Optima Tax Relief LLC

Please be advised, the resolution that Optima Tax proposed was strictly out of courtesy for the client. Optima Tax has fulfilled their contractual obligations and resolved the client’s case per the Client Services Addendum as stated in our previous response. Optima Tax was only aware of one levy and as stated in our initial response, the assigned Tax Pro was successful in releasing most of the funds back to the client.   Although we thoroughly educated the client as to the process of his case, he does not want to accept the facts of the case as a whole. The Audit Review is time consuming and requires a high level of attention to detail. The client failed to inform us that he signed off on the Audit Report prior to hiring Optima Tax. This is valuable information that Optima Tax was not aware of until we completed our Audit Review. Once the review had been finalized, the assigned team finalized his case and set the client up on an affordable payment plan as outlined in the Client Services Addendum. Regardless of when the payment plan was implemented, the client will continue to accrue penalties and interest until the balance is paid in full.   It’s unfortunate that the client feels that Optima Tax takes advantage of vulnerable people. Nothing can be further from the truth. The client reached out to Optima Tax and we provided the client our formulated strategy to help resolve his case and he decided to hire us for representation. His desired resolution is unrealistic in comparison to the work performed by his assigned team and the representation Optima Tax provided. Per our initial conversation with the client on April 19, 2016 the client made it clear he was under the impression that Optima Tax would reduce his debt. However, after he was educated and proper expectations were set by the Optima Tax, the client confirmed that his dedicated Optima Tax representative did not promise, guarantee or insinuate that the client would receive a reduction.

From the time I decided to seek advice on my taxes from OPTR, it was evident they knew what they were doing. They made me understand every step of the way what was going in in my situation until the IRS completion. Very professional, knowledgeable and always courteous. I will recommend them to anyone looking for help with their tax issues.

SUMMARY - Optima Tax's management has been in contact with the client prior to receiving the complaint 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 to represent him on behalf of the IRS. The client did have an Installment Agreement in place prior to contacting Optima Tax however, the agreement would soon become null and void.   The Installment Agreement previously in place for the client prior to client seeking assistance from Optima Tax went into default status and was no longer valid. Thereafter, Optima Tax was able to establish a new Installment Agreement for the client. The newly acquired agreement Optima Tax negotiated was slightly lower then the original payment and ensured the client was back in compliance with taking care of his outstanding tax liability. Furthermore, Optima Tax was able to prevent the IRS from taking any enforcement action against the client by renegotiating another agreement on behalf of the client and representing the client in their matters with the IRS.   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.

My dealings with all the people with Optima Tax Relief was extremely pleasant and helpful. I have nothing but good things to say about everyone that was involved in my case.
I could not have done it without them.

We contracted with Optima Tax Relief on 10/07/2014 and completed the process this September 2015. We were behind 3 years on filing our taxes. They helped us also with filing our 2014 year and completed the forms for our state returns which we were responsible for mailing. After accounting for the fees Optima charged for their services and the penalties the IRS charged for 3 years late filing we still ended up at $1,420 in the black for the Federal returns and after penalties and interest for late filing with the State returns we ended up with $2,100 in the black. Through the whole ordeal the main positive was communication.They were very responsive with phone calls and email. They were also very patient with us in getting the information to them which they requested. We are very pleased with the results.

Optima Tax Relief did just what their name implies. After messing around with other firms and sticking my head in the sand for the past ten years it was Optima that finally resolved my sticky tax situation.
Their perseverance, professionalism and knowledge combined with a caring attitude has allowed me to come to an agreeable solution where I can now get on with my life and have control over my finances.
I unreservedly recommend this company.

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

contact with the client in an effort to establish a line of communication.   RESPONSE - Optima Tax’s management has attempted to establish contact with the client to address his concerns as outlined in the complaint. As the client stated in his complaint, he hired Optima Tax to represent him on behalf of the IRS due to an outstanding liability.   In the complaint, the client claims he hired Optima Tax for a reduction in his debt. Contrary to this statement, per the Client Services Addendum the client hired us to perform certain services including, among other things, Collection Representation, IRS Compliance, Audit Reconsideration and ultimately setting up an affordable payment plan based on the client’s income and expenses. Although Optima Tax has been successful in obtaining reductions in certain clients tax liabilities, based on meeting specific factors, at no point did Optima Tax promise, guarantee or in any way insinuate that the client would receive a reduction. Furthermore, the client went through a voice recorded Verification Call that covers all legal disclosures with each disclosure requiring a “yes” answer before moving forward. After reviewing the call, the client understood and agreed to all disclosures and understood the services Optima Tax would provide.   As the client stated in the complaint, after thoroughly reviewing his case for any potential reduction it had been determined that he does not qualify for such programs. Since the IRS requires a resolution in place to avoid any type of enforcement action, Optima Tax successfully negotiated a favorable payment plan, which is lower than the amount referenced in the complaint, which will prevent such action. Moreover, the resolution we negotiated would also prevent the IRS from asking the client to liquidate any assets to pay the balance in full. Until the balance is satisfied, the IRS will continue to apply penalties and interest to the principle balance until it is paid in full. To say that we did not provide a service nor did Optima Tax earn any of the fees is an inaccurate statement. We spent a lot of time and energy on his case including representing the client in an Audit Reconsideration. Unfortunately, the IRS was unwilling to adjust their audit determination despite Optima’s attempts.   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.

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.
We sought representation because we firmly believed Optima is honest,honorable and willing to help.
 
It is impossible to totally resolve IRS audit but to somehow ease the suffering and pain how IRS deal with clients like us.
 
Now Optima is firing back the disclosure requiring  a “yes” before moving forward. Yes, after the last
installment payment was collected, for clients like us this is just a point of no return and hoping for the best.
 
Somehow in the process of reviewing  our case and after few documents submitted, they knew by then  they could not help us. Optima should have advised us of this, instead of continuing with our case, prolonging the process which took a year and therefore ended up adding to the penalties and interests.They set up a payment plan for us which we could have done ourselves with the form 433D. Just like our inquiry for our Franchise tax Board, Optima refused to take our case because they know there is no money for them with this one.We took their advise and save $1000 fee.
 
I disagree with the statement that they negotiated  a favorable payment plan claiming it is lower than we declared on the complaint. Again, I remember my words in this matter. "Hey are you on my side of the case this is much higher than the IRS auditor request?"
 
There was a desperate move in our case to avoid lien to our house and penalties as part of the resolutions.  We even forced ourselves to raise money as to renegotiate with IRS and hoped that they could help us. Optima refused and advised us to put the money to our down payment as part of our payment plan.
 
 
Optima’s statement indicated that they spent a lot of time and energy in this case, unfortunately  , the IRS unwilling to adjust audit determination.  This result comes out after 12months of waiting just to increase my debt and fees by 26% (Optima fees+interests+penalties) on top of the audit amount by the IRS. Instead  it added  to our frustrations.
 
 
We believed we were strongly represented through Optima's CPAs and Tax Lawyers but we never heard from any of them. The times Optima communicated with us was with a generic message left on our phone machine. Needless to say we did our part calling which most of the time unable to talk with the contact person.
 
At this point we stand firm on our request for a refund.
Regards,
[redacted]

SUMMARY -
Optima Tax's management has been in contact with the client and
we have come to 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 initially contacted Optima Tax to address his tax liability. After we
concluded our Investigation, we presented the client with a formulated strategy
to resolve his tax liability and the client decided to sign up for our
Resolution Services thereafter.
 
Although
Optima Tax is extremely successful in negotiating a reduction of our client’s
liability, ultimately the IRS has to approve any reduction we attempt to
negotiate. This is explained to all of our clients as we ensure to be very
transparent regarding our services. The client completed a voice recorded
Verification Call that covered all disclosures, including the fact that any
reduction we seek to obtain on the client’s behalf must ultimately be accepted
by the Tax Authority. With each specific disclosure given, our clients must
acknowledge they fully understand the disclosure by saying yes before they are
able to move on to the next disclosure. After reviewing the Verification Call,
the client acknowledged they understood and accepted all legal disclosures.
Additionally, we do not advertise nor does our agreement stipulate that we can
reduce the accrued interest. We make it clear to our clients that until their
balance is paid in full, they will continue to accrue penalties and interest. Each
case, no matter the circumstances, will be fully evaluated to ensure that we
have taken every step possible to reduce our client’s liability.
 
It’s
unfortunate that the client feels as if we lost his paperwork and or stalling
on his case. What the client may perceive as us losing documents is actually
Optima Tax requesting updated documents. Optima Tax cannot determine the
client’s financial capabilities off three to four months worth of documents nor
can the IRS for that matter this is why we request a substantial amount of up
to date documents from the client. It’s important to understand our client’s financial
situation for negotiation purposes and to strengthen their case.
 
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 consider
this matter closed. Please do not hesitate to contact Optima Tax with any
questions. Thank you.

Contacting Optima Tax Relief was one of the smartest moves I've made in my fifty five years on this planet. I had not filed taxes in six years due to my alcoholism , and had been sober for the last three years. I had repaired my business and personal life and the only issue left was to fix all my tax issues, of which I was dreading and avoiding. I took the final step after hearing about Optima on the radio. From my first initial consoltation through the entire process , Optima kept me informed weekly, mentally helped me with kindness and facts of what they were doing. They got me a tax number due and worked my case through to the end. I slept well every night instead of stressing all night.

Optima Tax Company is misleading. I see some of the reviews good and bad. Most of the bad ones are very similar to my story. I hired them in October of
2013. At first they were great until they got almost $6000 from me. After that the customer service was terrible. Sometimes I would go months without
hearing from them. It seemed my case worker would change on the times I did hear from them. They say the notices will stop but that didn't happen. I
continued to get them. I kept having to call them regularly to try to find out what is going on. They kept saying we are waiting on the IRS to get back
to us. This went on for a year and a half before the IRS finally seized my bank account. I found this out the hard way when I went to get gas on the way
home from work. At this point I am very angry as they kept telling me they were waiting on the IRS and all the other crap they tell you. One thing they
kept saying was don't call the IRS during this whole time. After my account got seized I called the IRS and spoke to them directly. When I asked about
Optima supposedly waiting on them and doing business on my behalf they said they had no record of it. The lady I spoke with from the IRS was a lot more
informative and helpful. Very different from the picture Optima paints about them. At this point I am really angry. Called Optima and told them I was done
and wanted my money back. They kept making excuses and saying we are waiting on the IRS and the usual crap they tell you. I asked what are you waiting on
the IRS to do, seize my accounts? I said they just did that. I also called BS on them saying they were close to an agreement because I had just talked
to the IRS and the IRS had no record of it. After that the customer service got better but the final results were way less than expected. I could have
saved the money I wasted on Optima and done most of it myself. They drooped the ball on everything including the innocent spouse rule that the IRS said
I would have probably qualified for since my ex was guilty of fraud. Tried explaining this several times to them and they dismissed it or ignored it. Someone
who use to work for a now defunct tax company like Optima said they are not interested in doing the best for you but doing what will cost them the least to
maximize their profit from what you give them. I paid almost 3 times what it would have costs me to get a local tax attorney or CPA and doing some work
and on my on and educating myself on the IRS and taxes in general. Unless you owe millions or something like that Optima would be a waste of your time
and I would still find someone local. At least it would be easier to deal with incompetence that is 10 miles away than incompetence that is over a 1000
miles away. My experience with Optima is they are reactive and not proactive which is not good with the IRS. When talking to the IRS they said they could
mail or I could download the forms I need to take care of this myself and as long as you stay in contact with them and don't ignore them you can work most
of the stuff out yourself and they won't seize your accounts. They seize when you ignore them like Optima ignored them. My advice is to get in touch with
the IRS as they are helpful and educate yourself or see a CPA. They will be more honest than Optima will be and you will save a ton of money and not have
to learn the expensive lesson I learned.

Optima Tax Relief saved my financial life in a really big way! After accruing over $30000 in tax liability from several years of being self employed / 1099, and not being able to keep up with the increase in my annual returns from the added self employment tax, I had no idea how to dig myself out of the hole. I started receiving collection letters from the IRS, and had a tax lien filed against me. I finally decided to call Optima Tax Relief after hearing commercials about them on the radio. They handled my case expertly, pulling my records from the IRS, invoking power of attorney to protect me, and working with the IRS to create a settlement that worked for me. When all was said and done, I ended up with a total settlement of approximately 10% of my total liabilty, which included my payment to Optima for their services. I absolutely couldn't be happier, and feel like an immense weight has been lifted from my shoulders!!! I would highly recommend them to anyone needing help with tax issues.

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.
The complaint I have has not been resolved.  Optima Tax did contact me and offered a refund of $1495.  I paid $6990 for their services in which they did absolutely nothing.  They told me not to contact the IRS and let them handle it, when if I were to just reply  to the letters I received from the IRS they could have just set me up on a payment plan much sooner instead of having the interest and penalties accrue putting me in more debt.  I believe they didn’t want me to contact the IRS so they can say they worked on my case.  By “working” on my case all they did was set me up on a payment plan which I could have done myself if they did not tell me to reply to the IRS.  They also stated that they would hold off any levies which were put in place because I did not reply to any of the letters the IRS sent.  I forwarded those letters to Optima Tax and they did nothing.  In Optima’s response they stated that the levy was released but I fact there were two levies in which one was released and the other was taken out of my account.  I believe there services are very misleading and that they are out to take advantage of vulnerable people.  I paid $995 for the initial investigation phase which I am willing to let go.  All I am asking for is a reasonable solution and I don’t believe that $1495 is reasonable considering they did absolutely nothing to help me with my situation.
Regards,
[redacted]

As stated in our initial response, Optima Tax does not lie, mislead, provide false expectations, nor use scare tactics to obtain business from our potential clients. It is our job to fully inform the client of his situation and provide the client with the opportunity to make an informed decision about whether to move forward with our services. Although the client may not agree, Optima Tax performed a thorough Investigation as outlined in the Client Services Agreement and presented the client with our formulated strategy to help resolve the case. Unfortunately the client has decided not to move forward with our service but, we are pleased to be parting ways on good terms. The client now has the ability to take the information Optima provided to him and utilize it to his advantage while attempting to resolve his debt.

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.
 
Dear Ms. [redacted]:
This e-mail is to request that you rescind my complaint against Optima Tax Relief  LLC dated 8/7/2015. We have successfully resolved the issue and are mutually satisfied. Please forward this notice to Optima Tax Relief in order that they understand our position. Thank you in advance for your assistance.  
 
Regards,
[redacted]

class="MsoNormal">SUMMARY -
Optima Tax's management had already
resolved the client’s concerns prior to receiving the Revdex.com
Notification. Mr. [redacted] has indicated that he is pleased with Optima Tax with
regards to his claims and refund inquiry.
 
RESPONSE -
Optima Tax’s Management made contact
with the client regarding his
concerns prior to receiving the Better Business notice and clarified with Mr. [redacted] that our advertisement is in no way
misleading, to which he agreed. Our advertisements specifically disclaim that
we cannot promise or guarantee a certain result or outcome but will work to
achieve the best results possible.  Additionally, Optima Tax incorporates and reiterates these disclaimers throughout the enrollment
process. After discussing our program and advertisement in detail with Mr. [redacted], he recognized that he may have been
premature in filing a complaint with
the Revdex.com.
 
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 has left multiple messages but have yet to establish
communication with the...

complaining party.
 
RESPONSE
-
Optima Tax’s management has made multiple attempts to make
contact with the client both verbally and through email in an effort to discuss
their concerns as outlined in the complaint. Unfortunately the client has yet
to respond to either our messages or emails. Additionally, the client never
expressed any concerns to Optima Tax directly until we received the complaint.
 
As the client
stated, we do offer a free consultation. The consultation consists of gathering
important information from the client regarding their tax liability and
subsequently providing our potential clients an in depth breakdown of how we
conduct our services and how we can potentially resolve their outstanding
liability. Thereafter, if the client is in need of our representation the first
order of business is to investigate the liability.
 
To
confirm, our services are broken down into two phases. Phase one being the
Investigation Phase and phase two being the Resolution Phase. During the free
consultation the client is thoroughly informed that we operate in a two phase
approach and that each phase requires a different set of fees. This information
is conveyed to our clients verbally and provided in our written agreements sent
to the client for their review. Additionally, for each phase we also have a
voice recorded Verification Call that covers all disclosures, including fees
associated with our services. With each specific disclosure given, our clients
must acknowledge they fully understand the disclosure by saying yes before they
are able to move on to the next disclosure. After reviewing the Verification
Call, the client acknowledged they understood and accepted all disclosures.
 
After
Optima concluded the Investigation we analyzed all the information we obtained
from both the client and the IRS to formulate a strategy to help resolve the
outstanding liability. After thoroughly providing this information to the client,
the client has the option to enroll into our Resolution Services or utilize the
information we obtained from the IRS to resolve the debt on their own. The
client ultimately signed up for our Resolution services to begin on December
23, 2015. As part of our services, we ask every client who may be eligible for
a payment plan as an option what their payment affordability is. Although we
cannot disclose the amount the client informed us he can afford, we can assure
you that we did not advise him that a monthly payment to the IRS will be in
excess of $4,000.00. Furthermore, the information we gather, including the
balance owed, comes straight from the IRS, which in turn we relay directly to
the client.. This is supported by the IRS transcripts we have on file that
solidify the numbers we presented to 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. It’s truly unfortunate that the client feels as if
we have scammed him but we’re hoping that once communication is established, a
nice conversation will help clear the air. Optima Tax will continue their
efforts in hopes of coming to a mutual resolve. 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.
Whatever events that happened in our case you will always insist you did your part in very generic  statements .Thank you  indeed you put us in more mess and allowed your auditors and tax lawyers to be bullied by the IRS. Back and forth we will try to exchange pleasant words that will not convince  our belief  that you were not honest  from the beginning. How long are we going  to deal with this before we see any intention from you to resolve this case?  Now it is up to you to put this behind and negotiate your way to a finer result.
Regards,
[redacted]

I had quite a large federal tax debt they were able to help me clear up. It was quite a reasonable amount that they were able to get my debt down to. My only complaint is they do not take care of your state at the same time. Other tax services do and I did not know that until I had already hired Optima.

SUMMARY -
Optima Tax's management has attempted to make contact with the
client but they have...

yet to return any messages or emails.
 
RESPONSE
-
Optima Tax’s management has made multiple attempts to reach the
client both by phone and by email without a response. As the client stated, she
contacted Optima Tax regarding her outstanding tax liability. Her assigned Tax
Associate educated the client as to our process and why we must conduct a
thorough investigation into her case and the client ultimately agreed to move
forward.
 
During
our recorded compliance calls, which every client goes through, the client is
asked a serious of questions covering all disclosures and all details of the
program they are enrolling into. During the call, we inform the client that
some of the information we obtain from the tax authority during our
investigation of the client’s tax situation may be information the client
already knows of. After all disclosures are made and the client clearly
expresses they fully understand the terms of their program enrollment we then continue
moving forward. In this particular instance, the client agreed to move forward
after full disclosures were made and they had a clear understanding of their
program details.  Subsequently, Optima
Tax conducted and completed their investigation services. The information we
obtained from the IRS is used to formulate our strategy to help resolve the
client’s outstanding liability.
 
The
information we gathered and relayed to the client came directly from the IRS. This
also includes the possibility of the year she mentioned in the complaint having
a different balance than she originally anticipated. After going over the
details of our summary and proposed services to help resolve her liability the
client explained to us that she felt she had to do some research on the year
she thought had a lower balance. At that point the client ceased all communication
with Optima Tax. Her assigned agent followed up with her on multiple occasions,
but the client stopped responding. Until her balance reaches zero, the IRS will
continue to add on penalties and interest.
 
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 to make contact with the client until a resolution
is met. Please do not hesitate to contact Optima Tax with any questions. Thank
you.