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TurboTax's Intuit to Buy Rival Credit Karma

Intuit, which owns TurboTax, says the merger is all about leveraging Credit Karma’s assets to develop an AI-powered 'personalized financial assistant.'

Michael Kan
 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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TurboTax maker Intuit will absorb a competitor in the tax preparation sector by acquiring Credit Karma for $7.1 billion.

Credit Karma, which has 100 million users, has been offering a free tax filing option to consumers in exchange for access to their personal financial data. Now Intuit wants to buy the business, along with the rest of Credit Karma’s platform, which provides free credit scores, and a marketplace to register for loans and credit cards.

According to Intuit, the merger is all about leveraging Credit Karma’s assets to develop an AI-powered "personalized financial assistant," which will advise consumers on improving their credit scores and obtaining loans and credit cards with the best interest rates.

"The result will be a complete financial profile that puts the power in consumers’ hands so they can take the steps necessary to improve their financial health and maximize their money," Intuit said in today’s announcement.

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It's unclear what will happen to Credit Karma’s free tax filing option. However, the proposed acquisition is raising eyebrows because Intuit made headlines for trying to prevent eligible consumers from finding its own free tax filing option on TurboTax.

In the case of Credit Karma, the company has been offering the free tax filing service as a way to collect personal details on consumers, so that it can recommend the most appropriate financial products, such as an auto or home loan. If the consumer decides to obtain the loan, Credit Karma receives a cut.   

The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of the year. By combining resources, the two companies also plan on spending more funds on innovation and developing new products faster.  

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About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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