Intuit, H&R Block, E-Filers Hit With FTC Privacy Warning (1)

Five online tax preparation companies including H&R Block Inc. could face large civil fines if they misuse taxpayer data collected online, the Federal Trade Commission warned on Monday.

E-filers shouldn’t leverage data collected to complete tax forms for unrelated purposes, such as advertising, without a consumer’s express consent, the agency said in a notice of penalty offense mailed to H&R Block, Intuit Inc., TaxAct, Inc., TaxSlayer LLC, and The Lampo Group.

The warning comes two months after congressional Democrats alleged that H&R Block, TaxAct, and TaxSlayer were sharing the data of millions of taxpayers with Big Tech companies including Alphabet ...