Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/23/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We entered into an agreement for Tax Help USA to represent and help negotiate a settlement amount with the *** for past due taxes. To this day, we have not seen any paperwork nor correspondence with the ***. They never answer the phone nor respond to emails. We do not know to this day if anything has been submitted to the *** for any type of settlement agreement nor any type of payment plan.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/27/2025

  Hello,

  After looking into this matter we have found that Tax Help USA is not your case's service provider. Your file is being serviced by Legal Tax Defense. Please contact them to resolve this issue.

   

  Thank you,

  Tax Help USA

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/10/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Signed contract with Tax Help USA in July of 2024 to process past due tax returns. Financed amount due with Equity Sales Finance, recommended by Tax Help USA. Communicated with ***** *. to start. Early Nov 2024 I received a property tax lien notice from state of **. Sent to *****. Nov 26 I received a notice of wage garnishment. Called ***** multiple times from mid December to early January. No response. My wages were garnished. Finally called Equity Sales Finance to see if they could help. They said they would have someone call me. Got a call from ***, she said they were closed for "the holidays" (no voicemail said that) and ***** was on leave of absence. Checked in with *** a couple of weeks later and she said she needed my DL, which I had already sent in. Asked about the garnishment, she said I was not signed up for that. She was rude and unprofessional and hung up on me. Left her several messages in the next few weeks and got no return call. Called and asked for supervisor. Got connected with *********. She said they needed my DL and some other paperwork, which I sent in, and *** would get back to me. No contact back from ***. Called ********* back, got *****. Played phone tag with ***** for several days. Finally the tax preparer called me for info and my DL. Communicated with him, there were errors on the returns. After they were fixed, *** sent multiple emails with different copies of the returns, they were not the correct returns. Said she would text me instructions. Never heard back. Emailed *********, she sent returns again, but not the revised ones. Emailed *********, CC'd the tax preparer and asked for the correct returns. He sent them to me directly. I did not trust *********/*** to get them filed quickly, so I did it myself. I never got any help with the garnishment. All my returns were refunds, so I would have never been garnished if they would have taken care of it in a timely manner, not the 9 months it took them.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/27/2025

  Hello,

  Client contracted Tax Help USA for tax preparation services only. ** was not contracted or paid for any resolution services that would release levies or liens. TH staff reached out to client several times to get the needed documents to complete the tax prep. Once TH received the needed documents to complete the client's taxes, they were quickly sent to the tax preparer to complete them. TH tax preparer completed the returns within the two days after receiving the needed document from client. Client called several times during the week of January 7, 2025 and no one answered the phones because TH staff was under a mandatory evacuation due to the devastating Los Angeles fires. When TH staff came back to the office, the client yelled and used profanity with staff even though it was explained to him we were under a mandatory evacuation and could not answer the phone.  At this time, TH will not be refunding the client since the services TH was contracted to do were completed and services were rendered.    

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/02/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  They promised to get my tax bill reduced or eliminated. I paid them over ****** in all. They did nothing. I need my money back

  Business Response

  Date: 01/28/2025

  Hello,

  After looking into our system, we are no longer servicing your file. Your file has been serviced by Legal Tax Defense for the last year. Their phone number is ************. They will have all of the information regarding your case. 

   

  Thank you,

  Tax Help USA

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/18/2025

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/04/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  After my husband passed away in Aug. 2023, I was unfortunately left with a large amount of his unresolved *** debt that I had not been entirely aware of for years, so when I heard ads for Tax Help USA on a local radio station back in Sept. 2023, I reached out to them hoping for some relief, but instead ended up wasting many months of my time AND a good chunk of my money with nothing to show for it in the end. They basically duped me out of over $3800 in fees that supposedly went to their tax attorneys and initially misled me to believe that they could lower my monthly payments to the *** from $250 to only $50, but for many months, they kept handing me off to different caseworkers and requesting more & more documents from me, but only seemed to communicate with me whenever they wanted yet another document. Yet whenever I attempted to reach out to them for a status update, no one ever answered the phone or promptly returned my calls. The first caseworker I worked with also told me not to send any more payments into the *** while they worked on my case, but then I started getting delinquent letters from the *** and had to resume my payments anyway at the risk of going into default. On top of that, I was owed a tax refund of over $3000 this year, but the *** seized the entire amount to apply toward the debt. The last straw just came this past week when a supervisor told me that the best they could do was reduce my payments to $200/month, and then a couple days later, another [rude] caseworker told me that their proposal to the *** got denied and that they were not permitted to reduce my payments because I was already on a payment plan with the ***, which I had already been telling Tax Help from the get-go, so when I requested a refund of the $3800+ I had already shelled out to them to basically do nothing for me, they said they were unable to do that or anything else for me, so I lost all that money AND my whole tax refund for nothing because they scam seniors/widows.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/07/2024

  We initially based the client's resolution on what she verbally informed us her financials, mainly her income,  was when she signed up for our services. However, turns out the client receives much more monthly income that what she initially disclosed to us. Which has affected the outcome of her resolution. We requested financials from her on paper at different times, which she submitted to us, with the hopes we could see changes in her financials that would allow a different resolution. However, this was not the case. The financial reviews, on our end, do take a lot of time as we review, look and explore all resolution options. At this moment, based on her current financials, the resolution that was relayed to her is best. Though if her financials change in the future, then the agreement may be revised. We still have not completed her case as the next step is to submit for a penalty abatement to give some relief. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/10/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Last year approx 7/2023, we answered a ******** ad re: getting tax help with balances owed to the ***.I spent well over 2 hrs on the phone with 2 people from their intake area, one by the name of ****. I was 100% honest in the questions I answered. **** told me that instead of paying the $225 per month we were paying, they would be able to reduce it to $50 per month. I then was shifted to ********************* in sales who said that the amount of their services would be approximately $3500.00 and that the loan payment through a 3rd party provider would be $135 per month. We felt that we would be further ahead to get our monthly costs down, so we agreed to this. About 3 months into our payment plan with the loan company, we took out a loan and paid that loan in full (their service fee, not the ***** And our tax bill to the *** was still $225 per month.In this time, nothing has been done. TaxHelp USA keeps asking us for a ***** of ******** form 8821 to be signed and sent back to their offices. We signed one of these ***** of ******** forms and sent it to them at least 3 times. Not having one does not allow this company to advocate for us, so nothing has been accomplished after all this time.My father paid off my tax bill in February of 2024. There is no more tax liability.I wrote them and told them about this development, and asked at that time about a refund since no services were rendered. They keep calling and emailing asking for an 8821 to be signed and resent to them so they can work on our behalf. Each time, I have told them that the debt has been paid, that there is no longer any tax liability and I believe I am due a refund.The ppl I speak with say a Mgr will call me back, but nothing has happened. It's going on two months with no follow through.Terrible company. Waited for over a year with no resolution, no communication unless I pestered them. Please help.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/31/2024

  
  The client's complain has been resolved, please contact the client to confirm. Thank you for your attention to this matter. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/03/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/02/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The Tax Help USA worked with Equity Sales Finance to convince my wife and I to finance a payment of $11,500 to Tax Help USA. They worked in tandem as predators. They understood, as they know with most individuals they deal with that have tax problems, that we were feeling stressed about our tax debt and ***** promised my wife that he could reduce our tax debt from $100,000 to less than $10,000. Being threatened with ****** by the *** ***** used that leverage to have us believe he could help us. I told him that I would get the money from my retirement to pay the $11,500 fee they were charging but he insisted that we use Equity Sales Finance instead. Again, wanting to trust him we agreed and under ****** signed the finance agreement that is attached.After that Tax Help USA was not able to lower our amount due to the *** and my bank account and paycheck was levied. I spent weeks calling and leaving messages but not reply back to me. We finally got an installment agreement in place but they didn't do anything for me that I couldn't have done without their help. They are a predatory tandem that I am sure have done the same thing to others.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/10/2024

  We have signed service agreements from ************* for our services as well as the finance company. It's unfortunate ************** feels this way as we did a lot of work on his case. Here is a summary of the amount of work that was put in his case: 
  Client signed up for our services on 9/19/23
  On 9/21/23 case manager reached out to client to welcome on board as well as provided contact information
  His enrolled agent did a compliance check with IRS on 9/22/23, as well as ordered transcripts and did a review of them. 
  On 9/27/24 his case manager sent him a request for financials
  On 10/5/23 we received the client's financial form back
  After this his enrolled agent spent a good amount of time reviewing ************** documents and putting together a financial analysis. 
  Enrolled agent made several calls to speak to ************** Revenue Officer with no luck, however kept calling to reach the Revenue Officer.
  Revenue Officer did send out levies to **************, however his enrolled agent acted quickly on behalf of ************** to get the levy released. Spent a great deal of time in trying to reach **************' Revenue Officer and then spent more time discussinga reasonable agreement to stop the levies. This entailed a lot of work put in by his enrolled agent by submitting documents to the Revenue Officer then following up more than once in order to discuss an agreement. An agreement that ************** approved of. 
  **************' enrolled agent also spoke to him directly throughout the majority of the process to keep him updated. 
  Once the agreement was in place with ****** released, **************' enrolled agent also addressed to him directly the need for further documents to lower the agreement amount. 
  Case manager also reached out to **************' for the documents so the agreement may be lowered. 
  However, until this day, we have not received the updated documents from **************' so we may lower the agreement amount, his cooperation in this matter was needed. 
  In regards to the financing, we work with financing companies so our clients may make low payments towards our fee instead of, in ************** initial desire, withdrawing from his retirement account and possibly incurring a new tax liability due to this for early withdrawal. As part of our services, our job is to help our clients stop the bleeding from owing any new tax liabilities to IRS/State when filing their tax returns. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/07/2024

   
  Complaint: 21401546
  
  I am rejecting this response because: These statements from the business are only partially true.

  After this his enrolled agent spent a good amount of time reviewing ************** documents and putting together a financial analysis. 
  Enrolled agent made several calls to speak to ************** Revenue Officer with no luck, however kept calling to reach the Revenue Officer.
  Revenue Officer did send out levies to **************, however his enrolled agent acted quickly on behalf of ************** to get the levy released. Spent a great deal of time in trying to reach **************' Revenue Officer and then spent more time discussing a reasonable agreement to stop the levies. This entailed a lot of work put in by his enrolled agent by submitting documents to the Revenue Officer then following up more than once in order to discuss an agreement. An agreement that ************** approved of.  I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH TIME THEY SPENT BUT I DO KNOW THAT I MADE PHONE CALLS TO THEM THAT WERE NOT RETURNED. INITIALLY ***** WAS ANSWERING MY CALLS AND WOULD ACT SURPRISED THAT SOMEONE HE HAD TOLD TO CALL ME HAD NOT. THIS HAPPENED AT LEAST THREE TIMES. THEN HE STOPPED ANSWERING MY CALLS AND WOULD BE TOLD SOMEONE WOULD CALL ME BACK BUT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. THEREFORE I REACHED OUT TO THE *** AGENT MYSELF AND THE AGREEMENT WAS PUT INTO PLACE AS A RESULT OF MY REACHING OUT TO THE *** AND THEY ARE TRYING TO TAKE CREDIT FOR IT. AFTER THE AGREEMENT WAS IN PLACE THEN I RECEIVED CALLS FROM A SUPERVISOR IN THEIR ORGANIZATION AND I INFORMED THEM OF WHAT HAD TAKEN PLACE AND THE **** THAT I HAD BEEN CALLING FOR THREE WEEKS WITH NO RESPONSE FROM THEM UNTIL THEN.

  **************' enrolled agent also spoke to him directly throughout the majority of the process to keep him updated. FALSE - THE ENROLLED AGENT WAS NOT RETURNING MY CALLS AND HENCE I CALLED THE *** AGENT.
  

  Once the agreement was in place with ****** released, **************' enrolled agent also addressed to him directly the need for further documents to lower the agreement amount. FALSE - THE ENROLLED AGENT DID NOT ADDRESS ME DIRECTLY AND AFTER SPEAKING WITH A SUPERVISOR OF THE COMPANY HE TOLD ME THAT SOMEONE ELSE WOULD BE TAKING OVER THE FILE.

  
  Case manager also reached out to **************' for the documents so the agreement may be lowered. FALSE - THE **** MANAGER DID NOT REACH OUT TO ME FOR THE AGREEMENT TO BE LOWERED BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T GETAF IT LOWERED IN SPITE OF ALL THE GRANDIOSCE CLAIMS THAT WERE PURPORTED TO ME WHEN I F***T SPOKE WITH THEM.
  

  However, until this day, we have not received the updated documents from **************' so we may lower the agreement amount, his cooperation in this matter was needed.  AFTER WEEKS OF CALLING AND NOT GETTING A RESPONSE IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE TO PROVIDE THEM WITH ANY DOCUMENTS BECAUSE MY BEST INTERESTS WERE NOT IN THEIR MIND.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Business Response

  Date: 06/20/2024

  The client's loan was refunded to Equity Finance in the amount of $12,480 by Tax Help USA. Therefore the client only paid $1,775.13 for the work that was completed on his behalf and which was outlined in the previous response we submitted.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/25/2024

   
  Complaint: 21401546
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Although Equity Finances money was refunded, Tax Help didn't do anything that assisted me in the way that they purported they would. Essentially, I paid $1,775 for something that I had to do myself because they were not returning my calls. Therefore I had to take it upon myself to get a resolution, albeit one that would preferred to be different. Had they returned my calls I would be fine with the payment but because of their lack of response I did the work that I was paying them to do. They don't deserve the money.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *****

  Business Response

  Date: 02/05/2025

  Hello,

  We looked into your case, and we are no longer servicing your file. You file is being serviced by Legal Tax Defense. Please reach out to them at ************.

  Thank you,

  Tax Help USA

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/28/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Date of transition 4/23 Amount of transactions $3200 Nature of business tax resolution with the *************** contacted me and after being convinced they could help me resolve my tax issues with the *** I moved forward signing a contract for them to help negotiate a payment settlement for my back taxes owed for over $20k. Since starting I have been on a roller coaster but always assured Im in good hands. A settlement was sent but not accepted due to this company not following through with the ***. Ad I became frustrated I contacted the *** and was told no one had called them to straighten the error. Any time I would receive cooredpance from the irs I would forward to them and assure the matter would be handled. Moving forward to now, I received a letter from the irs for seizure of my property for $18,600 tax problem. Upon talking to the irs this company never included this tax issue in my agreement for resolution so know ** left to handle it my self. And on top of of this this company has stopped communicating with me through email or phone calls. I dont know what to do. I would like my money back or at best I feel they are liable to pay the irs at this point due to their negligence to represent the consumer.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/08/2024

  It's unfortunate the client feels this way, however we have communicated with her throughout the process. An offer in compromise was submitted, however it was not approved by IRS. It didn't mean we stopped working on her case as we did prepare new financials and presented the client with a new resolution where she still would not be liable to pay back IRS the full amount as it's a partial payment plan and we got it to a very low amount. Client was unpleased that a tax lien would be filed, however IRS already filed a lien on the balance previously to this as this is out of our control. We are very much open to communicating with client, however it's the client that has refused to speak to us.  Her case manager had repeatedly reached out to her and the last time she did so, client hung up the phone on her. If client would like us to place her in the resolution we presented to her, then we would very much do so as long as she is willing to speak to us.