Fear and Loathing and Moving On

I have gotten myself into a terrible situation and made an extremely expensive mistake. I have made some poor choices and for all sorts of reasons that made sense at the time I racked up a tax debt. I sought help from a company called TaxMasters out of Houston, TX, and they took me to the cleaners. Beware of the sales team including Deaphalis Sample, Ron Sample and Jeff Welch. They will charm the money right out of your pocket. They misrepresented what the company

If only I had come across this blog before I signed on the dotted line. DonC at enormous incongruities had a large assortment of complaints from people who have also been duped by TaxMasters. You'll also see there comments by the "holier-than-thous" who will say that people like me got what they deserved. I would remind them that everyone makes mistakes and people like TaxMasters shouldn't be allowed to prey on and profit from people's mistakes.

The bottom line is that the company tells you that they can significantly reduce your IRS tax debt, charge you a lot of money, and then they don't reduce your debt and get really nasty and condescending with you. I was basically told by one of their employees that I should have seen the signs that it was impossible for me to get what they promised. In my desperation I didn't see it.

In hindsight I should have known better. I'm a pretty smart person who got into a bad situation. So here is my little effort to share my experience and hope that others find this blog and avoid doing business with TaxMasters.

I think companies like Tax Masters count on people being so embarrassed by their mistakes that they keep the pain and humiliation to themselves.

If you stumble across this blog please share your stories. Lets help each other through this, settle up our debts with the IRS and get justice with regards to TaxMasters.

Some things I've learned that I hope might be helpful to others:

• Work with the IRS. Scary I know but at least what you see is what you get.
  
• H&R Block provides these services, has a proven track record and is much less expensive
  
• The Houston Better Business Bureau is somewhat helpful. Maybe if they get enough complaints it will make a difference for someone else
• Contact your States Attorney General. Consumer Protection department. My state is very interested. I can't say the same for the Texas Attorney General’s office (512) 463-2100. They sent me a nice 'pat on the head' letter but didn't seem interested in addressing the TaxMasters scam. Who knows thought what they can say about what's going on given the privacy concerns they deal with.
  
• The National Consumers League's Fraud Center has been in business forever and funnels the complaint info you give them to the appropriate local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies on their system
• People have reported interest from the Harris County, TX, DA's Office, Consumer Fraud division.
  
• The Complaints Board is a place where you can share your frustrations. Hopefully people researching TaxMasters will see the complaints and avoid the pain of being robbed by TaxMasters
• You can file a complaint with the FTC . They can't help with individual cases but do investigate fraud in general.
• The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility can be contacted at offprofresp@irs.gov. or snail mail -1111 Constitution Ave, NW Washington DC 20224. They don’t investigate each case but the company as a whole.
• Talk to your bank or credit card company. Many have complaint processes for services not rendered. I have read that in some cases they can help you get some money back.