Archive: Business & Technology

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo called on the New York State Department of Financial Services and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Wednesday to investigate TurboTax, H&R Block and other major tax return preparers following recent reports that these companies allegedly used Google advertisement and website features to deceptively hide additional tax filing options from low-income individuals who are eligible to file their taxes for free.

"The allegations against these major tax return preparers are disturbing, and New York will not stand idle as the public's interest is undermined in order to pad the profits of wealthy corporations," Cuomo said. "I am calling on the Department of Financial Services and the Department of Taxation and Finance to investigate these claims to help ensure New Yorkers are protected. We have zero tolerance for these deceptive practices and those responsible will be held accountable for these egregious actions."

Americans with an adjusted gross income of $66,000 or less are eligible to file their taxes for free through the Free File Alliance -a partnership between the IRS, tax software providers and states - including New York. According to the reports, the websites of the tax software providers steered consumers into paying for services when they were eligible to file their taxes for free, and hid these free filing options from Google searches.

In the wake of data breaches at credit reporting agencies such as Equifax that exposed the private data of millions of New Yorkers, the Department of Financial Services—at the Governor's direction—issued a final regulation requiring agencies with significant operations in New York to register with DFS for the first time and to comply with New York's first-in-the-nation cybersecurity standard. The regulation also provides the DFS Superintendent with the authority to deny, suspend and potentially revoke a consumer credit reporting agency's authorization to do business with New York's regulated financial institutions and consumers if the agency is found to be out of compliance with certain prohibited practices.

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