Optima Tax Relief Reviews

They took my information at intake time, and over a course of one solid year. I never received any flavor of an update that benefited me regarding my taxes and the IRS. At the end of the one year I’ve had to hire a tax attorney to file the necessary paperwork with the IRS in order for me to get a fair chance to reassess my audit and make a payment agreement with the IRS and our findings from our own research and discovery. Optima did nothing more than takes some information down when I first called put it in their computer collected my $8000 and basically at the end of the year come to me and said you basically owe the IRS and it is what it is. I strongly suggest you run from Optima tax relief. Do not believe any of the commercials and do not ever trust them with your IRS problems. I suggest you a legitimate attorney or CPA to handle your situation. Optima is not that kind of facility. Good luck!

2. INVESTIGATION $295: There's a significant discrepancy in the term 'investigation.' In reality, it primarily involves a request for IRS transcripts, which are also accessible at no cost through your IRS account portal. Obtaining these transcripts, even upon request, can often be a challenging endeavor. In my case, I decided to part ways with their services and terminate my contract within two months of hiring them, fortunately making an early exit.

If you decide to engage in this process with them, it's crucial to insist on receiving copies of the documents as soon as they claim they are ready. As a client, you have every right to possess all materials pertaining to your case. They may mention the size of the file as a reason not to provide them immediately, but you can suggest having the documents mailed to you, if that is more convenient. If possible, wait for the documents to arrive and meticulously review them before committing to a contract with them. Compare the documents you receive with what is readily available on your IRS portal. Should you discover any valuable information, you can then cautiously proceed to the next step of considering their services.

3. CONTRACT AGREEMENT: If your situation allows for it, consider negotiating the 15-day refund period and having it explicitly included in the contract before finalizing the agreement. It's essential to diligently follow up on any services you've engaged them for during these initial 15 days. It's worth noting that they are unlikely to provide a full refund. For example, if you've paid them $5,000, you may be surprised to receive an offer of only $500 as a refund.

4. SERVICES: Their document view system is limited to one-way access. You can only see the documents you've uploaded and signed, with no visibility into their activities on their end. A reputable company that has nothing to conceal typically provides transparency in this regard. It's important to be aware that you might not have the opportunity to converse with a 'tax professional' or a dedicated 'case manager.' Most of your interactions will likely be with their front-line customer service agents.

5. OVERALL EXPERIENCE & RECOMMENDATIONS: It's crucial to maintain meticulous records of all your interactions and communications throughout your engagement. This includes documenting conversations and any relevant details. In addition to sharing your feedback and complaints on review websites, consider reporting your concerns to organizations like the Business Consumer Alliance and BBB.

If your experience involves clear instances of unethical practices, as mine did, it's advisable to report such valid complaints to relevant government agencies like the FTC and even the IRS, if applicable. Please ensure that your submissions are based on genuine grievances and unethical conduct. It's worth noting that numerous complaints with vague, generic responses from OTR have surfaced, and this issue should be addressed. OTR operates in an arena where consumers are facing significant financial challenges, and it's imperative that their services are administered professionally and with the utmost care. Sadly, in my experience, the IRS provided more informative assistance than OTR did. Links below to submit additional complaints if applicable: **

Today, we were actually personally threatened by the Optima Tax Relief "Brand Protection Team Leader!" Yes, you read that correctly...my husband and I were personally threatened today by Optima Tax Relief's staff. As informed by an attorney, this huge conglomerate is a part of a network of businesses operating under the same umbrella and work hand-in-hand to maintain its pattern and practices of taking money and refusing to provide services resulting in increased tax liability and/or adverse action by the IRS for taxpayers. Isn't that outright theft? Isn't that fraud? Isn't that illegal in the business' home state of California? $8000.00, 4 (four) years of inactivity, adverse IRS action, and over 41% increase in our tax debt due to penalties, fees, and assessments made as a direct result of Optima Tax Relief admittedly doing absolutely nothing on our behalf. And, now, today, Optima Tax Relief sent the bulldogs to silence us. Ain't happening!

We were threatened today and given an ultimatum after we, the client have met our contractual obligations, but refused to participate in the ongoing deception perpetuated by this entity. We were told directly by the Brand Protection Team Leader that our case would be closed if we did not sign a form which is not in our best interest, remove social media posts and also lie to the BBB stating that our case had been resolved. All of this is documented shamelessly in writing and saved on their own recorded line(s). That is correct...we paid for a service. They received and kept our money. They did not begin, complete or conduct the service. They refused to refund our payment in its entirety.

h. A “dedicated representative to ‘handle’ our case”

There are a litany of other promises in their literature, contract, marketing/advertisements, social media, and even the speeches made upon receiving BBB awards for integrity (yes, this is a whole other story). And, the icing on the cake...they threatened us directly today and confronted us with the ultimatum of an insulting refund of $1,125.00 for our trouble, having us sign a suspect form that was not in our best interest, continuing to do nothing by closing our case, OR having us lie directly to the Better Business Bureau and provide falsehoods AND remove any social media posts regarding Optima Tax Relief. And, yes, he said this too on the Optima Tax Relief Recorded line(s) and put it in writing. THEN, and only then, Optima Tax Relief says it would perform the services for which they were hired.... that were already paid for!

Optima Tax Relief is responsible for our nearly $140,00.00 of IRS debt. Oh, no, they might not be responsible for the amounts charged, the interest rate amount assessed, penalties or fee amounts, BUT they are without a doubt liable for their inaction (this they have admitted) which ultimately resulted in the exorbitant increase in amounts owed, amounts charged, the interest rate total assessed, penalties and fees. No forward movement by Optima Tax Relief directly resulted in our current state. We could lose absolutely everything, next week! Did they ever contact the IRS on our behalf you might wonder? Nope. Did they ever offer to pay the excess amounts owed to the IRS due to their inaction? Nope. Did they ever even offer lip service in the form of an apology? Nope.

Optima Tax Relief still did nothing!

And, if past behavior and patterns are predictive, this will continue by design, and this must be criminal. But alas, today the Brand Protection Team Leader did his job well! He confronted us directly and without shame, asking us to sign a form, remove honest social media postings, and then commit a dishonest act in an attempt to cover up its actions with the BBB. Who does that?

Now, in just a couple of days the IRS will do what it does. Levy, lien, and ultimately leave our family without the ability to cover our basic necessities. Anxiety, worry, frustration, stress and outright fear are what we are left with. And absolutely no recourse...unless we file suit. This must be against the law. Thank you for taking the time to read this review, and we hope it is helpful.