ComplaintsforTaxSmith, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  10/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  see Attached document

  

  Business response

  10/10/2023

  We represented ****** **** **** ***. and the client’s ******* sales tax audit. 
  
  When the client hired our firm on 12/21/2022 he had just got the final audit report with the results. The notice was dated 12/02/2022 and allowed 30 days (01/03/2023) in which to respond advising the auditor that the client did not agree and had additional substantiation to provide which would possibly create a different outcome of the audit. If there was not a response by that date then the Notice of Proposed Assessment would be issued which would grant the client until 03/04/2023, to file a protest. I spoke with the state auditor, *** ***** ********, on 12/28/2022, and he advised me that the subpoenaed third-party vendor reports that the ******* Department of Revenue received were agreed to by the client. These reports show the total purchases made by the client during the audit period. In reviewing the case with *** ********, he advised me that the client was selected for an audit review because the business was filing sales tax returns that had less than 10% of the gross sales as being taxable. The business operated by the client is a food market/store which would normally have an extremely high taxable sales percentage amount. I asked the auditor what the client provided, and he advised that he received a bag of z-tapes which listed the total sales for the audit periods for each day. The auditor confirmed that the gross amount from the z-tapes is almost identical to the audit gross amounts. The audit was not opened because of the gross amount of sales claimed, but the extremely small percentage of that gross amount actually being taxable sales. The z-tapes would therefore not change the taxable amount of the sales that the audit was regarding. We discussed with the client our conversation with the auditor and our review of the audit report, z-tapes, bank statements and lottery sales summaries and asked what additional items he had that would substantiate the exempt sales to which he advised us on numerous occasions that he did not have any additional items. We reviewed with him that the bank statements and z-tape gross amounts all match the returns that he filed and the audit report, but he could not verify anything regarding the exempt other than the lottery sales. 
  
  We went almost a month contacting the client for his account with our firm to be current as he was delinquent on his legal fees. 
  
  Once the account was current with our firm, we reviewed again how he operates the business to determine anything additional regarding the exempt sales claimed on the returns. He advised us again that there was nothing additional he could provide. He had no idea how the exempt amount was determined as he had a return preparer file all the sales tax returns. I discussed with him how uncommon it would be for a business in his industry to have such a small amount of taxable sales in comparison to the gross. We reviewed the lottery sales and determined that amount was way off from what had actually been claimed on the sales tax returns. If I added the additional lottery sales not claimed in the gross it would be a wash because both the gross and exempt amounts would be increased by the same amount. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ** Gross sales on the TP filed returns $2,645,480
  
  ** Exempt sales on TP filed returns $2,385,036 
  
  ** T/F Taxable sales per TP $260,444
  
  ** Vendor Reports RE Purchases w/state markups based on industry standards... beer 25%; wine 50%; liquor 46%; cigar 47%; cigarettes 14% and other tobacco 47%. Purchases for audit period $831k taxes markups is $1,010,864. That # is then multiple by 74% to determine the other sales that would not be ABT to equal $1,366,033. This would be the estimated taxable sales for the audit period and the TP had the # listed above 
  
  We reviewed with the client that since there are no additional items to substantiate the exempt sales and there was nothing in error from the audit report that we needed to move forward to start the resolution process on the resulting balance. The client keeps saying that we did not submit anything to the state, but he hired us after the audit was in essence completed and he did not have anything new that was not already provided. You cannot provide the same documents again as that is not a basis for an appeal without gross negligence on behalf of the state which was not the case for the client. 
  
  We discussed with the client that the penalty abatement in the amount of $25,757.41 was approved and our firm got that amount waived from the audit prior balance. 
  
  The client was adamant with almost daily contact with our office asking for an appeal. Multiple people in our office reviewed with him on the phone, via email and in person the same reason why he does not have grounds for an appeal.  I advised that he cannot just “say” that the taxable sales amount is not what the audit substantiated based on the subpoenaed records without him having the documents to disprove what the state could prove. 
  
  We discussed what documents were needed for a STIP proposal and he sent those in for our review. We reviewed that a down-payment would be required and monthly installment payments would be based on his profitability as well as the overall balance and length of time for the balance to be paid in full if not available at that time. The P&L that he provided our office showed that the business had a monthly net profit of $8,815 and he did not agree with that amount either. I advised him that he provided our office with the P&L which was calculated based on YTD and if it was not accurate to provide an accurate P&L. He has a CPA firm do his bookkeeping, so he then advised that he would reach back out to them for clarification. I reviewed the bank statements for the same period and the deposits were in line with the P&L. 
  
  The client is simply not happy because we would not do what he wanted. I reminded him that without substantiation to prove his exempt sales how did he think anything would change – still we never received any documentation or explanation on his behalf to clarify this matter. During this entire period the client has not been levied, garnished and no other collection actions have taken place due to the work of our firm. 
  

• Initial Complaint

  03/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired this place to resolve a tax audit for my now ex husband. I paid this firm $1900+ because he was being audited owing over 11k to the ***. They’ve been contacting me like crazy via phone, text and email to pay his last remainder and after replying back to one of their many emails about the balance my bitter husband whom never had any priority in paying them to begin with told them to remove me from this case. Taxsmith then emailed they will no longer speak with me in regards to it. Completely fine I could really careless about anything he has going on if he owes it’s really not my problem I was doing the right thing by resolving it..however their resolution to his matter was to add myself to his returns and file married filing jointly. Now considering they amended his return to place myself, my children and siblings because he could not file them alone on his return in order to resolve his tax debt it’s a problem if they believe they can do so without me aware of what’s going on with my personal portion. How both people not be considered clients after signing an amendment is beyond me because they did the work already. I know be I was the sole person handling it all and sending all the documents they requested. Again completely fine with me it makes me no difference what extra work they want to do and start over because he wants to lead them into his his dirty game. To be honest he has no money to pay them anyway and everytime I asked him to help pay them he would not. I won’t be used for a pay day on either ends. Now when I call or email to ask about a refund and if I am removed from his amendment along with the children they don’t return phone calls and hang up. If I am not a client they should not have taken my money we were not together then. It is only right they go after him for full amount on his situation or proceeds with the case and create my file on what my info is on it’s very simple because they can not file what they completed.

  

  Business response

  03/28/2023

  Ms. ****** and her now ex-husband hired TaxSmith jointly and were married at that time. Since they jointly signed a contract and were delinquent on their agreed payment terms for legal representation we contacted both Ms. ****** and her now ex-husband for the fees which they agreed to pay. During the divorce and once finalized the husband advised us that their divorce was very heated and he did not want Ms. ****** to know anything specifically about his tax case as he had issues that were separate from Ms. ******. When Ms. ****** contacted our office she asked for every form of communication between TaxSmith and her ex-husband (at that time they were pending divorce). We advised her that without a court order or then husband authorizing that that was a violation of attorney client privilege with him. She became upset and started posting numerous bad reviews online, all of which have been removed. Whatever issues or domestic matters are going on between Ms. ****** and her ex-husband she should contact him directly as we are not a family law or criminal law firm. Going on a bad review posting because she did not get what she wanted as it did not have anything to do with any joint issues she has tried to tarnish our reputation. We advised Ms. ****** that if her ex-husband asked for what she was asking and she had advised us to not disclose any matters not related to her she would be upset if that had occurred. Once again if she wants privileged information about an account that it is not her's she should contact her ex-husband. Ms. ****** is defaming our firm with her libelous statements and should cease to avoid defamation lawsuit being filed. 
  

  Customer response

  03/29/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

   Complaint: ********

  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  They are liars, I did not contact their office asking for anything I received an email from **** ******* 3/14/2023 at 8:58 am asking about making payment for the final balance of $225 in which i responded and asked how it was that amount when all the emails I have in communication with them it was $600 that is when **** responded saying Mr. ****** finally made ONE payment on this account(because I was the one in contact with this company paying them and giving the information) at that point I replied ALL to the email informing them he could pay his balance now. He bitterly asked them to remove me because of this. During the divorce I spoke with Taxsmith via email ALL year so again they are lying they never were told during the divorce not to communicate with me until 3/14/2023 if so how do I have emails of full conversations about this account and the balances? Last time I checked I filed for divorce Nov 2020 BEFORE they were hired that is public record so how is that possible? Again Taxsmith lying. I took Mr. ****** to court 3 times in 2022 to force a divorce it was not heated on my end, he is up to his neck in debt in which I covered all his payments. We don’t have a dispute for anything he’s attempting to collect a tax refund behind my back with the help of Taxsmith using my social, my children’s and my siblings that is the reason he asked to have me removed from the account. Address that. At NO point did they tell me anything about a court order they are lying(please provide this proof). I’d be happy to take both Taxsmith and Mr. to court to obtain one. Nothing that has been posted online is fraudulent and I will continue to stand by it until either my money is returned or my information and children’s information is removed from the amended return they placed me on. If not I expect to be placed back on or resolve his tax matters a different route and leave me out of it. If I am on an amendment I am a client or remove me. It is illegal to use my information still to file for Mr. ****** and notice how they did not respond to the tax document they prepared that was provided on this complaint. I am going back to place the review since they want to lie and get it removed. 

  Regards,

  ******* ******

  

  Business response

  04/04/2023

  Ms. ****** clearly even says in her response that she asked us to remove her from the account! Ms. ******'s now ex-husband advised us to not give her information regarding anything about his tax case and due to attorney-client relationship we of course kept to his wishes. When the ******'s filed for divorce is not relevant as they both contacted us to resolve their tax case, but when Mr. ****** advised us to not disclose to Ms. ****** due to pending litigation. I have no idea what Ms. ****** means regarding a court order. Ms. ****** previously requested all of the communications with Mr. ****** during their divorce and now additional legal battles they are involved in and when we advised her that we could not give her anything without a court order she has been on a "witch-hunt" to try and defame TaxSmith name. The case for Ms. ****** has been closed and she was previously notified of this information. She provided false information to the *** which is why she reached out to us initially as she attempted to get a larger refund than what she should have obtained based on an illegal filing status. Ms. ****** has no basis and is complaining because she is upset with her ex-husband. She has no basis and if multiple bad reviews that have no standing are not stopped TaxSmith will proceed with legal action. 

  Customer response

  04/05/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

   Complaint: ********

  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  Taxsmith are clearly some liars, if anything that I have placed in my complaint is false or defamatory file a suit or cut the ****. Our legal battles outside of this matter has NOTHING to do with taxes in fact it has everything to do with Mr. ******’s harassment and lies. The fact is Taxsmith was hired while we were pending divorce they added me to a tax return to resolve Mr. ******’s matter they are OBVIOUSLY trying to deflect from the main point of this complaint by trying to bash me on things they have no idea about. Secondly how in the world would they put I submitted the incorrect information to the *** attempting to get a larger refund when it is Mr. ****** that owes them and I hadn’t received anything from the *** besides a stimulus?? Help explain that because I was not getting audited neither was I living in the same household nor state right before they were hired and I have documentation to show that so be careful with you alls lies because I will gladly file a defamation suit. The reason he was audit from the irs states clearly he could not prove his dependents without me because he had no proof whom one of his children is because his name on the birth certificate doesn’t match his tax return, he can’t claim my siblings and more..exactly the reason they amended to add myself. So address the concern of the complain WAS I AND MY CHILDREN REMOVED FROM THE AMENDMENT the same way you all removed me from the account. ANSWER THE QUESTION OF THE COMPLAINT. If no then cut the **** and do so. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT MR.  ******’s *** debt, child support debt, lack of employment or anything else he is a fraud and if anyone is trying to collect something he shouldn’t it’s him. He nor taxsmith are permitted to use anything attached to me if I am not aware of what’s going on what part isn’t being understood. This could have been resolved along time ago if they would have just said yes we have removed you from the amendment we won’t be filing it but they refuse to do which speaks volumes. 

  Regards,

  ******* ******

• Initial Complaint

  08/02/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 2/9/22 I retained TaxSmith LLC to represent me in a Federal Tax Resolution matter. The total paid fee paid by me upfront was $4450.00. with their service done to my satisfaction and in a timely manner. Taxsmith LLC billed me 8.1 hours @ $500/hr, However, inasmuch that Taxsmith LLC. is a Network Attorney of ARAG Legal Insurance and I am a client/customer of ARAG Legal Insurance, Under the terms of a ARAG Legal Insurance policy, the first 4 hours are covered by insurance and the following 4.1 hours are to be billed at $375/hr. This equates to a fee of $1950 plus a $360 refund already paid resulting in a total fee to be paid by me of $2310. Not the $4450 charged. Taxsmith LLC have been requested many times to submit an insurance claim by both myself and ARAG Legal Insurance so that they would be in a position to issue an Overpayment Refund of $2140. However, over the past 5 months Attorney Angie Smith of Taxsmith LLC. continues to ignore all requests for any refund. ARAG Legal Insurance issued a partial refund of $360 via TaxSmith LLC. for unknown reasons to myslf and Taxsmith LLC. yet the balnce of the overpaymentt refund $2140 after nearly 5months remains unpaid. I am stuck between an Insurance Company and an Attorney both of whom seem not to be overly concerned about their client/customer.

  

  Business response

  08/15/2022

  Mr. ***** contacted our office and signed up for legal services on February 9th, 2022. Per the terms he agreed to when signing the contract the total fee was a flat fee of $4,450 to which he agreed to pay in full upon return of the signed agreement. The payment was successful and we proceeded with work on his case. We completed the case and Mr. ***** was satisfied with the results. He is upset as he pays for a pre-paid legal service through his employer who he paid us only $360 out of the entire $4,450 pre-paid fee by Mr. *****. We provided a refund of the $360 to Mr. ***** as those are the only funds we received. The pre-paid legal company is advising Mr. ***** that we need to send him $2,140 as a refund! The pre-paid legal company advised that they are not sending our firm anything more than the $360 in total that we have received! We advised Mr. ***** numerous times that the contracted service fee when he signed was based on a reduced fee with his pre-paid company. We advised him thereafter we would not have sent him a contract for services for $4,450 and our firm actually only receive basically half of what the agreed upon contracted services were billed. I have attached the signed contract and power of attorney between Mr. ***** and our firm. 

• Initial Complaint

  07/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I used Tax Smith 6+ years ago and paid them in full. On July 1, 2022, Tax Smith debited my checking account 2X for $975 and $100 for non payment. They said they tried for years to collect. My phone, home and email address has never changed. I never got a phone call, email or any US Mail from Tax Smith about an over due bill. Tax Smith Debited my checking account when I used their services 6+ years ago until full payment was received and they would not completer work until full payment was received. This matter was resolved an account closed. I want Tax Smith to refund both debits. i asked for all documents from Tax Smith showing that they tried to contact me over the past 6 years for this this debt, when and how. I have no response. This is Fraud as they did not have authority to debit my checking account for any amount after 6+ years. Plus no attempts were made to inform me this money was owed as NO money is owed. No credit collection agency not any negative reporting has appeared on my credit report

  

  Business response

  07/14/2022

  
  This is in response to ****** ********* and complaint ID # ********. I have outlined below the services that Mr. ********* contracted with our office and the payment dates. All services were completed and reviewed with Mr. *********. Several attempts over the years were made to collect on the outstanding balance with no success until the debt was issued to our Collections Department. The Retainer Service was contracted by Mr. ********* and TaxSmith to cover any tax matter which would arise one year after the completion of the first two bulleted services were completed. If Mr. ********* has payments that he shows that were processed by TaxSmith that are not listed below we would immediately make the adjustment. Once again emails, texts, calls and mailed requests to resolve the delinquent balance were ignored and this is the first response we have received from Mr. ********* EVER regarding the delinquent balance. Please let me know if you have any additional questions or need anything further regarding this matter. 
  
  ** SERVICES
  - IRS Resolution and Audit Review     $3,250
  - CA FTB Resolution                            $2,500
  - Retainer Service for One (1) Year     $2,550 
  
  ** PAYMENTS
  05/20/2014    $812.50
  06/20/2014    $812.50
  07/31/2014    $812.50
  08/27/2014    $812.50
  01/22/2015    $500.00
  02/24/2015    $500.00
  03/21/2015    $500.00
  04/27/2015    $500.00
  05/25/2015    $500.00
  07/10/2016    $500.00
  07/10/2016    $500.00
  08/10/2016    $500.00
  09/10/2016    $500.00
  06/30/2022    $100.00
  06/30/2022    $975.00

• Initial Complaint

  03/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  when starting with them during the pandemic i was looking for help with my taxes with the irs about a 1099 that was on my name and the name was a old name with me transitioning i am using my new name in this report. working with them they got some info like power of attorney. they were to help with me disputing about the irs saying i did not report a 1099 that i was not aware of when working with tax smith they set up a payment plan with me to do this and help work with getting this corrected as i did not have time because my job is commission based with no hourly. As I requested assistance from tax smith all they did is amend a tax return with the 1099 that is not me and made me have to deal with financial hardship now i cant even get then taken away the company i even tried to reach out to get it zero out. so i just paid a tax attorney to stick me with a high bill with the irs that was never me (paying someone to screw me) for no reason till this day they are now harassing me for the rest of the money which now magically seems to be more then what was agreed upon. so this is a “stay away” all they do is pray on the less fortunate when just needing help with the irs. you can do this stuff for free by calling irs and working something out. not only that they are threatening to take collective action against for services that i did not fully get as i handle the thing with the irs on my own and working with the company that issued this 1099 to have them zero out. dont make the same mistake. ***** is trying to get blood from a stone goodluck as i will be counter suing very soon. i will also be looking in to th ** ***** *** to have this looked in.

  

  Business response

  04/04/2022

  The client was issued a Form 1099-Misc. for 2017 with the client's legal name at the time the form was issued in January 2018. It was not until June of 2021 that the client changed her name legally and therefore if the governments records in 2018 showed ****** ********, not ** ****, then that employer and the IRS would not have processed the form with the incorrect information. The client was issued tax forms for multiple years and originally denied receiving income from the company. After discussing in more detail the client advised that she did know the company who filed the income form. She stated it was an "electronic platform" where she would meet people and they would pay her rent, phone, utilities, etc. At this time I advised her that it was income and therefore that would be why she would need to claim said income.  The client refused to want to acknowledge and was mad that we advised her that the money she received on these sites was income. I advised that these websites/platforms all had her full name, correct address and SSN to which she would of had to provide to them.  The client signed a legal, binding contract and because we have advised that her account is being sent to collections for her delinquent balance that is now seven months delinquent she has filed this complaint. We allowed over a year for her to make voluntary payments and to understand that different circumstances exist. Multiple times she would send emails since the last payment on 09/13/2021 stating that she has waiting to get money and was going to be able to pay in full her balance. I have attached the most recent email confirming that she was to pay in full. We have still continued to work the case based on the clients word but understand that she does not want to proceed with paying the balance and this is a form of trying to stop us from collecting on the said balance. TaxSmith completed ALL items outlined in the contract signed by the client. 

  

  Business response

  04/21/2022

  The client was issued a Form 1099-Misc. for 2017 with the client's legal name at the time the form was issued in January 2018. It was not until June of 2021 that the client changed her name legally and therefore if the governments records in 2018 showed ****** ********, not ** ****, then that employer and the IRS would not have processed the form with the incorrect information. The client was issued tax forms for multiple years and originally denied receiving income from the company. After discussing in more detail the client advised that she did know the company who filed the income form. She stated it was an "electronic platform" where she would meet people and they would pay her rent, phone, utilities, etc. At this time I advised her that it was income and therefore that would be why she would need to claim said income.  The client refused to want to acknowledge and was mad that we advised her that the money she received on these sites was income. I advised that these websites/platforms all had her full name, correct address and SSN to which she would of had to provide to them.  The client signed a legal, binding contract and because we have advised that her account is being sent to collections for her delinquent balance that is now seven months delinquent she has filed this complaint. We allowed over a year for her to make voluntary payments and to understand that different circumstances exist. Multiple times she would send emails since the last payment on 09/13/2021 stating that she has waiting to get money and was going to be able to pay in full her balance. I have attached the most recent email confirming that she was to pay in full. We have still continued to work the case based on the clients word but understand that she does not want to proceed with paying the balance and this is a form of trying to stop us from collecting on the said balance. TaxSmith completed ALL items outlined in the contract signed by the client. 
  

  Customer response

  04/22/2022

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

   Complaint: ********

  I am rejecting this response because: that is false information I did not change my name in 2021 I changed it earlier than that so it just goes to show they don't have much facts about me other than me telling them the truth about not working for a company called ****** **c. I've already explained to them on the phone that my name prior to that used to be an old name but at this point that old name was changed in 2018 the end of 2018 I never worked for a company called ****** **c. I am doing the stuff that I originally paid them to do, when I say paid I mean making the payments up to a certain point given the fact that now I'm doing all the work on my own I should not have to pay for services that did not get provided furthermore I have to correct the paperwork that they screwed up on which almost made me oh them $10,000 to the IRS which I never should've owed in the first place of money I never got paid for I highly do not recommend tax myth it seems to be that all they care about is money and nothing else they even threaten me legally with claims as well as a form of extortion if I'm already doing the work on my own as they already messed up my taxes as they did not fill the information correctly for the year of 2017 as well as 2018 also I should've never owed that much that I've owed for 2019 2020 also doing ********* the most I should've owed to the IRS for 2019 and 2020 would've been an estimate of $800 not 1400 as well as another 52 for the prior year which I didn't even make enough within poverty level obviously the communication was lacking as well as me trying to explain about doing a taxes correctly when I went to *** ***** they actually did my taxes correctly ********* obviously should tell you right then and there that you do not make much and you can deduct your mileage for the years of 2019 and 2020 even if I'm renting a car from them I still can write off expenses that they've never asked me for that I already had documentation on the resolution I would like is an arbitration agreement that we can follow within getting paid back the funds that I've already paid into what I've given them I would like my money back in full given the fact that I have to take more time going through this headache and hassle that I'm already going to try and explain my side of the story I'm telling you she did not do the taxes correctly I've already told her that the documentation that I was willing to provide her as she did not even do that she gave me a form to sign granite I might've signed for it but I didn't really see much of the paperwork as she did not thoroughly explain to me what she was doing after I signed it thinking everything was done correctly which I should've looked at the paperwork on my part it seems to be that she messed up the taxes one thing I've learned truly is to always look at the paperwork before signing the agreement of any kind whether it's taxes or anything else if I do not get the funds that I was supposed to get in the first place I will be filing a legal action against this firm like I said what I want out of this is an arbitration of getting money back that I should never of had to pay for the fact that they screwed up my IRS paperwork which now cost me more time and effort on my own.

  
  

  Regards,

  ** ****

• Initial Complaint

  08/16/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I paid $3,950 for this firm to help me with a tax audit. Two days after I sent the payment, I received a letter from IRS saying they had reduced my tax liability from $7,000 to $359. This reduction was due to paperwork I had sent in before contacting the law firm.. I called the firm immediately and told them I would just pay this $359 amount and requested at least a partial refund since They did absolutely nothing to help me. I sent the attorney an email detailing the timeline and requested at least a partial refund and never heard back from them. I will never recommend this law firm to anyone. I feel I have been treated unfairly.

  

  Business response

  09/08/2021

  The Taxpayers (aka Clients) submitted a request on March 1, 2021 for help regarding the 2017 examination of their personal tax return. I have provided the initial consultation request from the Taxpayers which stated that the substantiation previously submitted by the Taxpayers was insufficient and the IRS was not allowing it for verification of the examination items. They stated that they "really needed help." We reached out to them immediately and sent out a service agreement and IRS power of attorneys for both Taxpayers and received all signed forms back on March 4, 2021. We immediately contacted the IRS and started negotiations on the examination. I have attached the IRS Account Transcript for 2017 which confirms that the IRS opened the examination on November 29, 2019! The Taxpayers, specially **** ******, stated that she had provided items to the IRS which during 2019 and 2020 she had been advised was insufficient and were disallowed. It was not until TaxSmith contacted the IRS in March and April of 2021 did the IRS agree with the proposal we made for the Taxpayers. The Taxpayers ultimately was approved for a reduction of a proposed IRS balance of almost $8,000 to only $308! This reduction and proposal of the IRS examination was approved in July 2021 due to the work of TaxSmith. We advised that Taxpayers multiple times regarding this request of a reduction in the fee and each time advised that we completed all of the work on the service agreement and as what was discussed for services. We obtained positive results for the Taxpayers, which they had almost a year and a half of their own invested time with no approval. TaxSmith obtained the successful results that the Taxpayers were unable to achieve on their own and in an speedy manner. TaxSmith should not be obligated to refund any of the fee because the results were obtained successfully and in a timely manner. Once again, we have reached out to the Taxpayers multiple times and advised them of this as well and it was not until a month of advising that TaxSmith should not refund monies did they file a BBB complaint. We hope all the best for the Taxpayers and should not be "punished" for completing the job that we were hired to accomplish in a successful and timely manner. 

• Initial Complaint

  05/14/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We have found to our detriment that TaxSmith, LLC does not stand by her services when a confirmed omission has taken place with their tax services. As partial residents of ***** *****, OH and ******, OH for 2020, of which Tax***** was made aware. We paid $425.00 to get all of our tax returns completed on 4/12/2021. Sadly, we had difficulty getting ******, OH residency as of 8/1/2020 included in our tax return despite completing the tax questionnaire (during which we also sent email stating concern that *********, OH returns during previous services rendered were left out in ERROR despite working in *********). When I questioned Tax***** prior to signing, regarding not seeing my husband's income listed on ******, OH taxes as being owed - since his employer failed to withhold taxes. ***** ***** did not respond but quickly filed our taxes incorrectly and ignores request to amend our ******, OH taxes prior to deadline. Attorneys inform Tax***** should report all income for ******, OH taxes

  

  Business response

  05/26/2021

  In response to the ******* statement that there was an omission on their 2020 return is not accurate. The 2020 returns were prepared accurately and we even called and reviewed with the clients multiple times, even more than one person advised them that the return had part year residency listed as per the information provided. The clients consistently asked what they needed to do regarding Mr. ***** who is a W-2 employee having the correct local taxes withheld we advised that he would need to go to his employer and speak with someone who handles payroll issues. We advised that TaxSmith cannot change what local taxes are being withheld on his pay statement - ONLY his employer could make that adjustment. The clients were contacted and spoke with on the following dates to review the same questions that they have regarding Mr. ******* withholding local taxes and the location selected on his pay as well as the part-year residency status. Giving tax advice regarding withholding was not within the four-corners of the contract which was ONLY for tax preparation for 2020 returns. TaxSmith went well and above the service and the amount of time invested in the clients case with their numerous calls and emails for the same matter was above what the $425 service cost. The clients stated that TaxSmith previously rendered services which were in error and this was never brought to our attention. If the clients had services in the past that they claim were in error it would not make sense that they would contact us for the same service, but different year, again? The clients signed the 2020 returns on May 3, 2021 and at that time we e-filed the returns, received e-file confirmation and emailed the clients the e-file confirmation for their records. 

  - April 14, 2021

  - April 15, 2021

  - April 16, 2021

  - April 20, 2021

  - April 25, 2021

  - May 3, 2021

  - May 11, 2021

  - May 13, 2021

   

  Customer response

  06/14/2021

  In addition to not allowing me to sign our taxes (see attached); TaxSmith incorrectly doubled my husband's income (reporting 6 figure income) for the city of Seven Hills, OH. She also used incorrect figures for my income (add all taxes collected for each city - showing wages as the total of all taxes collected). This is in addition to my previous complaint. We had to get our taxes amended due to her error - costing us more money. If she had difficulty with our RITA taxes, she should have given us a portion of our $425.00 fee back so that we could get someone local to do the RITA taxes. The attached W2s show that my husband didn't make six figure income. The tax attorney that did our current taxes states that ***** incorrectly overlapped our taxed income by adding all taxed wages together for an incorrect sum. We are requesting a partial refund due to this error which led to us owing and paying RITA $1990 (in TaxSmith's completed tax return for our 2020 taxes). Awful experience.

  We are requesting a partial refund due to her errors in our RITA tax preparation.

  

  Business response

  07/19/2021

  I have been out of the office and handing my son’s medical issues w/his neurologist. I am glad to see that Mrs. ***** has decided to rescind her complaint for the $100 claim. I hope that you have a blessed remainder of your day.

   

   

  Best, 

   

  ***** ****** ****

  Managing Member

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