To Whom It May Concern:
Let me state up front that I am guilty of not paying my taxes for the years 2004. I have been a hard working and law abiding citizen for my entire life, and in 2001 I found myself being forced out of a sixteen year job with a company that was being downsized. I submitted my resignation, made application for the funds in my 401K, and using those funds began to retrain myself for a new profession.
I paid the automatic 28%-30% taxes on the amount from my 401K, and was accessed an additional 10% penalty. I knew there would come a time when I would have to catch up my tax obligation, but at the time it was all I could do to keep from going bankrupt.
I accept the fact that I am at fault for my tax problems, and it is now, and always been my intention to pay my taxes. I am self employed, and the contractor that I was sub contracting under did not provide me with 1099 forms for much of the work I performed in the years and when it became apparent that the time had come for me to resolve my problems with the IRS it took me months to obtain the necessary income information to proceed.
I knew I needed assistance with these issues and voluntarily started the process of trying to get these matters attended to. I approached J.K. Harris (J.K.H.) after reading one of their ads in September. I met with a Mr. Roger D. Radcliffe at his office located in Birmingham Alabama and retained the services of J.K.H.By paying a total of $3950.00 including a down payment and monthly bank drafts to follow.
The amount is now paid in full. The actual contract specifically lists what the money is for: $150.00 to request master file (from IRS), $150.00 to request IRP (W-2 and 1099 reports, $500.00 to prepare federal income tax returns for the years $250.00 to prepare state tax returns for same, $2,000.00 to prepare federal offer in compromise, $150.00 for IRS processing fee for compromise, $750.00 to prepare business valuation report.
All the above fees were to cover expenses for assistance with tax years 2004. I also contracted with J.K.H. To prepare my 2005 state and federal taxes. The estimated minimum settlement amount on the contract is stated as being $29,600.00. The estimated amount due to hardship is $2,000.00 to $4,000.00. The contract was signed on September 30th.
A year and a half later after two levies on bank accounts (one which was my mother's and J.K.H. Finally did get released), a lien against my personal property, and now a levy against my wife's income effective 5/8/07 the matter is still unresolved. I have and continue to receive from the IRS letters and threats of levies and liens, all of which I have forwarded to the case specialists (there have been two or three of them) handling my tax issues.
I was assured in the beginning that the threats and letters would cease once J.K.H. Had the power of attorney and had submitted the necessary forms to get my tax information from the IRS. The first set of returns prepared for the years 2004 had several errors which I caught when I proofed them. A lot of deductions were simply skipped, and a lot of the information I provided J.K. H with was not included.
I have endeavored to supply J.K. H with all information requested in a timely manner. I do take responsibility for the time it took to get income information for some of the years. The contractor for which I worked did not provide me with the 1099 forms needed to proceed with the tax forms, and it took me a few months to get all the income information from this contractor, though once obtained, and the forms finally correctly (I believe) prepared by J.K.H., there has still been no progress on my case.
J.K.H. Has blamed the IRS for not posting the amended returns, and I have filed the returns twice now (once by mail when received from J.K. H in July. And once turned in by hand at the local IRS field office and time/date stamped November 9th) after the J.K.H. Specialist advised me that the returns were still not posted from when they were submitted July. I contend that at any time prior to my hand delivering the forms in November of 06 that J.K.H. Could have been communicating with the IRS and working to resolve my issues.
J.K.H. Has stated and continues to state that they can do nothing. Every time I have complained I have been asked to send another signed 8821 form authorizing J.K.H. To get tax information from the IRS, or have been asked to do more busy work such as putting together expenses for three month periods of time at least three times.
I have signed and sent form 8821 in several times and believe that these are stalling tactics. I signed and sent the form in when I first contracted with J.K.H., and twice since then when I have complained that they are not doing anything. I have begged through emails and phone calls to please speak to a supervisor/tax specialist or anyone in authority that can help me understand what J.K.H. Is doing for the money that I have paid them.
I have never heard from anyone in authority, including their own in house advisory group supposedly tasked with answering consumer concerns and complaints. Only after J.K.H. Completed the bank drafts for the agreed upon amount of money for their help, did they respond to my complaints. That response was to offer me a refund of $80.00 for work done on my 2006 tax returns, and a note to my tax specialists to discontinue any work on my 2004 taxes due to my dissatisfaction with their progress, while awaiting their analysis of what amount I could get refunded to me.
With the letters and threats continuing, I found myself in a place of being afraid to wait for a refund from J.K.H.in order to find another tax firm to represent me. At that point the process started all over again with my agreeing to continue with them in order to get what I paid for.
This happened on or about November 20th with me signing yet another form 8821 to authorize J.K.H. To get tax information form the IRS. Yet the J.K.H. Specialists insists that they don't have the same information from the IRS that I do. I assumed that with the forms 8821 that I had signed that J.K.H. Could get any and all information from the IRS that they deemed necessary to deal with my tax issues. It states plainly in the contract that I signed that $150.00 was charged to me so that J.K.H. Could get access to my master file.
According to the tax returns J.K.H. Prepared for me for the years 2004 this is what I owe in federal taxes (not including penalties). 2001—$9,398.00—$3,679.00—$3,854.00 and 2004—$4,327.00. Several times I sent copies of letters from the IRS showing the differences between the amended returns and what the IRS stated that I owed, and the specialist's only explanation was that the IRS had not yet accepted the amended returns.
In reviewing the bundles of mail from the IRS in the last few days, it has become evident to me that the amended tax returns have been posted for some time and that J.K.H. Through their refusal to get to work on my offer in compromise in a timely manner has cost me additional penalties and interest.
I have twice threatened them with legal actionthough I signed a binding arbitration contractand both times they act like they are going to get to work only to become mute again within a couple of days. When I have asked if I should go to the IRS myself, they have advised me that any information I give the IRSany communicationwill void my contract as to their responsibilities to assist me in these matters.
As plainly stated in the contract, $2,000.00 of the money I was charged was allocated for an Offer In Compromise (OIC) which at the time I contracted with J.K.H., Mr. Roger Radcliff assured me I qualified.
After almost two years of stalling and lying to me about the situationnot to mention never responding to my demands to speak with a supervisorTax Resolution Supervisor Sean Scott has sent me a letter informing me that I do not qualify for an offer in compromise because of the equity in my home and my wife's retirement account which cannot be touched until she reaches retirement.
Every time I have communicated with my tax specialist Ms Ellen Grampus, she has acted as though she knows nothing about my past communications with her, and asks the same questions over and over. Questions that sheas my tax specialist should already have the answers to. J.K.H. Could have told me when I went in for my free evaluation up front that I would not qualify for an OIC, and advised me at that point to get on a payment plan instead of waiting almost two years and many dollars worth of penalties and interest charges later, but instead they took my money and stalled for almost two years while the penalties and interest grew.
Posting this notice with the Better Business Bureau, and other fraud reporting agencies is my first step in litigation against J.K.H. For a full refund of monies fraudulently obtained from me plus interest and penalties that have been added to the amount I owe while J.K.H. Has been acting on my behalf in an incompetent manner.
I am retaining the services of an attorney to advise me how to handle this situation, and because of J.K.H.'s failure on my behalf, I am also having to pay yet another tax organization to advise me on what I need to do.
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