I needed a simple IRS supplied referencial number, called a Federal Tax ID, to open an Estate Account for my deceased mother at my bank since I was notified that I inherited financial award accorded to her and I needed to open said account so that the Register of the Wills could institute a probate proceeding.
I was emotionally stressed and wanted to get all the paper work over and first called the IRS number the Register of the Wills gave me and then the IRS agent said that I would be faster and easier to do online.
I went to my computer, used a Google engine using the words " Apply for a Federal Tax ID", and when immediately thee TaxID@simplefilings.com site was activated, I entered all the information and then I did submitted the filed out form and was asked for my credit card number which I did enter, assuming that the high cost incurred was indeed normal and then after one hour I did receive the Federal Tax ID Nr.
An hour later, when a fraud officer of the bank of my Master Card called me saying that there was suspicious activity with my account and asked me if I did indeed charged $236.00 dollars, I replied affirmatively, and he then ended the conversation.
All along I was assuming that SimpleFiling was either a subdivision of the IRS or a contractor until I called the IRS today and was shocked to learn that the IRS provides this referencial number readily, easily, and for no charge !
Yes, I admit that I should not have used a search engine and should have gone to the IRS site directly, but I still find it outrageous that a company can charge me $ 236.00 for doing what anyone can do free in minutes via the IRS site. I could perhaps understand if a nominal fee was charged but even then it would seem deceitful, but $ 236.00 for entering few bits of info on a site and receiving a reference number seems robbery to me. I feel violated and all of us affected should demand our money back.
