March 20 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday

threw out a Federal Trade Commission order barring TurboTax

maker Intuit from advertising its popular tax

preparation software as "free" when many taxpayers are

ineligible.

In a 3-0 decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in

New Orleans said it violated the constitutional separation of

powers for an FTC administrative law judge to decide a deceptive

advertising claim.

Intuit had been appealing a January 2024 FTC order, which

followed an earlier ruling from an administrative law judge,

barring it from marketing any service as free unless it was free

to everyone, or the company clearly disclosed what percentage of

taxpayers qualified.

The FTC said Intuit deceived consumers during six years of

marketing into believing all TurboTax products were free, with

some ads saying TurboTax was "free, free, free, free." It

called the character of the Mountain View, California-based

company's violations "egregious."

Intuit had advertised its TurboTax Free Edition across a

variety of media, but usually said the product was free only for

taxpayers with "simple" returns.

Circuit Judge Edith Jones wrote for the appeals court that

the FTC case belonged in federal court, where the agency may

face a higher burden of proof.

She cited a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision curbing the

Securities and Exchange Commission's use of in-house judges to

enforce laws.

Neither the FTC nor Intuit immediately responded to requests

for comment.