS you’ve been shielding most of your income from taxation. The choice is yours. You have five minutes.”

At press time, the TurboTax customer had upgraded to TurboTax Deluxe and was reading another message suggesting that she upgrade to TurboTax Premier if she didn’t want to see all of her financial accounts emptied and to ultimately lose her home.

https://www.theonion.com/turbotax-threatens-to-tell-irs-customer-cheated-on-taxe-1848638340

[yorkster]

1. Damn that onion.

We are dealing with a current turbo tax problem, so I was all too ready to fall for this. In our case, we had to deactivate our account because someone tried to set up a 2nd account using my name.

At this point, we will forego online filing. Have to call IRS next...oh goody.

[CurtEastPoint]

3. This is why even though mine is so simple I pay a qualified preparer $125 to do it.

[yorkster]

6. I would prefer that as well.

However, I am the party of the 2nd part, so to speak.

Our taxes are fairly simple, but I'd like to just gather dox and hand them over to a preparer.

This has been spooky and I am nervous about how much Info the scammer has.

We are calling IRS early in am.
BTW, there is a fair amount of info online about how to proceed when this happens.

[miyazaki]

2. I always go for the deluxe version for the fraud and jail defense.

[Chainfire]

4. Ours are so simple we could do them on the back of a business card.

I haven't paid for tax preparation since I shuttered my business some years ago.

[Chainfire]

5. Read the fine print. The protection is null and void if you are under investigation. ;)