Complaint Review: Tax Incorporated - Los Angeles California

To prospective or current clients: My name is Theodore Heater Jr., and yes I go by Teddy. I have been employed by Tax Incorporated for the past 3 years and in this time I have taken on about 5000 new cases and this is the first complaint I've ever came across. Actually I was made aware of this complaint by a prospective client that was doing research prior to hiring us. The last contact we had from the client was by email, 08/27/2007 on the cover sheet client wrote the following: (Please hold off on trying to establish a payment plan. I'm going to attempt to get the $7,000 instead. Thanks, Vicky. ) The client specifically requested us to wait until we heard back from her before proceeding. Tax Inc. never received another call/email or letter authorizing us to continue work. This client did not disclose the additional tax debt. Her income never changed like she had suggested it would prior to hiring Tax Inc. The client was also aware of the payment structure and it was verified by a 3rd party, the firms policy is to stop or drop a case if the 2nd payment is delinquent, which I authorized to continue working. Below is a full account of the notes taken on the clients case. First and foremost I am NOT a salesman, I have a Degree in business with an emphasis in Finance, not only do I assess cases for the firm but I also work directly with our the Attorneys. Our firm is highly regarded in this industry and we pride ourselves on our success rate and our experinced staff of Attorney's, CPA's, EA's, and the rest of our well seasoned legal staff. Prior to taking on this client we spoke in depth about her situation, based on the information she provided to me it was determined or firm would represent her and negotiate the liability through the means of A Doubt to Collectibilty. She explained that she had filed for disability, and that her income would drasitically change once that took effect. I never advised the client to wire money into our account! Most of our clients hire us with a credit card or a check by phone. Upon processing any payments this client's information and method of payment was verified by a 3rd party. Immediately upon retaining our firm the IRS was contacted and the forms were faxed to and processed by them. The client also claimed I demanded her to file her 2006 tax return, it's against the law not to file, I was advising her to submit the delinquent returns for 2005 & 2006. Once those returns were recorded by the IRS an additional debt of 10K was added to the current debt of 22k. The client did not disclose that she would incur additional liabilty for those tax years. This is significant because once a debt goes over the 25k mark it entails much more work to be done. According to her finances she had a disposable income of $2000 dollars. The lead agent (Vahan Hart) assigned to the case was in constant contact with the IRS and it's documented with agents name and badge numbers. When the client notified us of the garnishment we contacted the IRS and they had no record of a garnishment on file. The notice of levy on wages was faxed by client. After a discussion with the lead agent the client understood what needed to be done Below are the documentations made on her case. 03/07/2007 Client owes about 20K from the years of 1999-2004. Has not filed for 2005 or 2006. Client has an existing medical condition which has caused her to file for SSI, pending judgment. Explained to client that when she qualified for Social Security/Disability that we'd be able to negotiate through the means of a doubt to collectability, as she will be on a fixed income. TH 03/09/2007 Did customer verification client understands she is paying 2100 today from Wachovia Bank checking account and the other half in a month. JS 03/09/2007 Received signed POA, form 8821 and IRS notice: "Please Call Us about Your Overdue Taxes for years 1999-2004 $21857.60 from client via fax, gave to JC to process. AJ 03/09/2007 Processed $2100, check by phone, verification done by JS. AN 03/09/2007 REVISED 2848 AND 8821. FAXED TO THE IRS, confirmation filed. JC 03/12/2007 Assigned case to VH. 03/15/2007 Confirmed IRS received 2848 and 8821. TH 03/26/2007 Called PPS, Mr. Nuke #1905207. 1999-2004 liability is $22,024. No return for 2005. Ordered income info & the ROA (record of Account). VH 03/27/2007 Received ROA for 2000 tax p. from IRS via fax gave to VH. AJ 04/13/2007 processed $2100, check by phone, verification done by JS on 03/07. AN 04/18/2007 Client may need to amend 2006 T/R (tax return), client is sending paperwork over tomorrow. TH. 04/18/2007 received notice of levy for 1999-2004 tax p. $22188.97 from client via fax, gave to VH. AJ 04/19/2007 Check for 2100 was returned, insufficient funds, notified Accounts Receivable. Case on hold until payment is received. AN 04/20/2007 Released hold on case, continue work, and will make arrangements with client. TH 04/23/2007 Received signed personal questionnaire from client via fax, filed in file and gave to AR. AJ 04/23/2007 12:15:51 Also rcvd bank statements from client via fax, filed in file as well. AJ 04/30/2007 Reviewed acc't. 2005 & 2006 T/R's delinquent, called client, left message to fax over copies of T/R's out if client filed 2005 and 2006. LM Also asked her to call back. AR 05/01/2007 Client called back, will fax over her T/R's tomorrow, and wants me to look over her 06 return. AR 05/02/2007 Rcvd 2005 and 2006 T/R's, 2006 W-2 and State of Georgia Dept. of Labor information, form 1099-G for 2006 tax year, from client via fax, gave to AR. 05/02/2007 433A completed, forward to VH to review. AR 5/03/2007 Reviewed financials. The pay stub does not reflect YTD amounts; it covers only one period without a starting date. AR will request another pay stub. VH 05/07/2007 attempted to contact client regarding income info, client's phone is currently disconnected. AR. 05/07/2007 Emailed client: (Ms. Lee, The pay stub that you provided does not reflect your Year to Date earnings, It only covers the current period, also we need the starting date or we need a new pay stub covering the whole year.) AR 05/15/2007 Client emailed: Responded (Ms. , The pay stub that you provided does not reflect your Year to Date earnings, it only covers the current period, also we need the starting date or we need a new pay stub covering the whole year). 05/23/2007 Rcvd notice of levy for 1999-2004 tax p.'s $22427.29 from client via fax, gave to AR. AJ. 05/23/2007 Forwarded above notice to VH. AJ 05/29/2007 Received CP14 for 2006 tax p. $4261.74 from IRS via mail. AJ 05/29/2007 Received CP14 for 2005 tax p. $4779.62 from IRS via mail. AJ 05/29/2007 Called PPS division spoke with Mr. Coleman 91-07997, confirmed collections were on hold. VH 05/29/2007 tried to call client number disconnected, sent email. TH 06/04/2007 Client called with a new phone number, updated her on status, also informed her about the delinquent balance, and scheduled payment for 06/11/07. TH 06/06/2007 Received combined tax statement for forms 1098, 1099, 5498 for tax year 2006, short summary for refund amounts, Trans Union employment disclosure report/public record information, IRS annual installment agreement statement, payment detail, State of GA letter regarding OIC, State of GA notice of intent to offset federal tax refund $5981.78 and another one for $2323.14 and State of GA action notice $2197.49 from client via fax, filed in file and let VH. AR 07/03/2007 Received CP 504 for 2005 tax p. $4849.96 from IRS via mail, gave to VH. AJ 07/10/2007 Received CP 504 for 2006 tax p. $4315.03 from IRS via mail, gave to VH. AJ 08/07/2007 Client left a message in regards to a Wage Garnishment, forwarded to VH, will address it immediately. TH 08/08/2007 Called PPS, Mr. Struck #1905628. All the returns are filed. 1999=$2,348.42 2000=$2,883.08 2001=$2,622.79 2002=$6,612.22 2003=$3,180.88 2004=$5,136.91 2005=$4,537.65 2006=$4,390.96. Ordered the ROA. Asked him about any wage garnishment. He did not find any levy issued. VH 08/08/2007 Received IRS account transcripts for 1999-2006 from IRS via fax, gave to VH. AJ 08/09/2007 Client called employer received notice to garnish wages explained that VH had spoke with Revenue Agent Called PPS, Mr. Struck #1905628 on 08-08, she is faxing garnishment! TH 08/10/2007 Received notice of levy for 1999-2004 tax p.'s $22935.90 addressed to Servello & Son Inc. from client via fax, gave to VH. 08/10/2007 12:59:31 Instructed CR to request YTD pay stub from client. VH 08/13/2007 CLIENT CALLED, ASKED HER TO FAX OVER CURRENT PAYSTUB. JC 08/14/2007 Received earnings statement from client via fax, gave to VH. AJ 08/14/2007 Input income & expenses. About $2K disposable income per standards & $1,700 with the actual expenses. She's got about $32K liability. They're going to request financials if balance is not reduced under $25K. 08/21/2007 Client called not knowing what to do. She is only left with under $400 a month to live off., advised client that to submit current financials so we could address issue, discussed with VH, he will call client. TH 08/23/2007 Returned client's call. Long, long case discussion (she's an accountant). Explained everything in details about her financials and gave her the options that she has. Gone over the numbers, did calculations. According to her the levy is $666.72 per week and she's about to send $2,000.16 for the last three weeks. When she saw that she's showing such disposable income per month, she decided to stay with the current levy & let the liability go down under 25K. She has no ability to borrow because of the bankruptcy she has. We agreed that I will try to see if they'll accept an agreement for a lesser amount and get the levy released. She was thankful. VH 08/27/2007 Received current pay period document from client via fax, gave to VH. AJ 08/27/2007 on the cover sheet client wrote the following: Please hold off on trying to establish a payment plan. I'm going to attempt to get the $7,000 instead. Thanks, Vicky . Will wait for clients call/fax before proceeding. 01/23/2007 Notified of complaint, will investigate if complaint was valid. TH