TurboTax (Intuit) and H&R Block spent $7.1 million combined on federal lobbying in 2025—a record high—the same year the Trump administration killed the free IRS Direct File program. Intuit donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration committee, and both companies made campaign donations to Republican lawmakers who opposed Direct File. This eliminated a government program that let millions of Americans file taxes for free, benefiting the tax prep industry's bottom line by forcing those taxpayers back to paid services.