5 Popular Tactics Used by Dishonest Tax Resolution Companies

To help consumers avoid being taken advantage of by these companies, the attorneys of Roni Deutch, A Professional Tax Corporation have put together a list of five alarming tactics employed by some of these companies that you should be wary of before you retain one of them.

1. Cold Calling Solicitation

Because of high sales demands, some tax debt resolution companies have turned to cold calling in order to solicit new clients. This is alarming because unpaid taxes are not something most people want to freely disclose. Having a stranger leave you an unwelcome message regarding your tax debts can be intrusive and discomforting. These companies may also use half-truths to try and scare you into believing that immediate action is required by you to resolve your tax debt.

2. Guarantees

Some tax debt resolution companies represent that they can obtain a settlement offer with the IRS for significantly less than what a taxpayer may owe to try and convince taxpayers to retain their services. However, don't be fooled. No one can guarantee that the IRS will accept your settlement offer. Whether the IRS will accept a settlement offer, otherwise known as an Offer in Compromise, or another tax debt resolution depends on each taxpayer's unique financial situation, tax liability, and tax filing compliance. The IRS has strict guidelines for some types of tax debt resolutions and the IRS will not accept a particular tax debt resolution if a taxpayer's financial situation does not meet the established guidelines.

3. No Pre-Analysis, No Attorney Review

Many tax debt resolution companies will sign up new clients without knowing anything about their financial situation. We refuse to sign up any new clients prior to performing a free and confidential tax analysis. In order to perform the tax analysis, our law firm asks a series of questions to obtain an understanding of a taxpayer's unique financial situation. The tax analysis is performed by a tax attorney. After reviewing a taxpayer's financial information, a tax attorney will recommend which particular tax debt resolution would be the most appropriate for the taxpayer. Unfortunately, performing a tax analysis for a taxpayer and providing the taxpayer with tax resolution options prior to enrolling the taxpayer does not appear to be a common practice with many of the tax debt resolution companies.

4. Additional Fees for Paperwork Errors

Recently, a potential client informed our law firm that another tax debt resolution company was charging additional fees because the taxpayer failed to correctly fill out the company's confusing paperwork. This was very disturbing to the taxpayer given the volume of the documents and the complexity of the information requested. Needless to say, the taxpayer refused to pay the fees and contacted our law firm about our services.

5. False Information to Enrolled Clients

Taxpayers should be wary of any tax debt resolution company who shares information about a taxpayer's representation by another company. For example, a client of our law firm reported being contacted by a salesperson from another company who told her that our law firm no longer wanted to represent her. The salesperson further advised that his company would be taking over so the taxpayer needed to enroll with his company. Do not fall for this tactic. Always contact the company you are working with to verify that you remain a client of theirs before signing up with a new tax debt resolution company. Otherwise, you may find that you paid two companies to provide the service same.

The Tax Lady Roni Deutch and her law firm Roni Deutch, A Professional Tax Corporation have been helping taxpayers across the nation find IRS tax relief for over seventeen years. The firm has experienced tax lawyers who can fight IRS tax liens on your behalf.