Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Incompetence Denton, Texas

Back in 2009 my wife and I used Jackson Hewitt to do our tax returns for the 2008 tax year. We had both recently lost our jobs as contractors and couldn't afford to use a much more expensive but effective tax preparer. I did my taxed paid the $300 fee and mailed in my tax returns with no issues. They did offer to mail them for me but I declined as I am not the trusting kind. My wife on the other hand, did hers paid the $300 fee and wrote a check to the IRS for $27,000 in change. The tax preparer at Jackson Hewitt offered to mail the return in for her and she accepted. Huge mistake.

The IRS did recieve her check and promptly cashed it so we thought all was well. In 2009 we had a terrible year financially as did most Americans. For the first time in years we were due a refund as we were blessed with the birth of our first son and we had barely scraped out a living. My wife filed her taxes and was delighted to learn she would be getting a hefty refund. We did not use Jackson Hewitt thist time as our returns were simple 1040-EZ filings. Instead of a check she got a notice from the IRS that her refund had been siezed and applied to her 2008 taxes that, according the their records, had not been filed or paid. This started what has become a 3 year plus nightmare for us.

Initially we got a notice saying she owed in the ball park of $60,000 for unpaid taxes, penalties, failure to file and interest. You can imagine the shock and the panic that set in at that moment. Not only were we not getting our refund, that we desparately needed to pay our bills, but we were on the hook for $60K! We diligently got to work calling Jackson Hewitt and requesting her tax refunds and the proof that they filed them. We quickly learned just how unorganized and incompetent the people at the Denton, TX location were. They could not find the returns nor could they find proof they filed them. Our belief is that they did file them but as you might imagine, the IRS could have made an error. 

It took six months for Jackson Hewitt to find the returns much to the chagrin of the IRS. When they finally did locate the returns they were incomplete and there was no proff that they had ever been filed despite the fact that they some how managed to mail in the $27k check. Meanwhile my wife and I are fretting and losing sleep as we all know the IRS are well known to bully people like us. Here we are makeing very little income, barely keeping the mortage paid and the lights on. Having to buy diapers and formula for our son and work at jobs that were, well just horrible places for any human to have to endure.

To make a long story short. We have had to get several liens and levies lifted. We have spent $1,000's on legal fees and our personal time fighting this. We have lost too many nights of sleep to count and our marriage has suffered greatly. All the while Jackson Hewitt has not even lifted a finger or offered to help us out. They have repeatedly ignored our requests for the tax returns and documentation they are required by law to keep. They still cannot find a completed tax return or proof that they filed the return at all. By the way, tax prepareers are required to keep these things. It's the law, but the law means nothing to these people aparently.

So as of now we are locked in a legal battle that will likely go on for years according to our attorney. All I can say is if you use Jackson Hewitt, you are asking for trouble.