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How to File Your State and Federal Taxes for Free in 2020
TurboTax and other tax prep services advertised themselves as “free,” but we found several ways that they tricked people into paying. Here's our guide to preparing and filing your taxes without falling into a trap.
Use This Tool to Find Potential Conflicts of Interest at Public Universities. We Did.
Researchers at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois and other institutions disclosed potential conflicts totaling at least $4 million, according to our “Dollars for Profs” app.
Lo que necesita saber acerca de cómo funciona realmente la Sección 8
Elaboramos una guía para la Sección 8 en base a nuestros reportajes. Con esta aprenderá cómo presentar una solicitud, calificar para un vale de elección de vivienda y cómo se vive en Sección 8.
What You Need to Know About How Section 8 Really Works
Based on our reporting, we created a guide to the Section 8 program. You’ll learn how to apply, how to qualify for a voucher and what it’s like to live in Section 8 housing.
How Wealthy Towns Keep People With Housing Vouchers Out
Section 8 vouchers should give low-income people the opportunity to live outside poor communities. But discriminatory landlords, exclusionary zoning and the federal government’s hands-off approach leave recipients with few places to call home.
Lawmakers Refused to Increase an Infamous Prison’s Funding. Then, Chaos Erupted.
Understaffed and underfunded, Mississippi’s Parchman prison recently received media attention for its grisly violence, gang control and subhuman living conditions. However, lawmakers have known about these issues for years and have done nothing to fix them.
Listen to Jared Kushner’s Family Saga
To understand top presidential adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, you have to learn his family history.
Educators Push to Ban Seclusion of Students and Shift School Culture
Educators who testified before Illinois lawmakers on Tuesday agreed: Shutting students inside closet-sized rooms as punishment is never OK.
Reporting Recipe: How to Investigate Professors’ Conflicts of Interest
Here are four kinds of stories you can do using ProPublica’s interactive database, Dollars for Profs.
Applications Are Open for More Spots in ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network
Three additional reporters working on accountability projects will be selected to join the network on April 1, bringing the total number of newsrooms and projects this year to 23.
California’s Jails Are in a Deadly Crisis. Here’s How Experts Suggest Fixing Them.
An investigation by McClatchy and ProPublica found unchecked violence and inhumane conditions in county jails, but the state’s oversight agency has no power to stop it. Experts say that needs to change.
How Trump’s Trade War Is Making Lobbyists Rich And Slamming Small Businesses
Washington’s influence industry, including former Trump officials and allies, has made big money helping companies get exemptions from tariffs — sometimes by undercutting small business owners like Mike Elrod.
Join Our Team in Illinois: We’re Looking for a Reporter
We’re looking for an ambitious, talented and collegial investigative reporter to join our team.
Inside a Training Course Where School Workers Learn How to Physically Restrain Students
While reporting on the use of physical restraint in schools, I wanted to understand if school workers properly used their training in the classroom. They often did not.
The IRS Tried to Crack Down on Rich People Using an “Abusive” Tax Deduction. It Hasn’t Gone So Well.
The tax agency, Justice Department and Congress have all taken aim at a much-abused deduction exploited by wealthy investors. Yet the crackdown is having minimal impact, costing the Treasury billions.
What We Found in Three Years of Documenting Hate: A Letter to Our Partners
As the project investigating hate in America comes to an end, we look back at reporting highlights and the impact of our work.
IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete With TurboTax
The changes come after ProPublica’s reporting showed how TurboTax maker Intuit tricked customers into paying for tax prep they could have gotten for free.
What Happens When Sheriffs Release Violent Offenders to Avoid Paying Their Medical Bills
Sheriffs regularly release sick and injured inmates to avoid paying their hospital bills. But in Alabama, some defendants charged with violent offenses like murder have been let out. And some have gone on to commit new crimes.
The Family Wanted a Do Not Resuscitate Order. The Doctors Didn’t.
Andy Jurtschenko told his children that he didn’t want to be a burden on them. But after he suffered brain damage during a heart transplant at a New Jersey hospital, his medical team deflected their request for a DNR.
Our Journalists Stopped Calling People Hard-to-Reach and Listened to Them. Here’s What Worked.
We researched why people were reluctant to talk about medical debt, and designed an outreach strategy based on what we learned.
