Busted Tax Relief Scams

Last updated on July 9, 2021

Taxpayers who are looking for a tax service to resolve their tax debt can be taken advantage of by fraudulent tax relief companies. Using tax resolution as a façade for running tax relief scams, these fraudulent tax companies use deceptive advertising and false promises to attract and trap innocent taxpayers into hiring their services.

There are ways through which taxpayers can avoid being a victim to tax relief scams. Being informed is one.

Multi-Million Tax Relief Scams

When tax relief scams of popular tax resolution companies made news headlines, it surprised the populace. Even though there had been hundreds of consumer complaints against each of these fraudulent tax relief companies, most taxpayers were not aware of the scale of tax scams. Tax Masters, American Tax Relief, Roni Deutch, J.K. Harris and Tax Relief ASAP were some tax relief companies that cheated taxpayers off their money in the name of tax relief. Some of these companies made millions by deceiving thousands of innocent taxpayers.

Deceptive advertising coupled with aggressive marketing tactics is used by fraudulent tax companies to tempt taxpayers into hiring their services. They misrepresent IRS programs, twist facts and present an inaccurate picture of IRS tax relief. They pocket a large upfront fee from taxpayers already deep in tax debt and provide them little to no service.

Tax Relief Scams: Pennies on the Dollar

Fraudulent tax companies concentrate on Offer in Compromise program of the IRS, which they refer to as ‘Pennies on the Dollar’. Fully knowing that most taxpayers are not eligible to qualify for this IRS debt reduction program, fraudulent tax companies promise to reduce the tax debt of almost any taxpayer who would hire their services. They do not reveal the full and exact details of the program to their clients. Tax relief scams lead to complicating tax debt problems of thousands of taxpayers.

The heartlessness of fraudulent tax services is apparent. Tax relief scams mean cheating people who are already in trouble, but fraudulent tax companies are only concerned with money, not the problems of taxpayers. ‘Pennies on the Dollar’ is used only as a marketing tool and not used to resolve tax debt problem of taxpayers by fraudulent tax services.

Tax Relief Scams Discovered

Fraud never pays. Tax relief scams of some of the top tax companies were busted by law enforcement agencies acting on consumer complaints. American Tax Relief and Tax Relief ASAP were shut down by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Roni Deutch, J.K. Harris and Tax Masters were closed down after court cases were filed against them.

Tax relief scams are a major threat to taxpayers because they are heavily masked. Fraudulent tax companies advertise themselves on television, have offices and staff, and run as normal businesses except that they cheat their consumers. Taxpayers must protect themselves against such businesses by keeping them aware of tax relief scams and how they operate. Taxpayers can read our reviews of tax companies to make sure they choose the right help.