Liberty Tax Services Tax Products Group Not exactly honest Dallas, Texas

This is the first year I have ever used Liberty Tax Service, and it will be the last.  There are several issues that I have with Liberty Tax Service.  I will start at page one and work my way through my paperwork as not to miss any issues and/or concerns.

Page one is my invoice.  The price quoted and stated in writing says the fee is for:  Tax preparation fees, other tax preparation fees, and electronic filling fee and it gives one fee.  Then page two summarizes the amount paid to Liberty Tax Services plus an additional $9.00 to be paid to the "Transmitter"; and the final line is a standard $29.95 charged by the "Bank" for processing your refund.  When I asked the Tax Preparer what the $9.00 was for, he said it was a  "transmitting the return" fee and is paid to the"Bank".  However, (1) the invoice on the first page said the transmitting fee was included in the Liberty's fee, and (2) when I talked to the "Bank", the gentleman told me this was a fee paid to Liberty.  So, it does appear Liberty Tax Service is double dipping on service fees and not adequately disclosing their the actual fees they are disclosing.  If Liberty Tax overcharges every customer $9.00, then 100 customers made them an extra $900
in profit.

The second issue I have is that the paperwork they have you sign is all done electronically.  The preparer tells you what it says but you do not have the ability to actually "read the fine print" since a printed copy is not available, so you don't really have a full disclosure of what you are signing until you have signed it.

Third, they say the bank handling my money is Citizens Banking Company.  When I called the number provided for Citizens Banking Company, the phone was answered by a company called Tax Products  Group (a.k.a. Liberty Tax Services).  The gentleman answering the phone told he that they were not the bank but financial management service who just manages the financial activity.

Next, when I asked if he knew who the bank involved was, he gave me another number to call.  When I called that number, it was a company that does check verifications and they couldn't tell me anything.  As of this evening, I have so far followed the rabbit trail and discovered no few than 6 different businesses have received my personal information including but not limited to my social security number, but none of these business is the bank that is going to physically possess my money (a.k.a. refund).  If it is such a reputable company, why is it so difficult to get a simple answer to a simple question?  It does not make sense.

Finally, my biggest issue is the Tax Preparers themselves.  They are nice people; very polite, but they don't come off as someone knowing what they are doing.  At least at the office I was at, they come across as untrained.  They could not answer any questions I had.  They kept having to ask someone else the questions and a few times, they had to call someone and ask the question.  I say all of this to say "Buyer Beware".  You are better off filing your returns elsewhere.