ComplaintsforRepublic Tax Relief

• Initial Complaint

  08/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I paid an initial $600 fee for what I was misled by the agent was getting my unfiled returns filed as well as the tax relief program. Then they wanted over $2000 in tax prep fees. Got that done for $1k locally. Then they offered no settlement with the **** just a non-payment program for $8k to time out the 10 year collection process by the *** for insolvency which doesn't apply when you make the money I do or just do a payment plan. They said they set up the payment plan, but they didn't, I had to do it myself. Meanwhile interest was still accruing while they told me lies and I owe more now than I did.

  

  Business response

  08/08/2024

  Hello ********************,

  I apologize that you are not satisfied with the services that were presented. When you approached the firm nearly 18 months ago, you had 10 years of unfiled returns. We did propose the filing of the returns for a fee and you declined. We informed you at that point that you could use the firms services or file on your own. Your filings were finally reflected as current on June 2024. Any late fees, penalties and interest are a result of not filing for 10 years and waiting until 6/2024 to have them posted. It is surely not the firms fault that there is interest for the last ten years. When you contacted the firm to find out the next phase of your case, we informed you of your options and you decided that you would like a payment arrangement setup. We scheduled a resolution team member to take into account all metrics and set up this plan. This 433D form was sent to you for signature and submission less than two weeks later. You were given instruction on where to send in the form for proper application. This form required your wet signature.

  We have done everything to mitigate your balance and have been patient in supplying you with options that you self resolved once presented. The only fees were for the investigation and filing of powers of attorney and case review. Please let me know if i can be of more assistance to you. 

  Kind Regards,

• Initial Complaint

  07/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I paid a tax company to help me file an OIC. They informed me not to correspond with the *** only to find out that they did not correspond on my behalf in over a year. I have received letters from the *** threatening of levys and potential seizure of property and assets due to their neglegence. The have representative assisting customer that are not certified or listed with their business. I don't want anyone else to be victimized by this company. Please Help me in this matter. I have supporting emails and I submitted documents to their corresponding officer that is at their facility.

  

  Business response

  07/08/2024

  Hello **************,

  I have been in a great deal of communications with you regarding this matter. I have also detailed in great length the work that has been completed to this point regarding your tax matter. When your came to the firm, your past due tax debt was $37K and in the last few years, you have added more to increase it to $56K. We had advised you that you cannot add additional tax debt to this balance to show the *** your pattern of tax liabilities has stopped. You were also informed that you need to stay compliant with filings with the *** and pay any future taxes on time. This was not done and continues to not be done. You stated to me that you simply are in a hardship and cannot afford to pay your taxes for your business in the current environment. I simply stated to you that continuing to not pay your taxes is considered evasion and a Revenue Officer will be assigned to enforce your willful non payment and compliance. I apologize if this at all sounds threatening, but i would much rather advise you of this as a client and providing options, than finding out from the Revenue Officer in person. 

  All of the compliance terms were outlined on the phone call before services, during your onboarding and in the contract in ****************** 4e. We can surely resolve your old tax debt, but in order for the firm to submit the completed 656 OIC packet to the ***, we need you to be current on this years estimated tax payments, which you stated you are not. We instructed you that once you are, we will submit the package. 

  All discovery of your case was completed and your OIC package was prepared based on information submitted. We had delays in you providing your tax filings on time to us and also providing the firm with current profit and loss statements for the business for review to the **** Compliance is the key driver on your case and needs to be met to finalize your case. Any delays in the case were due to this and adding additional tax liability, which we included in the offer and extended your case as a courtesy, but annually you kept adding more liabilities, which are our of our control or not our responsibility. We have advised you of your alternative options and you have declined all options recommended by the tax attorney. Since your case is over a year old, all retainers to date have been applied to services rendered. I have tried to be as accommodating and explain this all to you. 

  Kind Regards,

  Customer response

  07/09/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  This business is blaming me for complying when they accepted power of attorney over my case. They waited until my case was in jeopardy to notify me of things needed to  satisfy the **** I looked to  them for legal advice and they have fail to assist me. They assured me that they had CPAs and accountants that could assist me. I informed them of my status of not having anyone to handle my books. They didnt assist me with my PLS statements to make sure they were correct before submitting them to the **** Therefore leaving me with additional income added. Now its my fault when I as a hairstylist, not an accountant or Cpa, is responsible for tax liability when I paid this company to help me out. It should not have taken a year for them to handle my case. In their contract, it states that money will not be refunded because cases are handled in a timely fashion. This is 2024. My contact began in 2023. They were paid to handle tax years 2018, 2019, and 2022. How could I have accumulated additional tax debt when They were paid for previous years. This proves their negligence and now I am out of $6700 that could have went towards my taxes. Please help me get my money back so I can pay taxes. They breeched their own contact and are keeping my money. I was on a payment plan before contacting them, they advised me not to contact the *** because they would have my taxes. I was under the impression that they had my best interest And a year later their making me seem negligent. You can check my records. I was complying with thw *** before I signed a contract with them. This is not fair to someone who trusted a so-called legitimate company to help. PLEASE I NEED MY MONEY BACK SO I CAN PAYY TAXES. Why would I stop paying the *** and start paying them only to end up nearly losing my livelihood?

  

  Business response

  07/10/2024

  Hello *************,

  You were in an Installment arrangement but you defaulted this agreement when you had a liability for 2022 and 2023. Your liability grew as a result for not paying any income or self employment taxes for those years. You also had a liability before coming to the firm. We advised you we needed to file the missing return and you needed to stay current. In the newest year, you once again owed and wanted to firm to apply the balance to the *** petition, even though it was stated to you that you would need to pay it  off in full at time of filing. I apologize that you do not have a bookkeeper nor any recordkeeping software, but we supplied you with profit and loss templates that you filed out and submitted to us. We do not question a clients bookkeeping and the numbers were in line with your revenue. For 2023 you wrote off 66% of your revenue as expenses from $145K of income. Your $10K liability for 2023 was a result in not paying any estimated taxes and your self employment taxes for Social Security and ********* This was explained to you. We have told you that you need to be making your estimated tax payments and the coupons were included with your taxes. I outlined your options on multiple occasions. These are your best options and you do not want to accept the reality of the situation. I am sorry that this is frustrating you but with knowledge in this space, i know what the outcome will be if not handled properly. 

  Kindly let me know if I can help you.

  Customer response

  07/15/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  This company did not honor their agreement to submit an offer in compromise. My contract was to resolve my tax debt for the amount of $6750. ********************************* placed me on a payment plan for 1 year and in my agreement it states that I was not to contact the *** and they were submitting a power of attorney letter to handle my case. I was under the impression that the fee I submitted would go torwards my offer but they verbalized that they collected the money for their attorney fees. I informed them from the beginning of this agreement that I could not afford to pay them and the *** they went throught the agreement and said that my fee would cover the resolution amount and they would submit it to the ***. Otherwise I would have never allowed the to take my tax money when I could have just paid my taxes. They took the entire amount of $6750 stating that the money went torwards their attorney fees and will not return my money nor will they file the offer intil I resume paying the ***. I ask what did they do to keep my payment since my tax debt wasn't settled. They told me that until I make payments they can't help and will not return my money at all. Im confused on how they get to keep my money and not honor their agreement. 

  Prior to entering into and agreement with them, I was already in compliance with the *** and was making timely payments to them. Now I have to resubmit a form F433 to resume my tax payments and they get to walk away with my fee because I can't afford to make the "estimated tax payment." I could have just continued to stay on a payment plan If It was important to be compliant. Why would they tell me not stop making payments when that was a critical part of submitting the offer.

  This company scammed me our of my tax money and I dont want this to happen to anyone else. Please Help!!!

  
  

  

  Business response

  07/17/2024

  Hello *************,

  When you came to the firm you owed $37,000. In that 1 year after filing 2022 and 2023, you owe $60,000. In your contract, we told you that we can resolve your past due tax issues and balance. We also told you that you cannot owe for current and future years and needed to remain compliant. This is in your service agreement and i have outlined this and told you over the phone multiple times. When i tell you that you need to start making payments to the **** I am telling you that you need to start making estimated tax payments toward future tax debt as you cannot be non compliant (not paying any taxes) to the *** for us to petition for a hardship of any kind. The *** will not honor any hardship exemption if you continually owe and add more tax debt. You feel that you do not need to pay your current taxes and cannot afford to and still want the attorney to petition for a hardship petition for past due taxes. The tax code and program guidelines does not permit these types of actions. I have explained this to you and yet you say you were not explained this. You also said that you will not incur added taxes for future years as you are not making money but you incur added taxes regardless. This is not our fault that you are not paying any taxes and you are passing the blame on us for not maintaining your business accounting and bookkeeping, something we were not contacted for. We have been dealing with your compliance for over a year. You keep adding tax debt and request it to be added to your petition, but in order to petition, we need you to guarantee the *** you will not owe for 2024 in the form of making timely estimated tax payments. These are not payments toward your old debt, but payments toward the current year. 

  You were making $450 a month payments on a $37,000 debt. Now your debt is $60,000 so you payment will be approx $800-$1000 due to statutes. You will not be able to get into your old arrangement as your balance changes annually. Every time you add a tax year liability, your balance changes. 

  I have been more than helpful to explain your options over email and phone multiple times and we have been courteous with our responses and interaction. I simply do not think a year of gathering your substantiation, chasing tax filings and building your financial packet and 656 petition warrants a refund when it was not our fault you continue to owe year after year and are not paying any current taxes toward new tax years. 

  I can do one of three things, Set up a structured agreement on the current tax debt, petition for a non collectible (estimated tax payments are required), petition for an OIC (estimated tax payments are required). If you add for the 2024 tax year, you will need to restructure the agreement once more to add the balance total. 

  Also no where was it discussed in the contract or verbally that the attorneys fees would be applied to tax debt. Your attorney fees would be applied towards services to resolve your tax debt from previous years under the conditions laid out in the service agreement which basically boil down to that you will not incur additional debt, your income and expense metrics will not change significantly, and you stay compliant with future filings. You also should not contact the *** to discuss your case as it may jeopardize the communication the attorney is engaging with the *** on your behalf in regards to financials, timelines and agreements. 

  Kindly let me know your intention. 

  Customer response

  07/18/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  I was never informed of anything you are telling me in your responses. I have all the conversations in email form. The only person I have been in contact with is *******************************, who is not an attorney nor is she listed as an employee. She is the only person who collected the documents to file my taxes. No one reached out to me to discuss the details of an OIC until I requested a refund. Now your are stating that I was "told" this information. BY who? And when? None of what you are mentioning in your response is in the agreement that I signed. There is no break down of any numbers, calculations, explanations telling me about any additional debt I wasn't suppose to incur. I only heard from an attorney this year in May, after I requested a refund. This tax company is pathetic! To blame a customer who looked to you for guidance, is evil! When did all of these conversations you claim take place? When did an attorney reach out to me to discuss the proceedures? What documents did you file on my behalf? What work did you do for my case, if any? Where is the so-called paperwork? Please submit. You did nothing! I want my money Back Please so I can pay my taxes. Even If my books were wrong, you still continued to collect your fees as if you could help. It took me 12 months to pay you at $562.50. How can I make these payments and pay the **** You didn't request that I make any payments made to the *** in over a year. It was only until I requested a refund that you advised me to get back in compliance with the **** If I would have known that there had not been any correspondence on my behalf while I was paying you, I would have chosen to pay my taxes and not your company. How dare you blame me knowing all you did for me was submit a power of attorney letter In May of last year. And that's worth $6750? You will reap what you sow! Taking advantage of people is a crime and you will not get away with this.

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I paid Republic Tax Relief $4000 originally to help me settle my tax debt for years 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.At the time of sign up, I was introduced to CPA/Accounting executive, *******************, who stated he would be willing to review my details prior to filing my 2018 and 2019 tax returns to ensure a sniff test to avoid triggering an audit. This has yet to happen even after requesting this many times.I eventually filed 2020 and 2021 tax on my own and notified the company that I would only need help with 2018 and 2019 tax years. I provided a P&L to the company as they requested and discovered they never filed either of these on my behalf. My effort to contact their agent ***** resulted in months of trail phone tags and her rude responses to me were pretty unprofessional given I had questions that she seemed not to be willing to answer. She dismissed my request for wanting a meeting with ***** (this is documented in my emails). After a recent hardship that resulted from a major family emergency, I reached out to the company and found a pretty hostile letter that stated that they closed my case yet they didn't complete the scope of services that I paid for. The only thing that was needed was a review of my 2019 P&L statement but when I requested this I received the run around about this so the company never fulfilled this promise either. They still have $2K of my hard earned money but yet have not produced record of submitting my details to the **** Fast forward a very hostile letter was received from a supervisor ******************************* stated that my case was closed and that I would be penalized with a fee of $590/hour for work they never completed.I'm truly shocked and disappointed in the unethical behavior an incomplete services this company has failed to deliver on. A refund would have been suffice. Due to the failure to complete the scope of services, I would like either my $2K refund in full or request the meeting with ***** to finish the 2019 filing.

  

  Business response

  07/01/2024

  Hello *******************.

  I have reviewed your casefile. Unfortunately, after review I am confused as I do not see any rudeness or unprofessionalism at all. In fact. I see many reps trying to follow-up every few weeks to gather information and no response for months at a time. After 90 days of not getting the information requested, we sent his email/mail:

  Hello *******,
  This letter is to officially inform you that your tax case #******* has been placed on Administrative Hold, due to non-cooperation/noncompliance. We have attempted to collect documents from you and were not successful. As client managers, we are required to review our caseloads and have identified that we have either finalized the issues or have not had any contact from you recently. Please be advised that a final attempt to collect the necessary items was made on March 21, 2024, to proceed with your case.
  Your case will remain on Administrative Hold until all necessary items are submitted in full. At that time, your case will be escalated for review of the work necessary, and additional reinstatement fees will apply. Note that while your case is on hold, if any current tax filings are due, it is your responsibility to file all current taxes and pay any balances in full so as not to default or negatively impact your case.
  If you have any questions, please contact me directly at *************. 
  Best Regards, 

  When looking at the billing, I see that we billed $2000 for 4 years of tax prep for a single member LLC with added schedules. Since you prepared your 20 and 21 filings, you requested to have $1000 refunded which we did so immediately. 

  The issue at hand is that you filed your 20 and 21 filings with a $90,000 loss for the business with limited income of a few thousand dollars. This is a red flag. What makes it worse is that you want to file the same losses for 2019 which would establish three years of loss and qualify the business as a hobby. Your expenses for 2019 are $45K with a $3K income. We want to mitigate your exposure to an audit and also we need to ensure that our due diligence is done so that our professional licensing is not jeopardized. You asked the tax assistant what you should report as your income, which is unfortunately not possible. Your income and expenses are your responsibility to provide and substantiate if receipts are necessary. 

  I can offer to prepare your filings as reported to us as self prepared and submit them to you for review this week. Or I can offer you a $1000 refund on the retainer for casework that was billed and you can self prepare or have another firm complete. We simply are looking after your best interests and advising you to limit your exposure. If you do not want to heed this advice, it is your decision. 

  Kindly let me know your intentions.

   

  Customer response

  07/10/2024

  This is all vey overwhelming.
  I reached out to ******************************* a few times and recently last week 2x and 1x today  (after receiving her hostile letter attached) and previously contacted **********, ***** and ******************* with a goal of complying.  I explained from day 1 of the engagement that I have multiple LLCs (Symmetry Strategies, Hannibus, and MPower Logistics) and each have separate EINs. Republic Tax told me they needed me to complete a 2018 and 2019 P&L (which i did complete) and that it would be reviewed before formal submission on my behalf by Senior Case Analyst *******************.  I spoke with ***** directly and he confirmed that I had separate LLCs and requested that I email him my details which I did on  but I never heard back from him.  When this did not happen it felt like the company was giving me the run around.
  
  If I were using 1 LLC I could  understand the concern for the hobby rules yet I don't even quite know that ******** is aware of the other LLCs.  At this point, I would just want to revise the P&L for 2019 and kindly ask Republic submit it on my behalf without  as was agreed without being forced to pay $590/hourly rate stated in ********'s letter sent to me back in March. 
  
  Please kindly call me back ******** at ************ or email me at *********************. 
  If after we speak and cannot reach agreement then I want to accept a full refund for $1000.00.
  

  

  Business response

  07/10/2024

  Hello *******************,

  As stated, I do not mind preparing the returns as self prepared and send them to you with the figured you have sent to us. If you would like to revise your Profit and Loss statements, I would highly advise to do so. I need a separate P&L for each company with the income and expenses outlined. I also need you to include the full company name and address and EIN of the company. 

  If you need this template information again, i can resend it. 

  Also, we only stated that there would be a reinstatement fee of $590 because we had contact with you once in nearly 6 months. We had reached out every feww weeks and never got a word back. It was only when we sent the close letter that you responded. We need to finish the tax filings in a timely manner and there were outstanding questions that you never answered back with countless reminders. 

  Let me know if i could help. Once we get the P&L for each company back and for each year, i will prepare the filings. Also please do not allow the expenses to exceed the income unless you have proper substantiation. 

  Thank you. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/18/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I started with this company August, 2023. They promised to help with settling back taxes with IRS. They also said they will file back taxes for 2022 in a timely manner. They filed late, I got penalized by irs and they made things worse. Not only they didn't reduce the money owed to irs, but they added more penalties to my account by their lack of care. They promise big and deliver nothing. Now that I asked for some accountability for the several thousands of dollars added to my account because of their lack of care, they ghosted me. No answer at all! Stay away from these scammers. I'm looking into getting them sued to recover the loss.

  

  Business response

  06/24/2024

  Hello ********************,

  I reviewed your casefile. Unfortunately, the reason the 2022 tax filing was sent in late was due to not having all of the requested information from day one. We requested your balance sheet for your business and you replied that you did not have a profit of $250K+. A balance sheet was requested and required for revenue over $250k. We also were missing 1099B statements for bitcoin and cash app transactions. We did not receive those until almost the deadline of filing and the documents were still insufficient. We did our very best to accommodate your requests but the documents to complete your returns was insufficient in the few weeks we were given and not provided with the requested information in a timely fashion. 

  It does seem an installment plan was requested and set up but it was defaulted. We can request for a new one if you would like.

  Kind Regards,

  Customer response

  06/24/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  I've been asked for the same documents 3 times and few days before the deadline your company added extra documents not requested from the beginning. 

  Why should I pay 4k+++ in fees because your sloppyness. And currently you're not answering any emails or letters from IRS submitted you go to your with no action or late action which inquires additional fees. 

  

  Business response

  07/02/2024

  Hello,

  I understand your frustration but the cost basis for your crypto transactions was not reported to us or the **** We requested this to try to avoid added taxes. Requesting additional information throughout preparation for a complex return is fairly common and it was filed late due to not getting the information back in time. 

  I would be willing to amend the return to determine additional tax savings if additional information is provided. Many of your fees were failure to pay penalties due to not paying the *** throughout the year or making estimated tax payments on the business your had filed with and your self employment taxes. Self employment taxes could be reduced with the formation of an SCORP rather than an LLC. 

  This is the best resolution I can offer given the circumstances. 

• Initial Complaint

  04/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  in april of 2023.i had reach out to republic tax relief, to help me with my irs tax.so in april i paid$590.00 to start the work.so they started taken $237.50 every month. so i ask can we pay this off,they said yes.in january i paid them off $1663.00.i see the statement read paid in full $3,440.00.as time went on i see nothing going on with my case.i ask what is taken so long,they say they need more information.like ret/plan,life insurance. so i said no and all the stuff i gave they said was alright.now you say they say i have no case so if i have no case why not refund me my money.

  

  Business response

  04/01/2024

  ****************,

  When we work on client cases to petition for a hardship with the **** we are required to have on the ready, substantiation to back up our claims. We review all of these to ensure they will help your case and not hinder it and also mitigate your exposure to added IRS collections. We placed your case into a collection hold at the beginning of the engagement. You are still not in collections but petitioning for a currently not collectible is still active and therefore requires that you provide us documents we cannot otherwise secure, like pay stubs from your employers or bank statements. Since we have not secured those, your case has stalled. We have been requesting these for some time. Since your case is nearly a year old, we would like to expedite this if we can get the documents required. Kindly let us know when you will provide those. Please see the service agreement for our refund terms since your case is over a year at the firm. I am here to assist you when you can move forward with the case.

  Regards,

  Customer response

  04/03/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  when we start this case i had gave 3 pay studs from both jobs. Also w2 forms from both jobs, now they say that they did not get any of this is bull. Now they say a year went by.me and Ms. ******* talked in January and she said the case was only 5-6 month old . this is the 1st time i hear from them since BBB reach out to them. Now they are trying to blame me for paper work. Why would i pay money to someone and not give them paper work they need to get started things that make you go hmm!!!. all i ask, is for the money they took from me , pay it to the *** taxes. i feel they was draging this whole thing along like i was going to forget about all of this. but when BBB step to the plate they wake up.

  

  Business response

  04/03/2024

  Hello ***************,

  I understand your frustration with the process and i can sympathize. In petitioning for a Currently Not Collectible Status 53, we need to build your case and substantiate the figures we present to the **** These substantiations need to include your bills and bank statements, retirement statements, paystubs and such. We did receive your pay stubs, but when your client manager requested your bank statements and retirement accounts, you stated "for my life ins./retirement and bank statements not going to do. that is to much cash dollar infor." We understand that you may not want to provide this, but we will be requested this and if this is not in line with your petition, we will not submit it and your attorney will pivot the plan. But having substantiation on the ready is key to engaging the *** during these processes. This is simply the programs and protocols we need to abide by per tax code and the hardship program. If you would like to provide those documents, kindly let me know. 

  I have also looked over your timeline of communications and we have been in touch quite regularly and have been requesting documents since your case went into resolution status in July of 2023 when you decided to move forward after the investigation. We are here to advise and help the best we can, but are limited to clients providing documents and replying back to these requests in a timely fashion.

  Regards,

  Customer response

  04/03/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  this  is the 1st. time yous have reach out to me from january. so that is not no daily call. i do not want your service you telling to many stories. now i'am starting to see what kind of business you are running.

• Initial Complaint

  02/14/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company does not do anything they say they will do to help you with tax problems. Certain things are said about coats then somehow magically change,then you get smart emails. When you try to contact them or send emails you get nothing.

  

  Business response

  02/19/2024

  Hello ***************,

  Your ******************************************************************* order for the firm to amend your tax filing. After the investigation, you were told that amending the return will incur additional fees and these fees were discounted to accommodate your hardship. You had 1099R income that was not declared on your 1040 filings for 21 and 22. If you incur a large enough liability, we could petition for a hardship. You were sent a service agreement with the additional fees for the amending of the return, but you failed to move forward, therefore no work was done and the case did not move forward. Any fees posted to the casework were for the *** and the investigation to look into your tax burden and how to adequately resolve it. This was stated in your original service agreement. If you would like to move forward with amending your filings, please let me know and we can certainly still honor this at the discounted rate you originally were told. Thank you.

  Customer response

  03/04/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  No one in this company is professional no keeping up with clients,********* is very rude I have all my emails to prove this. If this is the case Email me all information that has been submitted to the IRS!
  
  

  

  Business response

  03/04/2024

  Hello ***************,

  I sent an email with the information gathered from the *** to evaluate your casefile and tax history. You will need to amend the returns due to the missing and omitted income. If you qualify for any hardship based on the balance size, we could move forward with a petition to address this, but your full balance is not assessed yet. We have been communicating this and i have reviewed the emails and messages and they are professional and cordial. I am sorry you feel the efforts of the firm to address your tax debt and burden have been not to your satisfaction. Please contact me with any further questions. 

   

  Customer response

  03/06/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  I need to know who will be handling my case from now on without changing? I do not wish to work with previous people. I care how it was explained to me over phone I do not care what paperwork says. Building a rapor with clients is a must transparency is a must. I feel like I cannot trust this company. You say one thing then it's something else. Now I'm being told my money I paid was for a POA? Discrepancy in my eyes as my understanding is that starts my case. If I wanted your company to amend my taxes that was a different situation , as I asked if this was something I would be able to do myself.So make it make sense.
  
  

  

  Business response

  03/07/2024

  Hello ****************,

  I will be working with you to try to resolve your issue. I am confused on what exactly you are requesting, however. Your returns need to be amended to reflect income that was not declared on your filings. The sooner you amend, the better. If there is a balance and you possibly qualify for any hardship, we will let you know. You can of course amend your own returns and file your own petitions for hardship. We offered our services and this was discussed over the phone and sent to you as an additional service agreement for those services. When you declined and did not respond to the requests for your intentions, we did close your casefile. If you would like additional help, kindly let me know. 

  Regards,

• Initial Complaint

  12/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I contacted Republic tax relief regarding my very large IRS bill. My request was to help with the bill, to see if there were any relief programs available etc. I was contacted by *************************** tax settlemenet officer who promised that my bill could be 100% written off no problem. I paid him the 700$ fee. I was told to wait until my tax bill came and then let them know. I did just that along with sending a copy of my 2022 tax return to them as requested. I am not behind on my taxes I have filed every year and paid what I owed, however this bill seemed excessive. **** put me in touch with ******************* (VP) after a few conversations and reminding him what I was promised he quit responding to me. I have asked for my 700$ back since NO services were provided. Thy did absolutely nothing and certainly did not fulfill their promises. I have all all correspondence text and email.

  

  Business response

  12/28/2023

  Hello ****************,

  I have reviewed your casefile. When we onboard clients, we conduct a thorough tax investigation first going back 15 years. I understand you stated you did not owe for previous years, but we need to conduct our own due diligence to understand and analyze clients cases with *** documents. This was done and we secured ***************** to do so. After reviewing your case history and the tax filing for 2022 that you sent us, the *** noted some very specific causes to the tax liability that you originally communicated that were incorrect. You expressed your concerns that the liability was wrong. Unfortunately the *** noted that the calculations were correct with the following details:

  Client can omit up to $500,000 of Gain on the sale of personal primary residence. Gain was calculated as $180,000 and was totally omitted. If you applied additional expense because of additions/modifications/improvements/repairs to the home you would lower the gain, BUT since NO GAIN is recognized, there would be nothing changed to tax liability.I did note an error on the return: Client had an early withdrawal of Retirement funds in the amount of $77,311 and rolled over $28,018 leaving an EARLY DISTRIBUTION of $49,233 which is subject to the 10% additional tax on Early Distribution. Because there was a partial rollover the preparer entered exclusion 1 for rollover but only $28,018 qualified. Client actually owes additional tax of $4,923.30 (client had $23,333 of retirement income coming to 2022 from a 2020 3 yr spread, where the 10% does not apply thus making reportable retirement income $72,566).

  I understand that you were told we could address the tax debt and eliminate the debt, but this was under the assumption that what you told was true and correct and there were mistakes made that we could amend. After careful review, we could not amend these and if we did dispute the return, there may be a possibility that additional tax would be added if the *** corrected the preparers mistakes. 

  You were billed for only an investigation as stated in the contract. Any resolution work would have included additional fees, which is also outlined in the services agreement. We strive to minimize and mitigate all clients tax liabilities but in this case, we could not even ***** penalties as there are none to *****. Also, due to your high income, your case cannot be considered a hardship. We have exhausted all avenues and communicated this on multiple occasions. I am sorry but we do not think its ethical to bill for additional services that would not end in a successful result. All fees have been applied to work completed. 

  If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to ask. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In August of 2023 I spoke to ****** with Republic Tax Relief and advised that I had received a letter from the *********************** advising that I owed them 22k in back taxes and fees. I advised that I did not have any federal IRS debt and that I was actually waiting on a refund from the **** Even sent him a copy of my letter from the ***********. He advised that they would pull all my past tax info and formulate a plan to work with the *********** to help resolve my debt. I paid $50 on August 3rd via my debit card as a deposit and then consequently paid another $740 in September for a total of $790. ***** from Republic Tax Relief contacted me on or around September 19th to advise that the *********************** did not participate nor offer any type of payment plan program or fresh initiative program. Therefore they could not help me with my initial issue nor could they help me with getting into a repayment program to lessen my debt. He advised that it would be an additional $3000 to hire them to interact with the *********** to try and set up a payment plan for the total debt amount. I advised that I could do that on my own and requested a refund since services had not been rendered. *** requested a refund via email to ***** due to services not being rendered and this company not assisting me with my state tax debt and I have not been receiving any response. It is my belief that this company knowingly scammed me because Im sure that they were aware that the *********************** offered no such program that their ads suggest that they can get you enrolled in and knowing that my debt was a state debt they should have declined my case initially and should not have accepted payment for something they knew they could not handle. And if they did not know which seems unlikely, then they should refund me because services were not rendered.

  

  Business response

  10/04/2023

  Hello *************,

  I reviewed your casefile and we were contracted to perform an initial tax investigation for both Federal and State. The *** was submitted for both taxing agencies. Your 2015, 16, 17, 18, ********************************************** the amount of $22K. Federal agencies have not been informed by the state of this liability and the adjustments in income. You have been assigned a revenue officer with the state and issued a garnishment and ****. Since the full scope of the engagement has not been assessed and your federal returns may be affected, it was advised that we can *****/remove the federal penalties that are eligible in the amount of $3300 and you were sent these documents to submit to the **** Your liabilities are a result of filing exempt for 2015 to 2018. You are currently in an investigation with the *** and these returns are under review due to an Innocent Spouse petition and additional pending tax liabilities. Therefore we need to determine the outcome of the *** to use it for state leverage and determine the complete liability, although there may be some liability (even with innocent spouse) since you did file exempt on your own W4 and paid little to no taxes those years and filed late. You also have an innocent spouse petition but filed as Head of Household, not Married filing Jointly, which did not factor a spouses income. At this time, you were informed that we need to see how the *** responds to the pending petitions that you submitted and there was limited we could do except to provide you with the Penalty abatement petition. We try our best for all clients and you were not billed additionally for any services after the investigation, although the penalty abatement was submitted with no fees to prepare. We do have a refund policy within the first 14 days of sending the *** your powers of attorney and before the attorneys have had an opportunity to submit their report to the senior managers. Unfortunately, you requested a refund after your case was fully investigated and you had spoken to the senior analyst with your case resolution, which I detailed briefly above. If there is anything we could do further, kindly let me know. 

  Customer response

  10/09/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:
  The original officer with Republic Tax was made aware that I had already contacted the *** and filed the Innocent Spouse form in our initial interview and was advised that I was simply waiting on my refund. I did file married filing jointly for that tax year in question and not head of household as mentioned by Republic Tax in their response. However none of that was what was discussed in my correspondence with their company. My State debt of 22k was what was discussed and the documentation was sent along with the *** proving that was discussed initially. Also before my final payment of $740 was deducted by Republic Tax from my account I also provided their officer with the letter from the *** advising that the refund that I had been long awaiting was in fact on the way and they still decided to process that payment versus advising me at that time that there was no help they could give me for my State debt. Instead they still processed the payment and then another officer contacted me a couple of days after the payment was processed and finalized to advise they had no recourse for my State debt. And advised that they could potentially talk to the State on my behalf to make payment arrangements for the full amount due for an additional $3000. I then advised that I could make those arrangements to pay the full amount due to the State on my own for no charge. The agreement that I had signed up for and hired their company for was to help me reduce or eliminate the debt. So at that time the officer advised hed call me back and never did. He never even provided me with anything in writing or a plan of action as advised in the initial written agreement. I called and left several messages with no response and once I reached out via email asking for a refund since they were not able to assist in eliminating or reducing my State debt as Im sure they knew all along, only then did their officer suggest filing an abatement form for 2013 fees assessed by the *** which was only a stalling and distraction tactic on Republic Taxs behalf knowing that the *** is still within their 10 year timeframe by law to assess and collect for the 2013 tax year with them doing so earlier this year 2023. Facts are I discussed, hired, and paid for Republic Taxs assistance in eliminating and/or reducing my STATE tax liability. At the time I hired Republic Tax I and their officer was aware that I had NO Federal *** debt only STATE. I provided them with a letter from the **** stating that I in fact had a refund on the way prior to them processing my final $740 payment. So to continue to act as though they were able to assist me with my STATE debt and take my money knowing that they could not assist me was unethical and unprofessional. And only after I requested a refund did they even mention an abatement form for a debt that had already been paid to the *** as a smoke screen To hide the fact that services were not rendered. I reject and disagree with their response. I am still owed a refund for SERVICES NOT RENDERED. I hired them to assist with my STATE tax debt text messages between myself and their officer are attached and also the letter I sent with the initial interview proving what I was hiring them to assist with and also the letter I sent via text messages prior to them processing the final $740 payment proving that I and they were made aware that I had no *** debt and I had a refund on the way yet they still processed payment knowing they could not assist with my STATE debt. 
  
  

  

  Business response

  10/11/2023

  I understand your concerns, but kindly understand that you are omitting some details that i mentioned that were not understood. You encountered recent tax liabilities from the state due to an audit. This audit is now PENDING with the **** You DO NOT OWE YET, but after the audit, you will have a FEDERAL IRS tax liability. Upon researching your tax transcripts, this is under review. As i said, after this was researched, we could only wait for the federal to assess its findings, address the federal debt the best we can, gain leverage on the state after resolution of federal issues and resolve the state. The federal debt will be two to three times the state assessment. In the meantime, you were sent an abatement form to save you $3300 in federal debt before statutes. We did our best at the moment to resolve your debt, but you are in MID AUDIT and do not want our services to address this. Additionally, this engagement was for an investigation, which was completed. Kindly reference the service agreement that this was solely for an investigation into your tax issues, which was completed and discussed. The firm sent you tax documents to reduce your federal debt for no additional fees to save you $3300. If you would like to set up a payment plan for the state, kindly do so, but a federal issue is pending, which was our job to fully investigate the scope of your engagement and the depth of your tax issues. 

  Customer response

  10/12/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:
  The information that you are presenting is incorrect. I am NOT under an audit with the **** The 22k amount that I owe the *********** is for tax returns for years 2015-2019. I received a refund from the *** for those years for 15k and also I received a refund for 2021. Both of those refunds were taken by the *** for the years 2012 and 2013 due to the audit. I AM NOT currently under audit by the **** Your company never mentioned an audit prior to me filing a complaint with the BBB. And I fear you have only mentioned it to throw up a smoke screen for not having to do anything on my behalf with the *** because I do not have a debt nor am I under audit with the **** I have been working with a tax advocate and none of the information you are sharing has been presented to me. Youre mentioning a tax abatement form for a $3300 savings for a debt with the *** that is still within the statute of limitations to collect. I never got any written correspondence from your company after the initial investigation that you mention advising me of any of what youve mentioned in this rebuttal since I filed my BBB complaint. Why is that? I was not getting any response from your associate ***** at all until I emailed him asking for a refund. I attempted to reach him by phone and left voicemails with no response. So again I feel like your company is full of lies and only makes up scenarios that seem complex but are completely false to appear to be legit but are only stalling tactics. But the facts are I hired you to help me with my State tax debt of 22k. I DO NOT have a debt with the *** I am all paid up with them garnishing my refunds. I AM NOT under an audit with the **** Your company is giving false information and has not assisted me in any way with resolving my State tax debt which is why I hired your company. I am due a refund for services not rendered. 
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I had republic tax relief supposedly helping me with some back taxes I owed. I had been dealing with them since February fo this year. They took months and never put a stop to anything. The IRS was still trying to collect money from me, they were still garnishing my wages and I was told that would stop in 45 days. It never did. So I was tired so didn’t have time for the IRS to keep taking money from me when I have other bills to pay. I don’t make alot of money. So I filed bankruptcy Chaoter 13. That was my only way out. Republic Tax relief did nothing the whole time. I read the contract and it states that I could get a refund but they telling me I can’t. That is is not fair I was not satisfied with the so called work. I want my money back! I’m work hard for my money and don’t have money to give away for both!

  

  Business response

  07/17/2023

  Hello Ms ******. We were contracted to establish a non collectible petition with the IRS for you. In doing so, we requested several documents that the attorney needed to substantiate your expenses after he communicated with the IRS regarding your casefile. We have received some but not the full requested set. Also you mention that you have a garnishment, but as your case manager explained, this is not a garnishment but is a voluntary payment arrangement you made with the IRS to have wages sent directly to the IRS toward your tax debt from your employer. You could remove this voluntarily and this is not a direct garnishment order of the IRS. We do not have the power to contact your employer to stop this, only working with the IRS to represent you. Since we have been working on your case since March 17th, when you told us to move forward with the CNC petition, we have been working to bring your case to a petition state. Unfortunately providing all of the documents we requested is not in our control. We have made several regular requests and have been working with you to describe exactly what we need. This is not a fast process especially when we cannot substantiate the IRS requests without the clients supporting documents. 

  We do have a refund policy, but this is within 14 days of the contract signing before the attorneys make IRS contact for resolution. Once they have started working on the case, the retainer is billed accordingly. Your case was not fully paid due to a payment arrangement as well. The retainer you paid to date has been applied to case management and the attorney work to date to set up the CNC petition. You are no longer being billed once you asked to stop work on the case. 

  Finally, a bankruptcy will not wipe all of your debt away. Since your debt goes back to 2015, your BK will only resolve 2015 to 2019, not your 2020, 2021, 2022 tax debts. The IRS or BK courts do not let you BK the latest three years, so you will still have tax debt unfortunately. Our solution would have resolved all of your tax debt. 

   

  I hope his helps explain the case work to date and your present situation. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I paid Republic Tax Relief for help with my IRS personal tax problem. Republic called me everyday until I paid the fee. I spoke with Nebula mostly only to be told we are waiting on your returns. I received my 2022 returns so why couldn't they get them if they are a reputable company. I had a IRS appointment. ***** the senior tax advisor emailed me my lastest tax return which I already had because I requested it from the IRS, so that was nothing. He also told me he would call me to direct me in what to say to the IRS prior to my appointment. He did not call nor does he ever respond to me when I reach out to him. I paid $500 for them to email me copies of everything I already have done myself. I have been waiting for some type of help and have received NOTHING. I reached out to the so called company and let them know I feel like they Scammed me. They did absolutely nothing for them to receive $500. They advertise like they will help you. People are already stressed out enough dealing with the IRS and just to have someone lie to you and say you qualify for this fresh start program and we can help this debt will be resolved. Then they don't even show consideration enough after they scam you they can't even return a call or better yet, call to let you know if something is still being done on your behalf. Nothing. I paid $500 for 2 emails when before the $500 was paid I received calls daily by Nebula. I needed help still need help and got NOTHING and I am out of $500 that I paid a company for help and all they provided me with was emails of tax returns anyone can obtain by way of going to the IRS website and requesting them. They did absolutely nothing but scammed me out of $500

  

  Business response

  07/17/2023

  Hello Ms *****,

  I reviewed your case. We were contracted to do an investigation into your case. After completing, you have an outstanding CP2000 that is still under review from the IRS and has not been finalized. The IRS discovered W2 income that you left off your 2021 tax filings and states that you have additional taxes. If you agree to the additional income and the taxes they propose, then this balance needs to POST to your overall balance before we can consider for any settlement. Basically you are under an audit review and the process needs to complete before we can further work on your case. This was communicated to you on several occasions by multiple people. What we provided you was your actual wage and income documents that we received from the IRS for your review. If there were of no value to you, I am sorry. We did not prepare your 2022 return and withhold income. We use these documents to ensure we get the returns processed correctly to avoid such errors and income audits. Your senior analyst spoke to you on the phone, email and SMS. Since your investigation is complete and it is past the 14 day refund policy limit, no refund would be due. I understand your frustration, but the IRS works slowly and we cannot speed up the audit process. Once it posts to your SSN, then we can evaluate and recommend the next steps. Also, to note, your 2022 return is in jeopardy of audit if not filed with all of your income as well (like the previous two years), which will further delay and increase the balance if not corrected if needed. 

  Kind Regards,

*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. ↩