What is causing the recent jump in new arbitration agreements? I have gotten emails from Google, Amazon, Venmo, various credit card companies, and now FreeTaxUSA in the last few weeks with very similar policy changes.

Not that it makes it any better for new users, but for existing users, you can opt out of the arbitration by following the directions in the email they sent out.

I've often seen FreeTaxUSA (TaxHawk) as the recommended service for filing taxes, to avoid the shadier practices of other tax services.

I was recently notified that FreeTaxUSA's default position will be binding arbitration, which seems to be the direction a lot of companies are taking, for legitimate reasons, but at the cost of reducing consumer rights.

I'm interested in hearing people's thoughts on the topic, on FreeTaxUSA's position specifically, and any recommendations for other tax filing strategies.

fwiw Cash App Taxes doesn't charge for anything and supports most scenarios common among tech workers like backdoor Roth IRA; it mainly doesn't support part-year or multiple state returns.