Complaint Review: 411 Tax Relief - Culver City California

411 Tax Relief is a division of 411 Web Directory, Inc. We are a reputable firm. We value our reputation, and we do our best to acheive the best result for each and every one of our clients. We agree that many firms in the tax resolution industry are not reputable, and we make every effort to distinguish ourselves from them. We always advise our clients to check out the reputation of our firm before hiring us. In this particular case, the complainant has misunderstood and/or misrepresented the facts from beginning to end, and apparently allowed himself to be intimidated by an IRS employee who blatantly lied to him. Had he listened to the tax professionals he hired, he would have no reason for complaint. Please compare the real sequence of events below to his statement above, and also refer to our closing summary. Sequence of Events: 1) 5/7/2007: Client filed his 2006 return with missing income 2) 6/27/2008: Client hired us for IRS Representation. His total cost was $1,750 with a down payment of $200, and we accepted his promise to pay $172 per month until full paid according to a binding contract that he signed. 3) We requested his financial information on 7/7/2008 4) On 7/8/2008 we spoke with client re the financial information needed 5) We received his financial information on 7/14/2008 7) We called the client to update him on our progress on 8/4/2008 8) We performed his case analysis on 8/8/2008: our conclusion was that the proper solution in his case, where he had a low tax amount owed and a large ability to pay, was a "Streamlined Installment Agreement". We communicated this result to him. 9) On 8/18/2008 the IRS issued a 2006 90-day letter. This meant that the additional 2006 tax liability was to be final 11/16/2008, and not one day before. 10) On 9/24/2008 the client called IRS directly, spoke to a collection employee, and according to the client's account above, that IRS employee lied to him by threatening immediate levy on taxes that were not final yet. The client got scared, and set up own payment plan [which was our recommended resolution]. 11) 9/25/2008: client's US Army representative (NOT a tax attorney) sent fire letter to firm; firm stopped taking payments. Summary of case: Client hired firm for representation, and promised to pay fee in installments. Firm did all work timely until fired by client after three months, at a point in time which was two months before his IRS tax liability became final. Client called IRS, and according to his account IRS lied to him by threatening levy on tax liability that was not yet final. [The IRS does not have legal authority to issue levies until a tax liability is on record.] Client set up Streamlined Installment Agreement with IRS, which was our recommended course of action as discussed with him. Client then fired firm and refused to make remaining payments as agreed to in contract. Client subsequently made false allegations against firm. The case was timely worked, communications between client and firm were good until client did the contracted IRS work on his own and refused to make payments to firm. Please contact Miki Hernandez at 800-706-6225, ext. 6970 if you have any questions or comments.