My wife and I were being audited and could not get any assistance from the original firm that prepared our taxes. After an initial meeting with IRS auditor, who requested a lot more information and suggested that he wa going to audit additonal years, we decided to hire a tax attorney. The Fouts Law Firm presented itself well during my initial due diligence and discussion with "salesman" Dale Ellis. Mr Ellis' initial conversation was reassuring and seemed to confirm for me that I was hiring the right firm. Shortly after hiring the Fouts Law Firm and paying their initial retainer, we my wife and made 3 sets of copied of all of the documentation being requested by the IRS. We sent 2 sets to Fouts, 1 for the IRS and 1 for Fouts' records. After a few days we received a bill from Fouts indicating they had used the initial retainer ($1200.00) and needed more money to continue. We sent the money and shortly received a request from Fouts for additional information. We provided the information and almost immediately received another request for more money indicating the additional funds were needed to continue. This time I sent an email of complaint to the firm, a man claiming to be Jeff Fouts called me and we discussed their business practices and agreed to move forward. I sent additional funds, received requests for additonal information and money from Fouts, and finally when the IRS sent their findings (stating we owed an additional $14,000.00), my wife and I received a call/email from Fouts' office wanting know what we wanted them to do. We hired them for advice, counsel and respresentation none of which were provided. My wife and I were not past due in paying or filing taxes for any years, we were being audited for 1 year, a year in which we paid taxes beyond the amount I paid through my employer. The firm that prepared our taxes initally would not repsond when we informed them we were being audited and we decided to hire other representation. After not getting any legal counsel or advice from the Fouts Firm, we terminated the relationship and ended up working with the IRS directly. We hired another CPA to refile our taxes and ended up owed less than 1/4 of the original amount stated by the IRS. The Fouts Firm did nothing, provided no advice or service. Please be very careful if you are consiidering hiring this firm. Total cost to hire Fouts $3100.00, services provided, legal counsel provided none, lesson learned priceless.
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