American Tax Relief ripoff took my money Beverly Hills California

After being ripped off by Tax Relief Associates for $2,000 I decided to look into other companies I have seen advertised on TV. It seems every so called "tax relief" company seems to have the same M.O. They take money up front (often times without your consent) and then they do not communicate with you and you get the run around.

Since these tax relief companies all seem to be in CA of FL and you are not, nobody (including federal and state agencies) seem to care and you end up thousands less in your bank account. I can tell you from experience that you will find it cheaper and much more rewarding to pull out your local yellow pages and look up CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS and/or TAX ATTORNEYS and/or ATTORNEYS-TAX and look for the people who say they specialize in OFFERS IN COMPROMISE. Take the time to make a list of about 5 ads that appeal to you and then call them to set up appointments. Go to all 5 and then make a decision as to who you want to use. Be sure the person you use can not only handle your IRS issue but any State matters you may have as well.

You will find that a local professional in your area will do a better job for less money than these TV scammers who have to charge a lot just to cover their advertising bill and keep their ponzi scheme moving on and on. Sometimes a local company will also charge you an up front retainer and provide you with a detailed listing of their work. Once the retainer is used up then they will ask for another retainer. This is how it is done with a local business. I would never pay all the fees up front again based on my past rip off experience with Tax Relief Associates.

Also, by working with someone local, you can be rest assured they have been in business for a while and that they are not going to pack their bags overnight and disappear. You also have the ability to stop in to find out what is going on at anytime with your case!

If you have no money left and are in debt and have no assets, then you may just want to go to your local IRS office and ask them to help you with an Offer In Compromise since you cannot afford to hire a professional to do this for you. I would only do this as a last resort. If you can afford to hire a 3rd party to act in your best interest then you can be assured he or she will get that offer down as low as possible. Having the IRS act as that "3rd person" in putting together an offer is kind if like asking the fox to watch the hen house!

You may also want to search the Internet for keywords: "offer in compromise" and "software".

There are software programs that will allow you to prepare your own offer without having to shell out $4000 to some company that will do the same thing. For those of you who have been taken by these tax relief companies have all endured that lengthy 20+ page form that they send you to fill out. Well, basically you are merely giving them all the info to fill out the Offer In Compromise documents.

The fewer assets you have and the lower your earning power is, then the better your offer will be. The IRS wants to get rid of these messes just as much as you do and they want to give you a fresh start. Be insulted by the offer you make to the IRS to pay off your debt and negotiate from there.

Good luck!

I read this thread and though it was for Tax Relief Associates which is shutdown. Sorry for the confusion.

On another note, I think the $5500 was very high. Most people I am seeing are only a couple thousand to represent.

My current tax attorney will probably end up charging me $2500.00 and that is for 1999-2003 Fed and State taxes.

Did someone contact you recently and tell you they are working on it? If so, who? Do you have contact info.

They are shutdown. If they contacted you, it might be to appease until they have time to split. I have reason to believe they are moving to Florida.

It is not a matter of them passing the case around. They have discontinued all of there phones, email, and websites and at one point changed the name on the recording to National Tax. A woman answered once and told me it was National not Tax relief. She claimed bankruptcy but no filing.

If you have any info on them, please share so we can track them down.

Thanks

I am an Enrolled Agent who specializes in Tax Relief matters.

Had American Tax Relief handled your case properly, they would have immediately had you sign IRS Form 2848 (Power of Attorney) which they would have filed with the CAF Unit of the IRS (Memphis or Ogden depending on where you live). Three days later the POA would have been in the IRS system and their people could have spoken with IRS Collections and determined the filing and collection issues and should have gotten a reprieve of 45 days to get them resolved. The IRS Lien was inevitable, but the levy could have been prevented had American acted promptly.

And $5500 for a fee is WAAAAY too high. I wish I could get that kind of fee.

I am an Enrolled Agent who specializes in Tax Relief matters.

Had American Tax Relief handled your case properly, they would have immediately had you sign IRS Form 2848 (Power of Attorney) which they would have filed with the CAF Unit of the IRS (Memphis or Ogden depending on where you live). Three days later the POA would have been in the IRS system and their people could have spoken with IRS Collections and determined the filing and collection issues and should have gotten a reprieve of 45 days to get them resolved. The IRS Lien was inevitable, but the levy could have been prevented had American acted promptly.

And $5500 for a fee is WAAAAY too high. I wish I could get that kind of fee.

I am an Enrolled Agent who specializes in Tax Relief matters.

Had American Tax Relief handled your case properly, they would have immediately had you sign IRS Form 2848 (Power of Attorney) which they would have filed with the CAF Unit of the IRS (Memphis or Ogden depending on where you live). Three days later the POA would have been in the IRS system and their people could have spoken with IRS Collections and determined the filing and collection issues and should have gotten a reprieve of 45 days to get them resolved. The IRS Lien was inevitable, but the levy could have been prevented had American acted promptly.

And $5500 for a fee is WAAAAY too high. I wish I could get that kind of fee.

I am an Enrolled Agent who specializes in Tax Relief matters.

Had American Tax Relief handled your case properly, they would have immediately had you sign IRS Form 2848 (Power of Attorney) which they would have filed with the CAF Unit of the IRS (Memphis or Ogden depending on where you live). Three days later the POA would have been in the IRS system and their people could have spoken with IRS Collections and determined the filing and collection issues and should have gotten a reprieve of 45 days to get them resolved. The IRS Lien was inevitable, but the levy could have been prevented had American acted promptly.

And $5500 for a fee is WAAAAY too high. I wish I could get that kind of fee.

You message sounds a bit cowed. Hopefully, you wrote it freely, and not under duress.

Iam rewriting this letter because i didnt understand how this tax issue was to be resolved and i also didnt understand some of the laws so i thought that this company just took my money well thats not true they are doing everything they can by laws to resolve my case. i have found out that every company that handles tax issues does pass it to another person thats because they all take differnt rolls in getting these tax issues resolved, so they were not passing the buck they were just doing what they are suppose to do.and they are working on my case hard.