Be careful out there
June 9, 2005
Usually we are thrilled when the phone is ringing non-stop, but this week is different because the callers and their circumstances are different. We are used to talking to people that are stressed or even understandably panicked because tax debt, levies, liens, IRS mail, etc, but this is different. The phone has been ringing off the hook this week because these callers are trying to reach Tax Relief Associates out of California. We explain to them we are different company that is incorporated in the State of Washington, but these people want to talk more, so we listen.
They tell us that their calls are not being answered, the 800 number is not working, the website is now under construction, and e-mails are bouncing back, and the office (one caller visited the office) did not have anyone in it when he went by there. We listen to these people and offer what little hope and advice we can, and hope for them it is not as it appears.
We offer them this advice for the future: Never hire a firm that demands full payment in advance or even half now and the balance in 30 days. Never hire a firm that guarantees the outcome of Offer-In-Compromises. The IRS takes a dim view on these guarantees or implied outcome promises and the IRS has even published warnings regarding this practice. Never hire a firm that lumps tax solutions into one fee structure. Do not pay the same for a service that takes less than 30-days as you would for one that takes eight months or more. Never hire a firm that tells every potential client that they qualify for an Offer In Compromise. Never hire a firm that doesn’t stand by their Offer In Compromise submissions by supporting the client with any appeals as part fee agreement.
Rest assured we don’t have a halo; we have clients that forget to tell us about assets or radically change their expenses at the last minute or after the Offer has been sent out. We make mistakes, but we acknowledge them and take action to repair our mistakes.
Every day we lose clients to firms that promise them the moon, but never get off the ground. We can only hope there is a special very dark place in for the owners and officers of these firms.
On a personal note, we are not too thrilled about the direction this is taking either, as this could hurt our reputation. When people are angry and the media bombs are thrown, innocent companies are hurt too. We hope this is not the case, but only time will tell. Be careful out there!
November 8th, 2005 at 7:57 am
Editors Note: Client is writing about TRA of California, the type of firm IRS/State Tax Relief Associates, Inc warns taxpayers about
I am one of the victims of tax relief associates. They took $1,850.00 dollars for an offer in compromise and were supposed to file my 2004 return and didn’t, which ended up with a lein on my paycheck for over a month.I am a sick older woman with an incurable illness and have not been able to work a 40 hr. week in over a year.All the money I had to try to resolve this is gone .I now am struggling to make my bills.The IRS has put me temporary hardship but my fees and interest are still compounding and I don’t think I will ever have the money to pay it off with my health gone.I don’t know what I’m going to do.TRA has really screwed me , among other’s , and I know I will never see one dime of what they stole from me.I certainly hope the owners of that company goes to a very bad place, along with their scamming ” tax lawyer” employee’s.They deserve cosmic pay back for what they did to many people trying to do the right thing to get their live’s back on track.I’m sure you’ve heard alot of victim’s spouting off .You may be a legitimate company, but this is the kind of thing that scares us to deal with any tax service. I also found out J.K. Harris is a ripoff too, as well as Ronnie Duetch.
Thanks for listening,
Kris Langdon
June 8th, 2006 at 4:49 am
Note: This comment is from a taxpayer who clearly didn’t read the advice on our website “Never Do This”. Some people just want to hear their desire. To be fair we didn’t evlaute her case nor do we know what she told the firm mentioned in this blog.
My husband and I had some issues with back taxes which we were trying to take care of. However due to the interest and penalties we were not even putting a dent in the fairly large debt. A year after my husband and I got married my mother and 3 siblings had to move in with us. Due to my mother’s illness she was unable to work. We became their only means of support. With the treatments and all the other bills we had taken on this became a very financialy difficult time. We could no longer make payments to the IRS. We found The Law Office of Ronnie Deutch and thoUght this was the answer to our prayers. We talked to a gentleman who told us we were a perfect canidate for the offer in compromise. They told us the IRS could touch us as long as they represented us. We scraped everything we could together making payments over an entire year. I now have a lien on my home, my husband’s wages have been garnished and all they have to tell me is we should have paid our taxes. When I tried to defend myself and explain the situation I was going through and I wasnt just choosing not to pay because I felt as if I was being attacked by the people I had paid over $3,000 to protect me,the gentleman word for word told me the IRS didnt care about my mother my number one obligation was to pay my debt. This by far was the biggest scam I have ever seen. Now even if I were to trust another attorney it wouldnt matter these people have taken all of my money.I hope by you getting the word out other people can be saved from making the same mistake.
Thanks,
Candice Kiel
June 21st, 2006 at 11:26 pm
I called to find out if I would be a candidate for an offer-in-compromise or some other way to avoid paying the IRS the $30K of my hard-earned money that they say I owe. I spoke to Jeff and he told me that I should probably just borrow against my 401K to pay them off – that even doing an installment payment plan is not the best solution when they charge so much in penalties and interest. Not the answer I was hoping for, of course, since I don’t want to pay them!!
But I appreciated that Jeff took the time to call me, talk on the phone and not try to sell me on something that would be a waste of my time and money. Thanks Jeff! Finally a reputable, helpful organization!!
July 27th, 2006 at 12:28 am
We had a on going problem, and we used every option that we could find ,to no avail. Then I found IRS/State Tax Relief Associates and got in contact with Jeff La Bonte and he understood the problems that we were going thru.We had used other tax services and paid a lot of money for empty promises so to say the least I listen to what he had to say and took one last chance. The person that took our case was Mrs I.Shey and she worked Very Very hard, made countless calls to the I.R.S. .The
bottom line is We settled a tax debt of $245.000.00 for $11.000.00 . That tells anyone who has gone thru this how hard they work for there Clients.Thanks IRS/State T.R.A
TT & ZRT
November 1st, 2006 at 12:42 am
Today I am dancing on the roof shouting to the world. Before I contacted Jeff and team, dancing on the roof was more like considering hurling myself from the roof.
I became very ill several years ago and had to close my business owing the IRS around 6K. Well, as we all know that amount bounces pretty high over a few years. As mine climbed to the 40K mark, I felt like I would have a heart attack every time I received a bill from the IRS. I got to the point that I could no longer open the envelope. I was thinking that maybe I needed to see a heart Dr. because of the stress of not knowing when someone might show up at my door.
One sleepless night thinking my life would be over because the huge hole I was in due to tax penalties. I must have had an angel on my back; I did a search and found irstaxreliefservices. When I got up the nerve and called the next day and spoke with Jeff a feeling of being in control at last came over me.
When the Offer of Compromise came in the mail yesterday I wasn’t sure if I should have a heart attack, rush into denial and not open the envelope or see straight. My hands were shaking as I carefully opened the envelope praying for good news.
That gorilla on my back of over 40K jumped off yesterday and now I am focused on paying the $500 settlement in the next 90 days. That I can handle, if I was closer I would rush over and give Jeff a huge hug and share my tears of relief.
Di