Optima Tax Relief LLC

SUMMARY - Optima Tax's management had been in contact with the client since receiving the complaint and is working towards a mutual resolve.     RESPONSE - Optima Tax’s management immediately reached out to the client to address the claims stated in the complaint. When speaking with the...

client, he confirmed that the assigned Tax Associate never represented that Optima Tax’s Resolution services would be a specific price. In fact, the client was informed that there would be a secondary fee for Resolution services, which such fee is determined by the complexity of the case.   In order to ensure that each client has a complete understanding of the services that Optima Tax will provide and that the assigned agent didn’t provide any false statements or promises, each client will go through a voice recorded Verification Call prior to any services being completed. The Verification Call covers all legal disclosures, including services that Optima Tax Relief will provide during each Phase. As noted in our Client Services Agreement, Optima Tax approaches each case in a two phase approach. Phase one being our Investigation Phase and phase two being our Resolution Phase. Each disclosure in our Verification Process will require a “yes” answer before moving forward. If the client has a misunderstanding as to the disclosure or was provided different information, then the client will be provided the correct information before moving forward with the call. After reviewing the Verification Calls, the client completed the Verification call and did not express any concerns.   In conclusion, it’s unfortunate that the client feels as if they were “bamboozled”. However, after reviewing the case there is no evidence showing that the client was misled. The client was fully informed that there would be a separate fee associated with engaging Resolution services. Moreover, the Resolution fee is determined by the complexity of the client’s case. Optima Tax is hopeful to come to a mutual resolve with the client.   At Optima Tax we strive to uphold the philosophy that "clients come first" and all of our representatives go through rigorous training to assure we abide by that philosophy. We take all complaints very seriously, and we do our best to turn them around when possible. Optima Tax believes it has addressed the client's concerns appropriately and considers the matter closed. Please do not hesitate to contact Optima Tax with any questions. Thank you. .

SUMMARY -
Optima...

Tax's management has been in contact with the client and
we are continuing to work on achieving an amicable resolution.
 
RESPONSE
-
Optima Tax’s management has been in communication with the
client to address his concerns as outlined in the complaint. Upon the client’s enrollment
into our Resolution Phase, the first order of business that Optima Tax
conducted was to bring the client into full filing compliance with both the
State Franchise Tax Board and the IRS. Neither the Franchise Tax Board nor the
IRS will engage in resolution discussions 
until the tax payer is in full filing compliance. Therefore, preparation
and submission of the client’s Tax Returns was imperative to our ability to
successfully represent the client’s interest.
 
Once the
client made his initial down payment towards our resolution fees, Optima Tax immediately
began to work his case. Our Tax Preparation Team immediately obtained from the client
the necessary tax documents and then successfully prepared his returns for three
tax years. After the client reviewed and signed the returns they were
immediately sent to both the IRS and the Franchise Tax Board. Now that we have
placed the client in filing compliance, once we receive confirmation that the
returns have been processed, we can works towards resolving both balances as a
whole.
 
After further
informing the client on this process, he appreciated the information and
clarity but continued to express concern with the lack of communication. After thoroughly
reviewing the file notes we believe that there may have been a misunderstanding
regarding the enforcement document the client is referring to. Anytime a client
receives any intent notice, our staff immediately responds in an effort to
negotiate a stay of enforcement. We are ecstatic that the client’s current
representative was able to negotiate a stay of enforcement. However, it is truly
disappointing that there was a misunderstanding regarding the document because
we would have been able to successfully negotiate a stay of enforcement on the
client’s behalf.
 
Although
we have the utmost confidence that we can complete our contractual obligations,
the client has decided to go in a different direction. In an effort to resolve
this matter mutually, we provided the client with some options to help resolve
this unfortunate matter and we are currently waiting on his response. We
believe that the options will help us part ways amicably.
 
At Optima
Tax, we strive to uphold the philosophy that "clients come first" and
all of our representatives go through
rigorous training to assure we abide by that philosophy. We take all complaints
very seriously, and we do our best to turn them around when possible. Optima Tax believes it has addressed the client's
concerns appropriately and will continue to work with the client until we come
to a final resolve. Please do not hesitate to contact Optima Tax with any
questions. Thank you.

It’s unfortunate that the client does not accept our initial response however; we also understand that there can be a difference of opinion. While most clients feel that it may take a single phone call or two to resolve their tax issues, with the complexity of the client’s case it was imperative that we present a full and complete case to the IRS in an effort to negotiate a final resolve.   While we understand that certain documents may have been inaccessible to the client, it is imperative that we have all supporting documentation in order to present the IRS with a full and complete financial packet to help resolve the client's case. Although the client does not have access to the requested documents, we believe that we can still do our best to resolve his case. We believe that the options we will present to the client will ultimately resolve their concerns and more importantly, will resolve his case.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
As Optima Tax Relief has stated, they did call me on February 19th. They discussed what had been done this far in my case and I requested a written outline, which was never provided by Optima Tax Relief. Further more, I emailed with Tax Associate [redacted], and have an email where she states that the services were not completed and could not be completed without beginning Phase 2, which would cost me $1995.When asked once again for the outline, I was prompted for payment and sent detailed instructions of how Optima Tax Relief accepts payment.  To this day, I have still not received the "outline" as requested almost 2 months ago.  Furthermore, when attempting to contact Executive Relations Specialist Alexandria Duarte, I have been sent to voicemail almost 15 times and have not received a response from her as far as the time stated in my last email that I am available for a phone conversation nor to my questions that I have regarding my account with Optima.
Regards,
[redacted]

SUMMARY -
Optima...

Tax's management has made multiple attempts to contact
the client with no success.
 
RESPONSE
-
Optima Tax’s management has made multiple attempts to contact
the client both verbally and electronically via email. Unfortunately, the
client has yet to respond. Based on our review of the client’s records, communication
with the client has been an ongoing issue on this matter. Prior to receiving
the complaint, the client’s assigned Case Manager had made multiple attempts to
reach her via phone and email to obtain financial documents, however, no
response were given by the client. Such issue has been thoroughly documented
and could be provided upon request. Understandably so, the issue has severely limited
our ability to provide our services.
 
The
client contends that she had requested a new Case Manager twice but we
respectfully disagree as there is no evidence of this request yet.  On the contrary, after months of not
receiving a response from the client, we received an email to her Case Manager
claiming that she had previously made the request to have a new representative
assigned to her case. Immediately after receiving that email, the assigned Case
Manager’s supervisor attempted to contact the client address any concerns. A
message was left and an email was sent requesting a call back to discuss her
file, however, there was yet again no response from the client. Based on client’s
inability to respond to any of our emails and or phone messages, a 3 day
suspension email was sent to the client per Optima Tax’s policy. Our Client
Services Agreement (“Agreement”) clearly states that any and all requested
documents must be sent in within 10 business days of the request. Also per the
Agreement, Optima Tax has authorization to terminate the agreement if the
client is found in breach of contract. We believe we have given the client
multiple opportunities to provide us with the requested documents, yet with no
success. Despite our best efforts and against our hopes of resolving this
matter amicably, it appears the client is unwilling to return any of our
messages and we have no choice but to consider this matter closed.
 
At Optima
Tax we strive to uphold the philosophy that "clients come first" and
all of our representatives go through rigorous training to assure we abide by
that philosophy. We take all complaints very seriously, and we do our best to
turn them around when possible. Optima Tax believes it has addressed the
client's concerns appropriately and considers the matter closed. Please do not
hesitate to contact Optima Tax with any questions. Thank you.

SUMMARY - Optima Tax's management has been in contact...

and confirmed the client’s case was cancelled within the cancellation period and any payments would be returned to her account.   RESPONSE - Optima Tax’s management has reached out to the client and left a detailed message that her funds were returned the very next day. We also stated that because it’s an electronic transfer the funds may not appear immediately in her account. Per a returned message, the client confirmed that she has the funds and contacted the Revdex.com to confirm that it has been resolved.   At Optima Tax we strive to uphold the philosophy that "clients come first" and all of our representatives go through rigorous training to assure we abide by that philosophy. Optima Tax believes it has addressed the client's concerns appropriately and considers the matter closed. Please do not hesitate to contact Optima Tax with any questions. Thank you.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Regards,
[redacted]
I do not accept the reason given by optima. Also, we were told that direct debit would be used for us to submit our payments. We were late with our final payment to them. The rep told us that Optima could further lower the payments under the $175 a month for the final phase of the analysis. The plan In March was never finalized with the IRS. Even if I defaulted on the payment in March 2016, the automatic payments should have started April or May of 2016. They never did. The optima rep never sent out banking information to the IRS so no payments went to the IRS. My wife then called the IRS and made an arrangement for $231 a month. Optima Tax had nothing to with that arrangement. That was a lie by the made by a Mr. Leon. He was the last rep we dealt with. For them to offer us a $350 refund doesn't justify keeping $2,930 of our money to alleviate this financial burden. I consider this matter closed as optima would never admit any wrongdoing. My complaint will still stand. I hope others don't get duped and ripped off like we did.

SUMMARY -
Optima Tax immediately reached out...

to the client upon receiving
the BCA complaint and addressed his concerns accordingly.
 
RESPONSE -
Optima Tax’s management made contact with
the client regarding his claim as outlined in the complaint. Although the client
felt as though his questions were not being fully answered, once we explained the
details of our process and the manners in which we answer all of our clients’
specific questions, we were able to ease his frustration.  To assist the client further, we thoroughly
answered all of his questions and concerns to his satisfaction. Accordingly, after
reaching out to the client and addressing his questions the client is satisfied
with the outcome and considers this matter closed.
 
At Optima
Tax we strive to uphold the philosophy that "clients come first" and
all of our representatives go through rigorous training to assure we abide by
that philosophy. We take all complaints very seriously, and we do our best to
turn them around when possible. Optima Tax believes it
has addressed the client's concerns appropriately and considers the matter
closed. Please do not hesitate to
contact Optima Tax with any
questions. Thank you.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.While they processed the refund in a timely fashion I disagree that I did not give them time to send me the paperwork necessary to go to Phase 2. 
Regards,
[redacted]

SUMMARY - Optima Tax's management is currently in communication with the client and we’re working towards a mutual resolve.   RESPONSE - Optima Tax’s management has been in contact with the client to address the client’s concerns outlined in the complaint. As the client stated, they had an...

outstanding liability with the IRS that needed to be addressed. Optima Tax offers its services in a two phase approach. Phase One, being the Investigation Phase, and Phase Two, being the Resolution Phase and each phase requires a separate fee for services, if the client elects to enroll into Resolution Phase.   Prior to commencing the initial phase, the Investigation Phase, the client went through a voice recorded Verification Call. During this call, the client is provided a set of legal and contractual disclosures, and each disclosure requires the client’s affirmative confirmation that they understand before moving forward with the call. One of the disclosures covers, in detail, that there is a second phase that will require an additional cost if they decide to move forward with the Resolution Phase. After reviewing the voice recorded Verification call, all disclosures were presented to the client and the client provided a “yes” answer to all legal disclosures. The client also provided a level 8 to 9 rating as to their level of understanding of the disclosures, with 10 being the highest rating a client can give.   At the conclusion of our Investigation, the client was presented with our findings, our formulated strategy to help resolve the case, and the costs associated with the services. Those services included, but are not limited to, IRS Collection Representation, IRS Compliance, and establishing a Non-Collectable Status or an Installment Agreement, depending upon the client’s ultimate financial state in connection with the overall tax liability. At no point did we promise, guarantee or insinuate that we would get the client out of debt.   To further confirm that the client was not guaranteed that Optima Tax would reduce the client’s tax liability, the client went through a second voice recorded Verification Call for the Resolution Phase. Just like the Investigation Phase, the client is provided a list of legal and contractual disclosures with each disclosure requiring a “yes” answer before moving forward. After reviewing the call the client did answer “yes” to all legal and contractual disclosures and gave us a 10 rating to their level of understanding to the Resolution Services.   The client’s statement that Optima Tax could not fix his tax liability is inaccurate. In fact, Optima Tax fulfilled their contractual obligations and obtained the tax resolution originally stated in the Addendum to the Client Service Agreement. It’s unfortunate that the client feels the services weren’t to their satisfaction; however, we can say with the utmost confidence that we diligently provided all the services, which the client engaged us to perform. More importantly, we resolved the client’s case as outlined in the agreement.    At Optima Tax we strive to uphold the philosophy that "clients come first" and all of our representatives go through rigorous training to assure we abide by that philosophy. We take all complaints very seriously, and we do our best to turn them around when possible. Optima Tax believes it has addressed the client's concerns appropriately and considers the matter closed. Please do not hesitate to contact Optima Tax with any questions. Thank you.

The US Governent said I owed them $163,000+ in taxes. With Optima Tax Reliefs assistance we made an offer in compromise of $100 and it was accepted. I feel the $13,000 paid to Optima to achieve this end was worth every penny. I would use them again and would recommend anyone with IRS problems use them as well.I am very well satisfied with their professionalism and friendly help.
Sincerely
Ronny Q [redacted]

SUMMARY -
Optima Tax's management made contact with the client to discuss
his concerns as...

outlined in the complaint. Unfortunately, we have yet to hear
from the client and we are awaiting his response.
 
RESPONSE
-
Optima Tax’s management has attempted to contact the client to
discuss his allegations as outlined in the complaint but he has yet to return
any calls or emails. Although it’s unfortunate he had experienced the
frustrations as he described, we made multiple attempts prior to receiving the
complaint to address his concern. Unfortunately the client never responded to
those attempts. It is regrettable that the client was having issues with faxes,
however, although we receive a large amount of faxes daily, there has not been
any indication that there was a problem with our faxes. If the client had
returned our initial phone calls we could have better ascertained the issue and
possibly forward it to our Information Technology team to fix any technical issues.
In light of client’s nonresponsiveness, however, we have no choice but to close
this case per his request but we will continue to make contact with the client
to address his concerns.
 
At Optima Tax we strive to uphold the philosophy that
"clients come first" and all of our representatives go through rigorous training to assure we abide by that
philosophy. We take all complaints very seriously, and we do our best to turn
them around when possible. We will continue our efforts in reaching the client.
Thank you.

SUMMARY - Optima Tax's management has been in contact with the client and we are working towards a mutual resolve.   RESPONSE - Optima Tax’s management has been in communication with the client to address his concerns as outlined in the complaint. As the client stated, he hired Optima Tax for...

representation as he was being audited for a specific year. Our internal Audit Team reviewed all the documentation the client provided regarding the Audit. Based off our analysis, the client had already received credit. Furthermore, the client signed off on the Audit report accepting full responsibility for the outstanding liability.   Once we completed our Audit Review the client was transferred to our Resolution Team. As outlined in the agreement, the next step would be to negotiate a favorable payment plan that was affordable for the client and satisfies the IRS so they refrain from initiating additional action to collect on the client's outstanding liability. This includes but not limited to, protecting any potential assets from seizure or having the client liquidate said assets to satisfy the outstanding balance. The payment plan was negotiated on behalf of the client and agreed upon by the IRS on February 5, 2016.   Unfortunately, during the process of coming to a final resolve on the case the client did receive a bank levy. What the client failed to state in his complaint is that Optima Tax was successful in releasing most of the funds the IRS took during this levy. Given the severity of the liability, the IRS does have the legal right to issue enforcement action regardless of our representation.   We can sympathize with the client regarding their concerns with communication however; based off the complexity of his case communication was consistent and the client was thoroughly informed that the audit review process was lengthy and time consuming. There were also certain delays on the review as we did not have the full audit report on file.   At Optima Tax we strive to uphold the philosophy that "clients come first" and all of our representatives go through rigorous training to assure we abide by that philosophy. We take all complaints very seriously, and we do our best to turn them around when possible. Optima Tax believes it has addressed the client's concerns appropriately and will continue to reach out to the client until we come to a final resolve. Please do not hesitate to contact Optima Tax with any questions. Thank you.

SUMMARY - Optima Tax's management had been in...

contact with the client prior to receiving the complaint to address their concerns.    RESPONSE - Optima Tax’s management has been in communication with the client to address her concerns as outlined in the complaint. As the client stated in their complaint, she hired Optima Tax to help resolve her outstanding tax liability. Although highly successful in reducing a tax payer’s liability, Optima Tax does not make any guarantees or promises as to what the end result will be. However, we are very transparent with our clients on how we approach each case we take on. Each client will receive our Client Services Agreement prior to enrollment for their review. Once enrolled each client will go through a voice recorded Verification Call that covers all legal disclosures and pertinent details of their enrollment to ensure the client has a full and complete understanding of the services they’ll receive. In client's case, after going through all the disclosures, she was presented with our rating system where on a scale of zero through ten based on her understanding of the services that will be provided the client gave a ten rating, the highest level of understanding . At no point during the Verification Calls and enrollment process did Optima Tax promise any type of reduction of client's tax liability.  .   We fully acknowledge that the client had a previous resolution in place with the IRS however, that resolution had been cancelled and the client was in active collections when our Compliance Team conducted a thorough investigation into the client’s tax liability. Although we understand and sympathize with client's feelings towards their tax situation, we respectfully fail to see how the client is in a worse position after contacting Optima Tax, especially since the client had full acknowledgement of the services that would be provided. Furthermore, the resolution Optima Tax successfully achieved on behalf of the client removed the client from collections and ensured the client is now compliant with the IRS. Additionally, the resolution we have in place also prevented the IRS from issuing a lien against the client, protected her assets and will prevent any wage garnishments. While the client was enrolled with Optima Tax she did not receive a lien nor was a garnishment issued against her.     At Optima Tax we strive to uphold the philosophy that "clients come first" and all of our representatives go through rigorous training to assure we abide by that philosophy. We take all complaints very seriously, and we do our best to turn them around when possible. Optima Tax believes it has addressed the client's concerns appropriately and we feel that we’re close to finalizing a mutual resolve. Please do not hesitate to contact Optima Tax with any questions. Thank you.

I wish I had had the foresight to check the Revdex.com reviews and complaints for this company before I contacted them. I have the same problem that most of the complaints are about: not realizing up front that it was going to cost me THOUSANDS of dollars. I barely had the money to pay the initial $995 - which I had to break up into payments. I was drawing unemployment at the time, so funds were extremely tight, but I somehow managed to pay it. I will say that they did their research and got back to me within a couple months or so, but in order to go further and negotiate a resolution it was going to be another $3495. SERIOUSLY??? Would never have given them my money if I had been fully aware of this in the beginning. Am out $1k that I could definitely have used to pay bills with.
Just be careful and walk into this with your eyes wide open. Make sure to ask about ALL fees and guarantees up front before you fork over any money.

Not knowing what to expect,calling optima, talking with their respersentive who explain how things would work, Now I'm satified with the result,moving on with life. Thanks.
Wonderful job

SUMMARY
Optima Tax's management immediately reached out to the client
to discuss his concerns...

outlined in the complaint. Despite client’s initial dissatisfaction,
Optima Tax was able to successfully address his concerns and as a result, he
has decided to continue working with us. .
 
RESPONSE
-
Optima Tax’s management made contact with the client upon
receiving the Revdex.com notification. Unfortunately, the client’s
allegations in his complaint seem to have been misplaced given the current signed
agreement as well as our voice recorded verification call data. Both the
agreement and the verification call confirm that the client contracted with
Optima Tax for Collection Representation and IRS Compliance only. Although
Optima Tax is confident that it has fulfilled all of its contractual
obligations, our management presented the client with another option that may
help with his overall balance. Furthermore, as a courtesy, the team assigned to
the client’s file reestablished an affordable Installment Agreement. The client
has expressed his gratitude and confirmed that this satisfies all his concerns.
 
At Optima
Tax we strive to uphold the philosophy that "clients come first" and
all of our representatives go through rigorous training to assure we abide by
that philosophy. We take all complaints very seriously, and we do our best to
turn them around when possible. Optima Tax believes it has addressed the
client's concerns appropriately and considers the matter closed.
Please do
not hesitate to contact Optima Tax with any questions. Thank you.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
As you can see from their response, I never spoke to a CPA or tax professional. I also am sad that a company we are supposed to trust with very important issues would lie in their statement that we never turned in all the required paperwork. we definitely turned in ALL documents needed in order to work on our file. The only work they did for us was file tax returns which took them 6 months. Their responses have not been answered accurately which is not surprising. When I was quoted a price to resolve our situation they only asked a few questions and in the end they charged me based upon the amount of taxes owed. We will continue our efforts to get our money back.
Regards,
[redacted]

[redacted]. was my agent, and I truly could not have asked for a more helpful or friendly person. She worked with me and stayed in touch through out the entire process. Extremely helpful in every aspect. I had no idea what I
was getting into. They resolved my tax issue at a fraction of what was owed and helped clarify what was actually owed lifting a huge weight off my shoulders. Thanks to the team at Optima. Michael L.

SUMMARY -
Optima Tax's management has made multiple attempts to contact  the client to...

discuss his concerns as
outlined in the complaint, but he has been unresponsive.
 
RESPONSE
-
Optima Tax’s management has attempted to make contact with the
client to discuss his concerns as outlined in the complaint. Unfortunately, the
client has not responded to any of our attempts to discuss his frustrations and
come to an amicable resolution. We will continue our efforts until contact is
made.
 
As we
review the client’s claim, his primary complaint has to do with the Installment
Agreement our Tax Pro established while negotiating with the IRS. When the
client contacted Optima Tax in November 2014 he was thoroughly educated on our
two Phase approach. Phase one being the Investigation Phase and phase two being
our Resolution Phase. During our Investigation, we discovered that the client
did not have a current resolution in place and the IRS has initiated active
collections against him. Collection activity can consist of wage garnishments,
bank levies and property liens.
 
After conclusion
of our investigation, Optima informed the client of our findings and the
services Optima Tax could offer to assist the client with his tax liability. As
a result the client signed up for our Resolution Phase. Our Resolution services
included Collection Representation, IRS Compliance and preparing all necessary
paperwork to submit for an Installment Agreement. The assigned team of Tax Pros
successfully negotiated an installment agreement which got the client out of
collections and will protect his assets from being liquidated. It’s unfortunate
that the client doesn’t see the value in the services we provided on his behalf.
However, we will be sure to inform the client of these benefits once communication
is established. More importantly, we are confident that we will be able to come
to a mutual agreement.
 
At Optima Tax we strive to uphold the philosophy that
"clients come first" and all of our representatives go through rigorous training to assure we abide by that
philosophy. We take all complaints very seriously, and we do our best to turn
them around when possible. Optima Tax
will continue their efforts in making contact with the client until there is a
mutually satisfying agreement. Thank you.