What to Look For/Look out For in a Tax Relief Company

May 27, 2010 | By: Manuel Vetti

tax relief companyFinding a great tax relief company can significantly help your tax situation and overall financial situation. Tax code is complex and there are many more ins and outs to tax laws than many people realize. There can be two people with extremely similar tax and financial situations but can receive significantly different outcomes with the IRS depending upon which actions are taken. The key is to find a company that has a lot of experience in dealing with the IRS and will give you honest suggestions without making false promises of what they can do. A good company will do a solid analysis of your situation and let you know what the best plans of actions are and what the most likely outcome will be.

In recent years some tax relief companies have made a bad name for the industry by making false promises and not treating their customers as they should be treated. The good news is that these companies are pretty easy to spot and you can move onto the next company quickly before wasting your time and money on tax help that may never follow through. First off, lets start with the things you should look out for in tax relief companies so you can quickly spot a bad and move onto the next company.

Things to Look Out For in a Tax Relief Company

Bad tax relief companies normally are pretty easy to spot, especially now with people’s ability to post reviews about companies online. Below are the 4 main things you should look out for when selecting a tax relief company.

  1. Promise “Pennies on the dollar settlements”: When a company promotes pennies on the dollar settlements they are saying they can get you an offer in compromise with the IRS. While sometimes this could be possible, it is highly unlikely. If a company says they can settle your taxes for less prior to doing a thorough analysis of your tax situation, this is a huge red flag. Very few people qualify for an offer in compromise and no company can guarantee one will be accepted. If your financial situation is really bad then it could be a possibility, but watch out for them promising it before they get to know more about your situation.
  2. Large upfront fees: Watch out for companies that charge large upfront fees. Charging large upfront fees can be a cover up for their bad services in order to lock in the customer and prevent them from leaving. A good company should charge no retainer fees or small ones and then they back up the remaining prices with the quality of their services.
  3. Horrible Online Reviews: Unhappy customers typically go right to the internet to complain about their experience. Just Google the companies name and see what comes up. Be aware though that a few bad reviews is standard for any company, even good companies can get bad reviews, but if there is an overwhelming amount of them, you know something isn’t right with the company. Also check on the companies BBB rating, this can say a lot about the company and how much the value trying to make customers happy.
  4. High Pressure Agreements: Companies can have sales people that use high pressure sales methods to get you as a client. You may want to stay away from these companies because you don’t want to be rushed into making a decision, especially under pressure.

Things to Look for in a Tax Relief Company

  1. Offer a free tax analysis: A company that offers a free tax analysis is a good thing. The free tax analysis will let you know how their services can help you and it will also allow them to evaluate your situation and first see if they can actually help you and second, determine the best course of action for your particular case. A free tax analysis normally will also consist of them providing a quote for their services. It is a good idea to talk with multiple companies and get a few quotes and understand the different options the companies are offering.
  2. Experience: The more years they have been in business, the better. Make sure the person that you are working directly with has had experience handling cases like yours in the past. You don’t want someone new and in training testing out their skills on you. Get a good sense of what the outcomes have been for clients that have had similar situations as yours.
  3. Good BBB Rating: A decent BBB rating for the tax relief industry is a C+ to B, watch out for those companies that have an F rating, there are many of them out there. Also, do a bit of research on their name and see if there have been any name changes in the past, some companies will change their name and holding company in order to get around a bad BBB rating.

Good tax relief companies do exist and the value they provide will greatly outweigh their cost. Knowing what to look out for can help you easily spot a bad tax relief company and move on, don’t be too worried about getting started, bad companies are easy to spot. If you need help finding a great company just fill out out the contact form on the right of this page.