Philosophy and approach
Intuit is committed to being a responsible and respected corporate citizen and a global thought leader in our engagement in the external public policy process in the countries where we have employees, products, and services, and where public policy affecting our business is created. Our engagement is covered by our Code of Conduct and at all times reflects the principles of Intuit’s Corporate Values, beginning with Integrity Without Compromise.
To help Intuit achieve our mission of powering prosperity around the world and realize our strategy of being an AI-driven expert platform, Intuit regularly evaluates its priorities and the public policies most important to our ability to serve small businesses, the self-employed, and consumers and to ensure business continuity. Because the political and regulatory environment is ever-changing, we base our decisions for strategic advocacy on established principles grounded in our values and mission. Below are some of the major policy areas where we help shape public policy.
Powering prosperity
via technology
For over a decade, Intuit has been innovating with data and AI to help consumers and small businesses make smart financial decisions, with less work and complete confidence, enabling them to put more money in their pockets. We declared our strategy to be an AI-driven expert platform: an open, trusted, and easy-to-build-on platform from which we and our partners solve the most pressing customer problems and deliver awesome experiences. We’re transforming from a tax and accounting platform, where consumers and small businesses have to do the work, to a global financial technology platform, where we do the hard work for them to fuel their success. This is possible because of our early investments in data and AI, and our accelerated investment in generative AI (GenAI).
Small and mid-market business empowerment
Small businesses are foundational to the global economy. They represent about 98% of all employer firms and account for more than half of the world’s jobs, and their creativity spurs innovation in all sectors of the economy. Intuit is proud to power more than 10 million small businesses across the globe with our suite of products and services, like QuickBooks and Mailchimp. We are dedicated to helping millions of small and mid-market businesses worldwide simplify operations so they can grow and achieve prosperity. Empowering small business formation and growth is a key component to vibrant economies. Intuit supports policy that enables small businesses to access the capital they need to scale their firms. Access to affordable, reliable capital is hard to come by, especially for underserved small businesses who often lack the credit history or financial health to obtain a loan from a bank. Given these difficult circumstances for small businesses around the world, Intuit encourages governments to create an environment that fosters innovation in the financial services space. This ensures small business owners from all locations and backgrounds can access the capital they need to start and scale their businesses.
Small businesses should also have the opportunity to unlock their full potential by accessing the same technology that big businesses currently use to their advantage, like AI tools and systems. Emerging technologies like AI empower small businesses to make efficient and informed financial decisions with complete confidence. Helping small businesses bridge the digital divide by modernizing resources and technology literacy programs will help unlock the power of AI to make small businesses more competitive. Public policy should be updated to help small businesses grow and ultimately, level the playing field.
Governments play a crucial role in accelerating this growth. Many small businesses and entrepreneurs experience a confusing puzzle of permits and outdated regulations when they start out and try to scale. Intuit believes policymakers at all levels of government should support policy that reduces the regulatory burden for small businesses, enables them to feel confident about the decisions they make, and allows them to better plan for the future.
To advance innovation and policy that will accelerate small business growth, small business owners and entrepreneurs must have a seat at the table with policymakers, regulators, and relevant stakeholders. Intuit has launched the Intuit Small Business Council in the US and the UK to facilitate conversations between policymakers and small businesses. We stand firmly behind our more than 10 million small businesses and believe their voices should be considered by governments and decision-makers.
Taxpayer empowerment
For years, Intuit has publicly called for simplifying the US tax code. Simplification of the tax code is beneficial to taxpayers across the country. The appeal of simplification starts with enabling every individual and small business to more easily understand their taxes, thereby empowering them to make better financial decisions.
We help tens of millions of individuals and families take charge of their personal finances by helping them understand, prepare, and file their tax returns with confidence—more accurately and with greater ease—so they receive the maximum refund they are owed. We also work with millions of small businesses and accountants throughout the year, helping them organize their own business finances and meet their compliance obligations. Based on the insights we’ve learned from working with our customers, we believe there are a lot of good reasons to make tax code simplification the highest priority in tax reform.
Key reasons to prioritize tax code simplification:
Our workforce and immigration
Immigration is an important part of our nation’s economy and the tech industry. We value the diversity of thought and experiences that all of our employees bring to problem solving and innovation for our customers. That’s why we support immigration policy that addresses the needs of our workforce and provides long-term solutions for both employees and employers. We believe in a more equitable employment-based green card system for our employees and their families. In addition, we believe that we need a permanent solution for Dreamers.
Transparency
We comply with the spirit and letter of all Federal and State laws governing political contributions and their reporting and disclosure requirements. In the US, our PAC contributions are publicly disclosed to the Federal Election Commission and State contributions are publicly disclosed on applicable, corresponding State websites. We aggregate and publish, semi-annually, contributions we make although it may not reflect when the campaign processes the donation. See here.
This includes all direct or in-kind payments in response to explicit solicitations for a political contribution, an electioneering communication, or an independent expenditure. Intuit will disclose these payments, regardless of whether the solicitations are from a political party, political action committee, or politically active tax-exempt organization, such as one organized under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(4) or Section 527, as defined by applicable laws. Any other payments Intuit may make to IRC 527 organizations are electronically reported on IRS Form 8872 by those organizations, and can be found on the IRS website. We comply with all Federal and State lobbying and reporting requirements and regulations, and our Federal reporting is publicly disclosed on the Lobbying Disclosure Act websites of the US Congress.
We pay dues to various trade associations that are organized under Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code. These organizations help Intuit to further our public policy goals and desired business outcomes, and we review these memberships annually. For such organizations to which our dues payments are $25,000 or greater, each year Intuit inquires and makes reasonable efforts to obtain information on what portions of our dues payments may be used for association lobbying expenditures or political contributions as defined by Section 162(e)(1) of the IRC. The information these associations provide to us is published annually here.
