Optima Tax Relief LLC

Very satisfied with the service and only recommendation is that Optima work and keeping their customers better informed throughout the process as we had to continually contact Optima for status of process.

One of the best decisions we ever made was to contact Optima Tax Relief to assist us in getting our tax debt under control. Our family had experienced several unexpected occurrences which greatly impacted our finances and ultimately put us in the position to incur an enormous amount of tax debt. The tax professionals at Optima helped us to negotiate a repayment plan with the IRS and still be able to manage our current state of affairs.

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] At no time was I informed that this company would not be able to help me reduce my tax debt!  If they had been honest and told me the best possible outcome for my situation would be for them to negotiate a payment plan and file my taxes,  I would HAVE NEVER AGREED TO PAY THEM $2,000.00!  When they ask their customers "do they understand", the information which they're making reference to is very general and could cover many situations!  I imagined these people to operate this business in integrity and truth which they have absolutely no concept of! They knew they could not help me in my situation but continued to mislead and scam me for $2,000.00!  They chose to be deceitful over making a profit.  "Optima Tax Grief" is a scam and the public will find out about them!  This resolution is unacceptable!  They said I qualified for their program when they knew early on I would not benefit from their services!!!  They lied to me and they manipulated me!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]

SUMMARY - Optima Tax's management has been in contact with the consumer and addressed their concerns accordingly.     RESPONSE - Optima Tax’s management has been in communication with the client so we may formally address their concerns as outlined in the complaint. Although we have...

various clients that reach out to Optima Tax with a resolution in place, at no point do we advise our clients to cease making their payments to the IRS. However, if there will be an additional balance for a tax year that is not already included in the clients resolution they are advised that it will default and a new resolution will need to be negotiated. In this particular case, the clients did have an additional tax year that had an unpaid balance, which resulted in their original Installment Agreement being defaulted.  As a result, Optima Tax was able to establish a new Agreement on their behalf which included this additional balance and will protect them from future enforcement actions being taken by the IRS.     Upon completing our review, the client inaccurately states the amount that was paid to Optima Tax. In fact, the amount that the client contractually agreed to pay and ultimately paid to Optima Tax is less than half of the amount that the client states in the complaint. In addition, in contrast to the client’s claims that Optima Tax did not do anything, it is Optima Tax’s belief that it has performed all of its obligations as outlined in the Agreement. Optima Tax provides each client with clear disclosures as to the services that it will perform in order to establish a clear expectation from our clients on what they can expect. At no point does Optima Tax use misrepresentations or fraud to induce clients to engage our services.   In regards to the client’s statement that we did not prepare his tax returns, it appears that Optima Tax was prepared to file the client’s tax return and requested the appropriate information from the client. Our records indicate that the client decided to prepare his own taxes. However, upon the client’s request, Optima Tax did review his tax return for him to ensure complete accuracy.   It’s unfortunate that the client feels as if Optima Tax did not service his case as outlined in the agreement. We fully respect his opinion but based off our review, his case had been worked as outlined in the agreement. His assigned team worked towards the best resolution possible given his financial circumstances and based off the IRS guidelines. Although the client had the ability to contact the IRS on his own to work out an arrangement, the fact of the matter is, he hired Optima Tax to perform the services on his behalf, which it successfully completed. We are pleased to say that we were able to come to a mutual resolve with the consumer.   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.

It is unfortunate the client feels statements made by Optima Tax were not as they seem because the statements made by Optima’s management in our initial response are true and correct facts of the case. We have contractual documentation, IRS documentation and verbal evidence that we can provide to further support our statements.     The client mentions in their rebuttal that Optima Tax has two programs available. To be clear, we do not offer any type of programs. We offer a service that helps various tax payers resolve their outstanding tax liabilities with the IRS by providing our representation. We do, however, work in a two phase approach. Phase one being our Investigation Phase and phase two being our Resolution Phase. For the record, Optima Tax has fulfilled all contractual obligations pertaining to both phase one and two.   Although the client did at one point have an Installment Agreement payment plan in place with the IRS for $270.00, when they contacted Optima Tax on March 23, 2015 no such Installment Agreement was in place. Per the Compliance call Optima Tax had with the IRS in May of 2015, the IRS agent Optima spoke with confirmed that the client was in collections and that they were in active collections. To gain a full understanding of the client's current tax liability we had ordered their IRS transcripts. Per the IRS transcripts the client was at one point making a monthly installment payment of $270.00, however, the last payment received by the IRS was on December 10, 2014. Per the same transcripts the IRS cancelled this Installment Agreement on March 16, 2015. Coincidently, the client contacted Optima Tax on March 23, 2015 shortly after the payment arrangement previously set up had defaulted, which led client to seek the assistance of Optima Tax.   It’s unfortunate that the clients feel that Optima Tax did not earn the fees paid towards services. We understand and sympathize with the client that their goal is to have their debt with the IRS completely eliminated. However, what the client does not realize is that they never qualified for a complete reduction. The client was thoroughly informed that they did not qualify for a complete reduction before our Resolution Services commenced and client was fully aware of these facts when they decided to move forward with Optima Tax. Furthermore, based off our negotiations and efforts, we saved the client roughly $2,300.00 per month in payments to the IRS, protected their assets, and they are on a fixed plan that will prevent any future collection activity as long as the clients remain complaint with their resolution.      We appreciate the opportunity to address all of the clients' concerns and hope we were able to provide further clarification on the matter.

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.
I do not agree with Optima's response. We've have had on going emails back and forth.  The statements, email, names & dates I have provided to Optima in all of my replies remain true. The documented evidence Optima speaks of in this response was never provided to me.  Optima received this letter addressed in c/o [redacted] from the IRS back in July 28, 2015 but I was never provided a copy until Mr. [redacted] sent me a copy on January 28, 2016.  The IRS letter only covers a settlement which included only 2010,2011,2013, & 2014.  There is still the matter of 2012.  Contrary to the statement made from Optima, on several occasions I provided Optima with my 2012 tax returns which contained a balance owed. Information and emails discussing my 2012 taxes where made with Optima on the following dates:
Email 1/29/15 – email sent informing your investigating
department & [redacted] of the uploaded documents and explanation into
the 2012 tax returns that were also uploaded.
Email 1/30/15 – Acknowledgement of documents received by [redacted]
Email 1/26/15 – Email from [redacted] in which it states that
Optima was going to prepare my 2012 & 2014 tax returns.
Email 4/2/15 – Email from [redacted] in which she
attaches my 2012 prepared tax returns. And guess what even those taxes that
[redacted] prepared showed I owed the IRS an estimated tax of $3244 and $355 to the
state. WOW!!!!! And to think you keep saying I didn’t owe anything. What an
it!
Email 4/3/15 -  An email I sent to [redacted]
informing here that I did not need my 2012 taxes prepared because I already had
them done. I once again included in this email my 2012 Tax returns forms 1040
that show I owed the IRS $3031.oo and form 540 showing I owed the State
$234.00. 
So for Optima to make these statements to the Revdex.com is all false.  This same information I am providing here, I provided to Optima but they have been to lazy to research the dates, emails and names to who these emails where sent to.  So on February 4th, 2016, I forward copies of these same emails with all attachments to Mr. [redacted]. 
As for my not notifying Optima of the documents I received from the IRS demanding payment & enforcing action, this is also completely false as well. The following emails dates and names are the emails sent to Optima with attachments of the documents I was receiving from the IRS. Again, this same information was provide to MR. [redacted] as proof but as mentioned before he is to lazy to conduct any investigation or research into these dates or timeline I have provide. See below: 
Email 11/10/15 – email to [redacted] with attachments of all
the IRS notices I received.
Email 12/16/15 – sent the email from 11/10/15 because [redacted] couldn’t
find it along with an additional notice from the IRS I received
AS I stated from the start, I do not want nothing more to do with Optima to resolve the current position Optima has but me in with the IRS.  I provided Optima with all the information from the start of my association with Optima.  As I have presented all of the proof and fact, Optima failed to do their part. They claim that I will not allow them to validate my claim but yet I have provided Optima with emails, dates, names to look up and yet have done nothing. I do not trust Optima's business ethics any longer, I want nothing to do with them anymore. All their statements have been false. Their answer to the current problem with the IRS is that I failed to make my payments.  For all of these reasons I have stated above, I DO NOT want their assistance any longer.  All I want is matter settled and my refund for $2000.00 that I requested from the start.
 
Regards,
[redacted]

SUMMARY -
Optima Tax's management has
contacted the client and this matter is resolved. Ms. [redacted] has indicated that
she is...

pleased with Optima Tax with regards to her refund inquiry.
 
RESPONSE -
Optima Tax’s Management made contact
with the client regarding her concerns upon receiving the RevDex.com notification. Optima Tax’s program is broken down into two phases, an
Investigation Phase and the Resolution Phase. Optima Tax not only conducted a
thorough investigation on the client’s case but was also able to successfully achieve
the resolutions that were presented to her. Unfortunately, and as the client
indicated in her posting, she experienced some frustrations with the program,
which we were disappointed to hear about. However, after discussing the case in
detail with Ms. [redacted] she confirmed that she is 100% satisfied with the end
result of her resolution as well as being satisfied that her complaint to the
Revdex.com was acknowledged by the Company.
 
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.

I would recommend Optima Tax relief to anyone in need of assistance with the IRS. They are extremely professional, hard working , and easy to get ahold of. I have tried numerous other companies with my tax issues and all have failed me. From start to finish Optima did exactly what they said they were going to do in a timely manner. Once again I am thoroughly impressed with everyone I worked with at Optima they get a, A+ from me

Without the radio commercial I did not know whom to approach with my tax audit problem from the IRS. I owed more than $25,000 for two audit years 2012 and 2013. When Optima Tax Relief designed the installment agreement based on my potential or ability to pay, I felt a relief. Then one more good news happened, when Optima said I am qualified for the Offer in Compromise, I felt more relieved. This is my favorite part of the resolution. Optima Tax Relief have assigned me different case managers and tax professionals as my case progresses to the different resolution stages. And lastly, to make sure that I would not make any more errors, Optima Tax Relief prepared and filed my 2015 Taxes with no extra charge.

I had over $20,000.00 hanging over my head from the IRS I had no idea what I was going to do but then my daughter-in-law told me about Optima Tax Relief. I contacted them I just couldn't believe everything that they were saying but I took a chance anyway and I am glad I did. Optima Tax Relief saved me over $19,000 I only have to pay IRS $500.00 that is amazing to me. I can't thank Optima enough for what they did for me. Saying thank you is just not enough. Thank you thank you thank you Optima Tax Relief

There is only one word to describe the service they provided, "UNBELIEVABLE." I'm lost for words. They did it, where other companies have failed. Furthermore, all their staff members who helped are very professional, compassionate, and respectful. I will definitely refer them to anyone, that needed this type of service.

SUMMARY - Optima Tax's management has been in contact to address their concerns prior to receiving the complaint   RESPONSE - Optima Tax’s management has established communication with the client to formally address their concerns as outlined in the complaint. As the client stated, they hired...

Optima Tax Relief to represent them before the IRS. The client did provide authorization to discuss her case with a 3rd party. The assigned agents attempted to establish communication with the 3rd party via email and by phone. After thoroughly reviewing the client’s case, we determined that Optima Tax took the appropriate steps to communicate with the 3rd party, but the 3rd party representative was not responsive.   Based off our review, communication has been consistent and coincides with the Client Services Agreement. We show multiple calls with the client as well as multiple emails to obtain supporting documentation. Unfortunately, after the client made their initial down payment they failed to make the required payments in accordance with the Service Agreement. Therefore, the client’s case was put on hold while we tried to communicate with the client in order to process the payments. When attempting to resolve the payment hold, the client expressed concerns over communication which we have addressed.   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 and we are working with the client to come to a final resolve. Please do not hesitate to contact Optima Tax with any questions. Thank you.

I would recommend Optima Tax, and I am very happy I choose to work with them. I had tried to resolve my tax problems on my own, which was a complete waste of time, mean while my late fees and interest were just getting higher and higher and I was extremely frustrated. Optima Tax took over my case and with in 6 months everything was resolved, with me only having to pay a final settlement of $50, this was well worth it based on the years I owed and their fee.

I am and was a client with optima tax and I am and was very, very pleased with the attorneys friendliness and most of all the professionalism I was given. any questions I may have had were answered in 24 hours or less, most of time less. I have and will in the future refer anyone to optima tax relief! I MUST say the TEAM that works closely with the attorneys are friendly and professional and fun. They make a bad day GOOD!!!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!! OPTIMA TAX.

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

contact with the client prior to receiving the
complaint and we have come to a mutual resolve.
RESPONSE
-
Optima Tax’s management had already presented the client with a
reasonable resolution prior to receiving the complaint. As the client stated in
his complaint, Optima’s services are separated into a two phase approach,
Investigation and Resolution. As outlined in our Client Services Agreement, the
client engaged Optima to perform an investigation of his tax liability. After
we completed a thorough investigation, we presented him with our findings and
the proposed services that we could provide in our second phase, the resolution
phase. Those services in no way indicated a guaranteed reduction in his
liability. Optima makes it a top priority to ensure that reasonable
expectations are set with all of our clients and inform the client that we do
not make any promises or guarantees in regards to a specific outcome. The
balance in question remained the same from the time the client initially
contacted Optima Tax. Furthermore, as explained to the client, interest and
penalties will continue to accrue until the balance is paid in full.
When our
Closing Department reached out to the client on January 22, 2016 we had informed
him that Optima successfully resolved his case and we went over the services
provided. The completed services were inline with the Resolution Addendum
Agreement executed on February 5, 2015. The Resolution Addendum Agreement
clearly and definitively explains all services to be rendered by Optima. Additionally,
we explained to the client that if the client had certain documentation he
could provide to Optima to submit to the IRS this would strengthen his case and
he could have received a substantial reduction. However, because the client was
unable to locate this documentation we had no choice but to accept what the IRS
was reporting.
It’s
regrettable that the client is not satisfied with the end result of his case.
Although we strategize to reduce our client’s liability, ultimately the IRS has
the final say. Ultimately, Optima Tax has fully represented the client as promised
in the agreement the client entered into with Optima. After all work was
completed on behalf of the client he was presented with an option that he
accepted to his satisfaction. The resolution obtained by Optima on behalf of
the client  will prevent the IRS from
taking any enforcement action against 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.

Contrary to the client’s statement, it is clear he was fully aware that Optima Tax would only investigate the Federal matter and not the State matter. The client went through a recorded voice Verification Call on or around May 11, 2015 that addresses all legal disclosures, including services to be provided and fees to be paid. Each legal disclosure requires an affirmative yes answer from the client in order to move forward to the next question and continue with the call. If at any point the client does not understand the services to be provided or if they have any questions then the call immediately stops and we cease moving forward until the client expresses their full understanding. If the client still does not understand and continues to have questions then the call stops and services cease at this point. During client's verification call he was informed that Optima Tax would be working on his Federal liability only and client acknowledged that he understood. Furthermore, the Resolution Agreement that was signed by the client on June 24, 2015 also stipulates that Optima Tax will work his Federal liability only. We strive to always be extremely thorough regarding the legal disclosures to ensure that there is no confusion regarding the services Optima Tax will provide to our clients.

Although the client failed to make timely payment to Optima Tax, this in no way affected the tax resolution that Optima Tax had previously established for the client. Therefore, the client’s suggestion that Optima Tax mishandled the client’s case because of the missed payment is unfounded.   As...

stated in our initial response, Optima Tax successfully negotiated a favorable payment arrangement of $175.00 on behalf of the client. Unfortunately the client failed to make manual payments to the IRS, as instructed by Optima Tax, in order to comply with the agreement and before the direct debit took place. In turn, this put the arrangement in default status. The client was given both verbal and written instructions on how to make manual payments until the direct debit was processed by the IRS.   Each client that is set up on a direct debit payment arrangement must make 3-4 manual payments before the electronic debit is processed by the IRS. The IRS’s processing of the direct debit does not happen within a month or two as the client indicated in their complaint.   As stated in our previous response, once the client informed us that their direct debit did not take place, we established communication with the IRS and reinstated the payment arrangement on their behalf in October 2016. Although at a slightly higher amount, we did this as a courtesy even though Optima Tax finalized their case March 28, 2016.

Excellent, professional company. I would refer them to anyone.

SUMMARY -
Optima...

Tax's management has been in contact with the client but
we have yet to discuss his concerns in detail.
RESPONSE
-
Optima Tax’s management has been in communication with the
client to address his concerns as outlined in the complaint. However, given the
nature of the client’s profession we have yet to make proper contact with him
in order to discuss his complaint in detail.
As the
client stated, he hired Optima Tax to investigate his tax liability and provide
him in detail the steps we’ll take to resolve his case during our Resolution Phase.
The clients assigned Tax Associate is more than capable in fully relaying the
information we obtain from the IRS to the client. Furthermore, a Tax
Professional will not be assigned to his case until he enrolls into our
Resolution phase. It is unfortunate the client took our email correspondence as
threatening; it is our job as his representative to convey all information to
him in a timely fashion and clearly express the urgency in resolving his case to
avoid any enforcement actions by the IRS.
 Information we obtain and gathered during the
client’s Investigation Phase is crucial and thus, it is very important that we conduct
a thorough investigation as to the status of his liability. The client expressed
that he was already made aware of some of the information we provided as a
result of our investigation. Although this may be the case, it does not take
away from the need for us to conduct a thorough investigation because given our
experience, a client’s tax liability can and will change almost daily. More so,
if the client happened to be in collections we would then have an opportunity
to negotiate a stay of enforcement while we gather important documentation to
assist in resolving the liability as a whole and assist the client in avoiding
compounding tax issues. Additionally, during our investigation we gather all
the set conditions the IRS has to help formulate a strategy to resolve the
client’s case.
The
complexity of the client’s case will determine the cost of our Resolution
representation. Prior to any potential enrollment, the client will be provided
a thorough breakdown of our Investigation and we also provide any documents,
such as transcripts, to our clients to help them understand their case in
detail. It appears that this information was given to the client on or around
February 12, 2016. It’s truly unfortunate that the client feels he received
nothing in return for his payment however, we believe that after a thorough
conversation with our management the client will recognize the importance of
conducting our initial investigation and the benefits of Optima Tax being his
representative in an effort to resolve his outstanding liability.  
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 in our response and will
continue to reach out to the client until we come to a mutual resolve. Please
do not hesitate to contact Optima Tax with any questions. Thank you.

Given the client’s schedule it is difficult to establish communication to ultimately come to a mutual resolve. However, and as stated in our initial response, Optima Tax successfully resolved the client’s case with the IRS. We are attempting to either accommodate the client’s schedule or have the case reassigned as a whole so we may establish a solid line of communication in order to address the client’s concerns.  Once Optima Tax negotiated the terms of the Installment Agreement, an IRS document is required to be signed and returned in order to finalize the agreement. The IRS document that we’re referring to is a 433-D, which is a direct debit Installment Agreement form. That 433-D was faxed to the IRS on or about March 14, 2016. Prior to the direct debit taking place the client must mail in their payment until they receive confirmation that the direct debit has been initiated. We have a fax confirmation number on file which demonstrates that the IRS had received this form.  If the statement in the client’s second response is true, it is likely that the client has not mailed in their manual payments as instructed in an email dated for March 9, 2016. Moreover, if the IRS claims that the agreement has not been finalized we’re more than happy to reach out to the IRS on behalf of the client. However, as the client stated in the initial complaint, they have been paying the agreed upon Installment Agreement amount. Therefore, this supports our position that we successfully established a resolution of the client’s case with the IRS.  Not only does Optima Tax make it a habit of keeping the client informed as to the fact that penalties and interest will continue to accrue until the balance is paid in full, but we fully assess whether the client qualifies for the limited number of options the IRS offers to abate penalties. The only way to “stop the bleeding” is to pay the balance in full or qualify for one of the limited options available from the IRS. Unfortunately, after our thorough review of the client’s case, it was determined that the client did not qualify for penalty abatement. Prior to signing up for our Resolution Services, the client was well informed of the services Optima Tax will provide. Moreover, the client was informed that penalties and interest continues to accrue until the balance is paid in full. Therefore, if the client was willing to pay off the full balance as is claimed in the response, then the client had that option. However, most client’s are not in a position to pay the balance in full and or do not have the capabilities to deal with the IRS on their own which is why the client contracted with Optima Tax for services.