On July 24, 2026, Justice Leiper of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified a consumer protection class action against Intuit Canada ULC and its U.S. parent, Intuit Inc. (together, “Intuit”). The action, brought on behalf of Canadian purchasers of TurboTax Online, seeks damages arising from Intuit’s alleged misleading advertising of its tax filing software as “free” and “free for simple returns”.
For taxation years before 2021, Intuit advertised the software in Canada as free without qualification, including in television, print, online and social media campaigns using the tag line “free, free, free.” Beginning with the 2021 taxation year, Intuit changed its advertising to state that the software was “free for simple tax returns.” The Plaintiff alleges that both sets of representations were false and misleading, and that Intuit designed its software so that consumers only discovered they would have to pay after investing significant time entering their personal and financial information — a practice described as a “bait-and-switch” and “drip-pricing” scheme.
Justice Leiper certified the provincial consumer protection legislation claims, the federal Competition Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-34 claim and the unjust enrichment claim, pursuant to s. 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c. 6. The certified class definition reads as follows:
All consumers who purchased the TurboTax online software, and any related services, to prepare and/or file their Canadian taxes during the Class Period (the period beginning on January 1, 2015), and their estates, executors, successors, or assigns, other than Excluded Persons.
The Court also certified a common issue in aggregate damages, to be determined at the common issues trial if liability is established. The Court accepted that the Plaintiff had advanced a workable methodology, based on data expected to be in Intuit’s possession, for assessing the class’s damages without proof by individual class members.
The Defendants have until August 23, 2026 to appeal this decision. The Defendants deny the Plaintiff’s allegations and the Court has not yet ruled on the merits of the class action.
