Skip to main content

Tax Masters, Roni Deutch, JK Harris, Blue Tax and Other National Tax Debt Advertisters Who Use Lies and Half-Truths to Hook Taxpayers

Many people who sufferer from back IRS tax debt first became interested in hiring a tax firm after seeing a  TV commercial or infomercial from one of the many companies who have a national television campaign such as Tax Masters, Roni Deutch, JK Harris or Blue Tax.

In time taxpayers have came to realize that outstanding promotions do not equal outstanding tax debt results as claimed (i.e. pennies on the dollar or a portion of your tax debt). What many have learned is that the best value (quality and price) is not to be found at the heavily advertised national chain tax relief/resolution companies. Rather the best values are the gem in the rough tax firms that do virtually no advertising and obtain clients from good word of mouth on and offline. Unlike the national chain tax firms, quality independents maintain a workable case load and focus on quality rather than quantity.

I recommend that any person considering hiring a tax firm first ask to speak to the person who will actually be representing them before the IRS (not some salesperson or low level assistant). They will then be able to get a feeling of whether or not they feel comfortable working with that individual and hear what results to expect straight from the horses mouth (rather than a salesperson who often in this industry will stretch the truth tin order to close the sale).

Research the number of complaints with the BBB (disregard the rating as it is an arbitrary system and the criteria changes from BBB office to office-e.g I have seen companies with over 30 complaints and still have an A+ rating! It is the number of complaints that count).

Look for the number complaints posted online (granted some may be competitors with faux postings pretending to be a client and therefore the BBB is the only 100% reliable consumer compliant agency).

Generally the client reviews from the national chains like Tax Masters, Roni Deutch (which has since shut down), JK Harris and others have not been favorable, in fact all three mentioned have been sued by Attorney General Offices among others.

My professional advice is to look past the commercials and infomercials and sleep tight and don’t buy the hype! 

Popular posts from this blog

Keys to a Successful Offer in Compromise | Nicholas Hartney, EA | Genesis Tax Consultants, LLC ©

Keys to Unlock a Successful Offer in Compromise © by Nicholas Hartney, EA © of Genesis Tax Consultants, LLC© *Updated Article 2018 Here Contact me: Nicholas Hartney Licensed to Represent Taxpayers Before the IRS  T he Offer in Compromise is an agreement between a taxpayer and the IRS that settles the taxpayer’s liability for some amount which is less than the full amount due. The IRS has the authority to settle or compromise federal tax liabilities by accepting less than full payment under certain circumstances. The taxpayer makes an Offer in Compromise on Form 656. If the IRS accepts the Offer in Compromise, then a contract is formed in which the IRS agrees to cancel the tax debt in return for the payment of the agreed sum. The IRS has a whole set of rules, policies and procedures which govern when it will accept an offer. Unfortunately, you just don’t offer to pay them 10, 25, or 50 cents on the dollar. They look at your offer, compare it to their guide

2010 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum San Diego Review

The 2010 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum was nicely set up and had some great presentation speakers.   Some of the highlights discussed from the forum: There were almost one million federal tax liens filed in 2009. The National Taxpayer Advocate's Office discovered that federal tax liens drop your credit score 100 points as soon as they are filed.  The investigation also found that the three major reporting credit agencies, Experian, Equifax, and Transunion, do not remove tax liens for years, if at all, even after the tax has been paid.  The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows the agencies to keep the lien on your credit report for up to 7 years after payment in full.  Regardless of this Act for some reason the investigation found that Equifax keeps liens on your report for up to 15 years, Experian keeps the liens on your report for 10 years, and TransUnion indefinently!  Federal Tax Lien filings went up 475% over the past 10 years. Bankruptcy on back taxes are dischargable in a bank

Preparing IRS Form 1045 Tentative Carryback Application or Carryback Claim Net Operation Loss (NOL)

Preparing Form 1045 to apply a tentative carry-back loss is ridiculously complicated for most people.  Even seasoned tax prepares have difficulties preparing this form.  If after you filed an amendment to your tax return (Form 1040X) and the IRS sends you a notice requesting that you now file Form 1045 you should consider calling someone for help!  I filed one of these forms back in June for a client of mine and just received notice that it was approved, lowering the taxpayer's liability down from $8492 to $2900. You may want to contact me on this . If you wanted to try to tackle the 1045 yourself here are the instructions: Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service 2010 Instructions for Form 1045 Application for Tentative Refund Section references are to the Internal Definitions connection with gambling, the racing Revenue Code unless otherwise noted. of animals, or the on-site viewing of Eligible loss. For an individual, an such racing, and the po