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made the mistake of panicking after another so-called professional CPA gave me the wrong tax rate, then strung me along until the last minute, under the guise of having a heavy workload, when he called with the true tax rate. The difference was approximately $45, 000 and having acted on erroneous information, I no longer had the cash to pay it.
I'm in my 50's & this was the first time I ever filed an extension, much less paid late, so in a panic I called StopIRSdebt as their ads show an A+ rating with the BBB. StopIRSdebt is a legal firm. If you look on the BBB website, they do not handle complaints involving legal firms, so the TV ad is a deception.
I received a letter from the IRS asking for an explanation as to why I shouldn't be penalized & have interest added to the unpaid balance. I called StopIRSdebt (who I'll refer to as S.I.D. for brevity) & faxed them the letter. I was told not to worry, they were working on the situation. I was also told the $4000 I paid them didn't include the state taxes which also needed to be dealt with & would cost another $2000.
About 3 weeks after paying them I received a call from them saying they'd negotiated the taxes & I'd only have to pay less than $500 a month for 24 months. At first I thought Great! These guys are fantastic! Then I compared the total of the payments to the tax bills & saw the total matched the state tax almost to the penny. My wife called to verify & sure enough we'd been duped. The payments were for state taxes only & nothing had been done about the IRS.
I asked about the hardship explanation & was again told not to worry, they were working on it. As time passed I began receiving threatening notices from the IRS of adverse action they would take if the amount owed wasn't paid immediately. My wife filed for bankruptcy due to other factors as well as the tax debts, something S.I.D. was told would happen from the very first call.
Come to find out, the tax debts were first in line to be paid with the payments my wife now makes to the bankruptcy trustee. In other words S.I.D.'s services were not needed from the start & they had swindled us out of $6000 & had tried to get another $2000 to file the 2012 taxes, which H&R Block did for $500. The hardship form had still not been done, & the deadline given was fast approaching.
After numerous requests for this form, I finally gave up on S.I.D., went to the IRS site & researched until I found the appropriate form, form 843, which H&R Block filled out free of charge & I added my explanation of what all had happened to delay payment. All I needed at this point was a name and phone number of the person S.I.D. had been working with at the IRS to ensure the form reached the proper person. Once again, after numerous requests were made, no such information was ever forthcoming.
After awhile it started to become clear S.I.D. had not done ANYTHING to work with the IRS on my behalf. They have been fired & needed told this 3 times. A complaint has been filed with the BBB along with a request the BBB demand S.I.D. stop deceptive use of the BBB A+ rating used in their ads. My next step will be to work with my wife's bankruptcy trustee & judge to get the funds returned so they can go towards her creditors which have earned it. Then a report will be filed with the California Bar Association in hopes of getting the license of these shysters revoked due to deceptive & highly unethical practices.
One of their representatives talked to me at length about helping me file back returns about a month ago. We had a specific financial agreement due to money being tight that would have allowed me to pay the full amount for services rendered over a longer period. I had agreed to pay everything I owed them in full I just made sure that they knew that it would take me a little longer. During the second conversation I wired them $500 and they in turn sent me some documents to sign and a few tax forms to fill out. I did all of this. Then last Friday when I went to deposit my paycheck I was notified that my account was overdrawn $300+. The woman I spoke with pretended to not remember our conversation about my financial hardship for the first few minutes of my call then agreed and said that she would talk to their billing department. Now instead of calling me back it has been short emails and excuses and claims that she is powerless to fix this issue. They have done nothing for me but were able to steal over $800 from me. Don't use their services because it seems that they are only good and taking peoples money.
I cannot believe you would publish your client's private information online! How unprofessional!
COMPANY RESPONSE: This is the same review that the author posted on [redacted].com. We have attached the following rebuttal. The client seems intent on damaging the company's online reputation, and is clearly misplacing their frustration, as they show a pattern of venting towards their tax representatives and finding fault in their work, as evidenced by the first line in both this complaint and that on ROR. To summarize:
After a thorough review of your file with our firm, it appears we have properly provided services to you in handling your tax situation with the IRS and with the state, according to the terms of our retainer agreement with you.
You retained our firm on October 3, 2012 to represent you regarding your account with the IRS. We called the IRS on October 3, 2012. However, at that time the IRS was not showing that any balances were due on your account and that all federal returns were current and had been filed.
On October 10, 2012 we called the IRS again on your behalf and requested account transcripts. Since October 10, 2012, we contacted the IRS at least six additional times on January 22, 2013, February 11, 2013, March 4, 2013, March 12, 2013, March 22, 2013 and April 5, 2013 in an effort to resolve your outstanding balance with regard to the IRS that was assessed on or around January 22, 2013.
On or around October 26, 2012 you also retained our firm to represent you concerning your tax liability with the state of Arizona. We contacted the state of Arizona on November 2, 2012 and then again on November 6, 2012, November 8, 2012, November 28, 2012, January 3, 2013, January 30, 2013, February 7, 2013, and February 15, 2013. We finally managed to set up an installment agreement repayment plan for you with the state on January 30, 2013. When we notified you via email that we had secured an installment agreement repayment plan at $421 per month, you told us that that resolution was “great” and you seemed pleased that we had accomplished this resolution for you with the state.
We also attempted to resolve your outstanding debt with the Internal Revenue Service. We prepared financials for the IRS and provided that information to the IRS for consideration of a hardship status with that agency. The IRS rejected your hardship status request because you had a significant amount of equity in your real property that far exceeded your federal tax debt. You also had sufficient equity in your retirement account that would have allowed you to pay the IRS debt in full. The IRS indicated that you needed to first try to secure funds from your home or your retirement account before seeking hardship status. You never provided this firm with a copy of a loan denial letter as repeatedly requested by us that you do so.
Moreover, when we contacted the IRS on your behalf on March 22, 2013, the IRS informed us that your wife had filed bankruptcy on February 28, 2013.
You never advised us that your wife had filed bankruptcy. Since your wife filed bankruptcy, the IRS collection efforts were automatically stayed as to her concerning further collection activity at this time by the IRS. The IRS also indicated, however, that it would continue to pursue collection action against you once it was confirmed that you did not file bankruptcy along with your spouse and that you would continue to be liable for the federal tax debt.
You advised us that your accountant advised you otherwise concerning the IRS and the bankruptcy. As such, we resolved to allow you to rely on your accountant’s erroneous advice, even though your accountant should not be giving you legal advice concerning the federal bankruptcy rules and how they apply in tax situations.
You have since told us that you no longer wish to retain our services in resolving your tax debt with the Internal Revenue Service. As such, we will be closing your file with our firm, effective immediately.
Since we have completed services on your file well in excess of the retainer funds you have paid to us, we will not be refunding any monies to you for the time spent and services completed on your state and federal accounts. It was your choice to have your wife file bankruptcy and to rely on the legal and tax advice of your accountant and your choice to voluntarily terminate our services before we could develop a final resolution on your account with the IRS. We have secured a final resolution of your debt with the state.
this rebuttal is perfect - who does business like this on social media? You're a scam and you know you're a scam. Fake names, lies, the works. No legitimate company would ever print the above response. You're a bunch of [censor] and need to be stopped.