The multi-billion dollar company that owns Turbo Tax rose to the top of the tax preparation software industry by stonewalling government efforts to offer free tax filing services to individuals for the past two decades.

A ProPublica investigation found Intuit has used a free version of Turbo Tax to still get filers to pay for services, as well as to trap them into buying products they don't need. 

The success of Turbo Tax, which along with competitor H&R Block commands 81 percent of all individual returns filed using tax preparation software, would likely dry up in a flash if the IRS did what other wealthy nations did long ago: make tax filing simple, easy and free for most citizens, reports ProPublica.

Internal company and government documents, along with interviews with insiders, reveal how Intuit spent the last 20 years lobbying government and elected officials from rolling out such a plan. Intuit recruited lobbyists and hired former regulators who oversaw its business to kick back and stymie all efforts to make tax filing free.