Stay Away from These Tax Resolution Firms That Will Say Anything to Part You From Your Money

Frankly, we’re frequently embarrassed by the companies in this business. We welcome good competition and good tax resolution firms exist, but by and large, we honestly believe that the IRS should shut down the majority of businesses that want to represent you before the IRS.

As we find businesses that don’t deserve your money, we’re going to list those companies and the reasons why we would stay as far away as possible.

We’re not perfect and we’ve had unhappy clients as well, but that isn’t the problem. The problem is businesses that choose to lie, cheat and steal as the way they do business. We turn away more clients than we take and that’s because we prefer to sleep at night and to make money without screwing over people that already have serious financial problems.

1) American Tax Relief (americantaxrelief.com & 84save.com & 9save.com). They solicit through lies. We recently read a postcard they sent out which states, “The Congress has recently passed NEW laws, making it easier to settle tax debts. We are now finding that many people who did not previously qualify for tax relief can now take advantage of these NEW changes and settle for much less.” The only problem is that it isn’t true. There have been NO changes in the law that make it easier to get your IRS tax debt settled. In fact, the IRS has made it far more difficult to get Offers in Compromise cases accepted as noted elsewhere on this site.

According to the Los Angeles Better Business Bureau, American Tax Relief is so bad that they give them a rating of “F”.

The LABBB also says, “we believe this company misrepresents their ability to negotiate settlements or offers in compromise with the IRS. Many complainants state that they make promises concerning their ability to negotiate these settlements when they have no way of knowing whether or not they will be able to deliver on those promises.”

American Tax Relief posts on their web sites “as seen on CNN & MSNBC”. Sorry, boys, but running an ad doesn’t qualify. They want you to believe they’ve been talked about in a story which couldn’t be further from the truth.

2) Sunrise Sunset Tax Solutions (sunrisesunsettaxsolutions.com) I recently ran into this firm after learning that they are cold calling people scammed by NADN/Oryan Management. Somehow they obtained the company’s client list. They are charging 455% more than we proposed to represent these victims. I had a conversation with company President Roman Ellano who refused to disclose what the client got for $5,000. In addition, the company says that they guarantee they will save you $5,000 on your income taxes if you join their program and follow their advice. No one can legally make such a guarantee stand up. Their site also claims that they represent delinquent taxpayers, but it appears they may not be legally able to do so.

3) Tax Incorporated aka Tax Inc. (TaxIncorporated.com) Here’s another company that lies through their solicitations. They falsely state in their mail solicitations that “The IRS has recently changed its settlement procedures. This means many taxpayers who previously did not qualify can now take advantage of many new, generous relief options to settle their tax debt for much less than before and save thousands of dollars.”

This is nothing more than a complete fabrication and they damn well know it. It’s designed to get you to pick up the phone and call them. Nothing more and nothing less. I’m sure I’ll be hearing from their attorneys soon. Let ’em threaten me with legal action. My response is simple. Prove your lying statement is truthful and my statement comes down.

4) Freedom Tax Relief aka Freedom Financial Network, LLC (FreedomTaxRelief.com) Some companies will say & do anything to get between you and your money. I had heard that this company might be willing to tell potential clients that they would help them to hide assets from the IRS. One can presume that the reason a firm would do this would be to attract clients that other companies might turn down for an Offer in Compromise. Frankly, I hoped it wasn’t true, but it was. In response to a direct question, one of their employees told me in writing “If the property is not in your name, and if the IRS has not been able to track it or declare it as your asset, it is unlikely that they will in the future. We would certainly not mention it”.

This is outrageous. In my opinion, it’s fraud. One thing is for certain. I would never do business with a company that does business in this manner. I can’t believe the government hasn’t shut these jokers down.