411 Tax Relief, A Division Of 411 Web Promised to help with getting my tax obligation reduced w/IRS but did not follow thru Culver City California

Margie signed up with our firm 8/26/2007, and she promised our firm a series of low dollar payments over a nine-month period in exchange for our work on her tax problems.

For the record: A) we did not collect any money or receive any financial documents from her until AFTER we had a signed Service Agreement from her. B) Our Service Agreement says in black and white that "the services listed are our best initial estimate of the work required..." and that the firm may substitute "...additional services to get the best possible result". C) we work with many low income clients, because we offer reasonable payment plans for our services. However, as we advised Margie in the beginning, we will not work on a case where the payments to us are not being made timely.

Here are the problems that developed:

1) She did not tell us about all her income during the intial interview. In addition to the unemployment income she disclosed to us, she also receives about $34,000 per year in alimony. Without knowing about this extra income, we assumed that she would be eligible for either an Offer in Compromise or a Part Pay Installment Agreement with the IRS. Once this additional income was discovered, and we analyzed her "ability to pay", we discovered that she could pay $1,355 per month on an IRS debt of about $10,000. This is definitely NOT an Offer case. Nonetheless, we continued to work with her to get the best possible resolution given her individual circumstances.

2) She was told up front that she must remain current with her payments to us, which we kept very low [based on her stated income] so that she could afford them. Work on her case was stopped and started time and again as she made her payments late. Had she not been late on her payments, she would never have heard from our Customer Service Department, and she could have spoken to her Enrolled Agent at any time. Our tax professionals are trained to refer all calls from suspended clients to our Customer Service Department.

3) Despite discussions with our staff about the importance of staying up-to-date with her current year IRS estimated tax payments, Margie was either unwilling or unable to make these payments, therefore there were problems setting up an IRS resolution for her.

In sum, had the client given us good information to start with, the initial estimate of services to be provided would NOT have included Offer In Compromise. In addition, had she made her payments to us timely and followed our advice, she would not be racking up a new tax liability every year, she would now be on an affordable payment plan, and she would now be working with us to reduce the amount of penalties assessed by the IRS.