设计与产品propublica.org
TurboTax 用暗黑模式诱导你付费报税
TurboTax Uses Dark Patterns to Trick You into Paying to File Your Taxes
2019 — 2021，它一次次回到首页
黑点是上首页（≥ 50 分）的那次投稿，空心点是没冲上去的投稿，点越大分数越高。
导读
ProPublica 调查报道指出，TurboTax 通过暗黑模式设计，把本应免费的报税服务藏在难以找到的入口后面，诱导用户升级到付费方案。文章引发了对报税软件行业误导性设计的广泛批评，多次登上 HN 首页。
为什么经久不衰：它揭示了商业软件如何用界面设计剥削用户，也推动了后来 IRS 免费报税改革的讨论，至今仍是理解暗黑模式的经典案例。
HN 评论精选
推荐 FreeTaxUSA 作为替代方案，并批评 TurboTax 连已付费的历史税表都要收费才能访问
他们并不完美，但我用 FreeTaxUSA 报税很顺利——联邦免费，州税 15 美元。我第一年同时用 TurboTax 和 FreeTaxUSA 走了一遍流程，估算的退税额完全一样。压垮我的最后一根稻草是：我想查几年前付费申报的税表，结果发现必须升级套餐才能访问。太卑鄙了。我顺便关掉了 Mint 账户（和 TurboTax 同属一家母公司），它一直在把我的交易数据拿去牟利。
untog查看英文原文
They're not perfect, but I've had success filing with FreeTaxUSA - federal is free, state is $15: https://www.freetaxusa.com/ Obviously too late for people this year, and my tax situation is relatively straightforward so I can't speak to how well it handles edge cases, but the first year I used it I went through the process with both TurboTax and FreeTaxUSA and got the exact same estimated refund. The last straw with TurboTax was when I needed to get some details from a previous year's tax return and found out that they would not let me access a return I'd paid to file with them unless I upgraded my plan. Absolute scum. I took the opportunity to also close my Mint account (same parent company as TurboTax) which I barely use and has been sending all kinds of transaction data for them to profit from.
亲身经历证实 TurboTax 的升级诱导和难以退出的设计，客服体验也很糟糕
今年 TurboTax 提示我升级付费方案可以享受额外抵扣省钱，我点进去发现根本省不了钱，然后找不到退回免费方案的入口。打客服电话，对方让我下载屏幕共享软件，试了半天说无法切回免费版，最后让我重新注册一个账号从头再来。更糟的是，通话结束后他一直没关屏幕共享，看着我输入了社会安全号。
alehul查看英文原文
In my experience this year, TurboTax prompted me that I could save money by upgrading to a paid plan via taking advantage of some extra deduction. I thought, "if it's going to save me more than I pay for it, why not?" I clicked through and found that this deduction wouldn't actually save me any money. I then couldn't find a way to get back to the free plan (they only charge you after you file, so this should be possible). After struggling for a while, I called Turbotax support, which had me download screen-sharing software and kept telling me to press some button to cancel the paid plan, and it wouldn't work, telling me that it wasn't possible to switch back. He couldn't figure it out, couldn't switch it off on his end, and eventually told me I would have to create a new Turbotax account and start over. Oh, and for the icing on the cake, he never stopped the screen-sharing session, and saw me input my SSN when I recreated my account. (Yes, I'm aware that I'm a fool for not closing it out myself, but I was really stressed, and it would've been professional to end the screen-sharing after we ended the call.)
强调 IRS 官网免费报税的选项，批评'报税很难'是被商业利益灌输的观念
提醒大家：报税本来就不必花钱。IRS.gov 上的表格是免费的，你可以自己填写并邮寄，还有帮助指南和计算工作表。在付钱给任何人之前，先去 IRS.gov 看看你的选择。我们陷入现在的困境，正是因为人们太愿意相信报税太难、个人无法完成。谁在告诉你不该自己报税？看看他们的动机。
iamwpj查看英文原文
Hey, just an FYI. You never have to pay to file taxes. Like the forms are free on IRS.gov. You can fill in the information and mail it in with any money you owe too. There are help guides that step your through the process of filling out the forms as well, like worksheets to calculate deductibles if you need it. It's very important that you go to IRS.gov and look at your options before you ever pay someone to do your taxes. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions It's good to have free software and keep forms fillable, but we as a society NEED to know how to perform taxes and that the process DOES NOT COST MONEY. You most likely can do it yourself. The reason we're in the mess now is because people have been so willing to believe that taxes are too hard and impossible for the individual. Who's telling you that you shouldn't do taxes on your own? Look at their motivations.
即使明知被套路，转换成本仍让用户不得不继续使用，这正是暗黑模式有效的原因
我以前觉得 TurboTax 还行，只要无视它升级省钱的承诺，免费报税也不难。但去年我走完了整个流程，到最后一步才被告知收入超标必须付费——而这些信息在流程早期就能判断出来。这非常不道德。可结果呢？我今年还是会用 TurboTax，因为用非自动化系统填表的风险和精力似乎不值得省这点钱。
klmadfejno查看英文原文
I used to say turbo tax wasn't that bad, and that free filing was easy if you just ignored their promises to save you money if you upgraded. Last year however I got all the way to the end of the process where they revealed I made too much and had to pay. That felt extremely unethical, as the information required to come to that conclusion was available far earlier in the process. And yet what am I going to do but use turbo tax again. The perceived risk and effort of using a non-automated system to fill them out doesn't seem worth the cost.
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