Three major tax prep companies illegally shared taxpayers' sensitive financial data

 


Three major tax prep companies illegally shared taxpayers' sensitive financial data with tech giants Google and Meta for years, according to the results of a congressional investigation.

 A group of seven lawmakers, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), has called for potential criminal charges against the companies, citing violations of taxpayer privacy laws, along with new policies and the creation of a government-run electronic tax free-file system.

The lawmakers presented their own findings in a report, building on reports from The Markup and The Verge, which initially exposed the data sharing.

  • They urged the IRS, DOJ, and other agencies to investigate and potentially take legal action against H&R Block, TaxAct, and TaxSlayer for the highly personal data they shared on millions of taxpayers.
  • The tax prep companies allegedly used tracking technology, known as Meta Pixels, on their sites to send info such as income sources, tax deductions, and exemptions to the tech company without consent or proper disclosures, according to the findings.
  • The data was used for targeted advertising and to train Meta's AI models.

According to the report, the tax prep firms were "careless" with their treatment of taxpayer data and didn't understand the extent to which that data would be shared and used by the tech firms.

  • H&R Block said it has taken steps to prevent information sharing, while TaxAct and TaxSlayer did not immediately respond to inquiries.
  • Google and Meta placed the blame on the tax prep companies and asserted that their policies aim to prevent the collection of sensitive data.

   

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