Thursday, February 25th - The Department of Consumer Protection has settled with 911 Tax Relief, LLC regarding deceptive advertising. DCP is pleased to announce that 911 Tax has agreed to not advertise in Connecticut, not take any more Connecticut customers, and pay restitution to customers.

 

If you have debt with the IRS, and are looking for tax negotiation support, watch out for some of these advertising red flags before you commit to a service:

 

• “Money-Back Guarantee” – Some debt negotiators offer 30 or 60 day money back guarantees.  Proceedings with the IRS take months, sometimes years.  If you aren’t happy with the service provided by your negotiator, you may not know until after your guarantee expires.

• Reviews – Not all reviews are created equal.  Sometimes customers receive extra discounts or incentives to provide good reviews.  A person who gave the negotiator a glowing review may have a completely different tax situation than you do.

• “Licensed in all 50 states” – This can be a trick because not all states require negotiators to be licensed.  “Debt negotiating” and “debt adjusting” can mean different things in other states.  The IRS requires anyone representing a taxpayer to be an “enrolled agent”, a lawyer, or a CPA.  Make sure any negotiator you hire to help you with the IRS has one of those three titles.  

• Settlement Promises – A company may promise to help “settle your tax debt,” or to “avoid liens, levies, and wage garnishments.” Every tax case is different, and no one can promise any result when working with the IRS.  

• Legal Protection – Debt negotiators may promise “legal protection”, but the only way to have true legal protection is to hire a lawyer. Many negotiators are not lawyers, and are not providing you legal advice. 

• “Full Service” – Does the negotiator claim to be “full service?”  The IRS has several kinds of proceedings. Some negotiators will only help with one kind of proceeding, leaving you on your own for other proceedings. Double check what the negotiator will and won’t do for you before paying them money. 

• Personal Information – In order to negotiate with the IRS, any legitimate negotiator will require a lot of your highly personal information, and you should only turn it over to a person or company that you trust. 

• Sign up now! – Respectable negotiators will give you the opportunity to think about signing up for their services.  If you feel pressure to join or keep getting harassing phone calls, think twice before giving the negotiator your money. 

 

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Contact:
Lora Rae Anderson
8602478711
Lorarae.anderson@ct.gov