Complain about a product or service

JK Harris

JK Harris • Consumer Complaints • Company Response News • Texas Sues JK Harris For Misrepresentation • Missouri Sues JK Harris For Failing To Help Customers • JK Harris Settles Deceptive Ad Charges

Jerrod of Dallas, TX February 5, 2010

I met with a representative from J.K.Harris, named Chris G. I told him that I owed back taxes, and was looking to settle. He did the math on his calculator, and showed me his figures. He said it looks like we are looking at an offer and compromise. He said for 1500, J.K.Harris could get the IRS to settle for 1200 to 4000. I asked, then would it be settled? He said yes as long as you keep current with your future taxes. If not I will still owe everything. I said"great, lets do it." He had me sign some contracts. I did, but after that sham of a company took my money, all they did was to release my work levy.

I called and asked when they would do the offer and compromise, and was told that they never said they would settle. I even called Chris Given and he denied ever telling me those figures. I said well how did I know those figures then? He said I must have been told that by another person I spoke to on the phone. He was such a lier!! I could not believe he was such a scammer. They NERVER settled, and the IRS still came after me. I wrote the oversight department, asking for a refund, but was denied.

Jayne of Nashville, TN February 4, 2010

In desperation my husband and I went to J.K. Harris. Their add says you get to meet face to face with a real human being. Ha. What a joke. Yes, that human being is a super used car salesman type who tells you if you sign the contract with J.K. Harris, all your troubles will disappear, because they are experts and can handle everything......for a large fee.

You become so relieved to hear that someone can "fix" it, you fall for their line. We were vulnerable and they count on that. They prey on scared, vulnerable people. After the initial meeting, there is nothing but changing staff, having to explain your situation every time you speak to the new "personal" case worker....only that person is different every time you have a question. I am not sure whether they go through personnel because people see their dishonesty and quit, or what.

So after weeks and weeks of frustration at not getting any answers, and doing all their bogus paper work, we still had no one actually negotiating anything on our behalf with the IRS. They had our six thousand dollars and a huge amount of our time taken up with their "busy work", but nothing regarding the IRS. We kept getting the letters from the IRS and calling JKH over and over. No one would return calls and even if they did, they had no answers and in the meantime the IRS just kept on coming at us. Finally I got so exasperated, fearing the worst was about to happen, that I called the IRS myself. I was connected to an agent who listened to my story over the phone, gave me a list of things to do; get my cars appraised, fill out a form he was going to send me, and make copies of a few items and send it all to him. I did what he asked in one day, sent it to him the next day and waited. After about two weeks he sent me a letter telling me what to pay. Simple. From a forty three thousand tax debt down to six thousand dollars. No wasted time. No garnishing. No threats, and no fees. Just the amount of tax he determined I needed to pay. Most definitely a settlement down to a fraction of what we owed.

In this tax climate, I can't say that the collectors would do it now, but honestly, dealing with them was much easier than dealing with J.K. Harris. Plus the same man called me each time and I had a direct phone number to him. I once told him, I was so tired of all of the tax mess and worrying about it, and worrying about what I had paid J.K. Harris, for nothing, that for all I cared they could come arrest me for tax fraud if they wanted to....because I needed a paid vacation. The IRS guy laughed and said, "not paying your back taxes was not considered tax fraud, and the government did not want to give me a vacation". All in all, as fearsome and intimidating as the IRS can be, dealing with this agent was a thousand times better than J.K. Harris. In the end, we paid both of them the same amount. We could have saved ourselves six thousand if we had just gone to the IRS first.

Of course when we tried to get our money back because WE actually settled directly with the IRS, they just played the "contract" card. No one who is in tax trouble has the money to go after them legally, hiring lawyers, and take them to court for not upholding their end of the bargain, so J.K.H. gets away with it. If we had that kind of money, we would just pay our taxes and be done with it. I think they count on that, and that's how they stay in business.

However, we were told by our accountant, if we filed a small claim against them in small claims court, that more than likely, no one would show up to represent them and the judge would then automatically rule for us. For those of you who would like to try that, it might be worth the effort.

J.K. Harris is a scam company, preying upon scared, broke, and vulnerable people. They should be shut down. With an "F" with the BBB, I can't figure out why they are still in business, unless folks like us, don't do our homework.

Terry of Minneapolis, MN January 30, 2010

I paid JK Harris over three thousand dollars for a tax relief to help me settle my problem with the irs. At the time the irs were going to put a Levy on my pay check and Jk harris said they would get it off and they didnt, then I paid them more money becuase they said for six thousand dollars they could do a offer and comprimise to the irs and so I paid them and they never even did that.

so i call them to get a refund on the services not rendered and no one is getting back to me. I have been swindled. will some one please call me on my cell phone and talk to me. thank you. It ruined me financially and set me back even further on my taxes when i was trying to do the right thing and now i trust absolutely no one.

Keith of Hesperia, CA January 27, 2010

they did nothing on my account but collect money, and then after 6 months of doing nothing, the Revenue Agents showed up at my home and business. These people are worthless. Heavy collections. Not good.

Charles of Fort Worth, TX January 22, 2010

I paid J. K. Harris over 3,000 to take care of my Tax problem's. They changed the people that were working on my case every 3 month's or so. I would received letter's from the IRS and I could call J. K. Harris and they would have me fax the letter's to them. When I asked them if they were supposed to receive the letter's they would tell me not all the time. I even received a call from one of their agents and she left a number for me to call.

When I returned the call I was called a liar by one of the operator's there and was told that I in fact did NOT receive a phone call from that particular agent. Finally, two months ago the IRS put a levy on my bank account. I called J. K. Harris and advised them what had happened. They told me it would be at least a week before their Tax Representative would get an answer from the IRS. I then went to the IRS and they lifted the levy within 45 minutes.

Of course I had to sign a re-payment agreement. I then fired J. K. Harris and requested a full refund which after several weeks they refused. With J. K. Harris's help I now owe the I R S over 63,000.00. Of which I will be dead before it is ever paid for and it still won't be paid for then! 3,000 to hire J. K. Harris and I now owe the IRS over 63,000.00.

Lisa of Leander, TX January 19, 2010

My new husband and I met with Debbie F from JK Harris at the end of September 2009 to see if they could negotiate my husband's tax debt with the IRS or help us otherwise come up with a payment plan. He owed just under 10,000 from before we were married. She told us that they negotiate all the time with the IRS and they could help us with this amount. I specifically asked her about the amount because no other company we saw advertised would talk to us because the tax debt wasn't over 10,000. She told us to stop making payments to the IRS and they would take care of everything. We signed a contract and agreed to make 3 payments of 250, totalling 750.

We did not hear from her for a month. I repeated tried to call her, I left messages, and no return phone call. I received a call on 11/03/09 in which I asked her how was the negotiations coming. She told me that they were not finished and we would have to wait. Our first deduction came out on 10/16/09, the second on 10/26/09, and the final payment on 11/09/09. Still we received no return phone calls. My husband, who was no longer making payments to the IRS, received a tax levy notification in his paycheck on 11/12/09. The IRS would be taking about 75% of his paycheck until the debt was paid starting 11/19/09.

I made an emergency call to Debbie to see what kind of progress JK Harris had made. She informed me that we did not qualify for for a compromise with the IRS and she emailed me the report. She said if we wanted to spend ANOTHER 1800, they would get the IRS to remove the tax levy. I told her that I certainly wouldn't be spending any more money with a company that promised us they could help us and then could not. I also told her right then that we wanted our money back. She told me that there would be no refund whatsoever. When I looked at the report, it was dated 10/14/09!!! They knew they wouldn't be able to help us before they ever took a cent from us!

Then they waited until all 3 payments were made before telling us that there was nothing they could do. Because we were waiting on JK Harris and because we stopped making payments to the IRS based on the advice of JK Harris, now the IRS is garnishing 75% of my husband's wages. I disputed the charges with my bank but because we signed a contract they will not reverse the charges. Their refund policy in the contract is completely worthless because you have to request the refund before they finish the work. Debbie F lied when she said the report was not finished and I doubt they would have returned our money anyway considering the deceitful way JK Harris does business.

Adam of Colorado Springs, CO December 28, 2009

I entered into a contract with them to resolve a tax debt. They required me to pay a 2300 retainer, which I paid. After some time went by and I researched the OIC, I realized that the fee was to high and requested a refund as our contract said I could do. JK Harris is doing everything possable to delay payment. I am probably going to have to sue them.

I have filed complaints with the BBB, and they have given unsatisfactory responces. I noticed they are also rated with an F by the BBB. As of right now I am out 2300 and got nothing.

Karen of Miami, FL December 28, 2009

I hired JK Harris & Co. in August 2009 to represent me in my attempt to have IRS penalties abated. In reviewing my case, I was told by Mr. B. that I had a legitimate reason for requesting the abatement and that JK Harris has represented others with similar cases with favorable results. I paid over 800 to have JK Harris represent me in my request of the IRS.

After four months of repeated calls to Mr. B. to inquire as to the status of my case, he never returned any calls, nor did I receive any copies of any documentation prepared or submitted to the IRS in my behalf. In other words, I have no idea what work was done, or not done to resolve my case, nor what correspondence was sent to the IRS.

In December 2009, I received a letter from the IRS explaining that there are only four reasons for which the IRS will reverse penalties. My case clearly did not fall under one of the four reasons. My complaint against JK Harris is that as a Tax Resoluion Specialists, they should have been aware of the IRS rules for abating penalties, and they should have identified the fact that my case did not qualify. However, they proceeded to charge me for a service knowing there would not be favorable results. I paid over 800 for unnecessary services.

Bob of Woodridge, IL December 9, 2009

I got laid off from Hewlett Packard after 28 years of service and got 1 years salary payment into my 401k (which I didn't know that at the time). Without a job since October 2005, I've been using my 401k to live on. Knowing that the IRS taxes 50% on early withdrawl of 401k (I was 50 at the time) I went to JK Harris in Atlanta and signed a contract for 6000 for them to work out something with the IRS. An Offer in Compromise was discussed and that felt like the best for me.

To make a long story short, I went through everything others said sending JKH paperwork and back tax returns from past years. "They" JKH did nothing. I now owe the IRS 91,000, have nothing left in my 401k and have a lien on my credit report and the IRS took every cent out of my checking account. On my own I have submitted and Offer in Compromise with the IRS and demanded a refund from JKH.

I have also contacted the Attorney General in Georgia and Illinois where I know reside and submitted a consumer complaint. Hopefully, I get my money back so I can use that for the Offer in Compromise with the IRS. JKH is a scammer and the CEO should be put in jail for scamming the public, mail fraud and anything else we can pin on them!

Kristy of Duluth, MN December 4, 2009

We lost our house in 2005. Instead of foreclosure, we signed our house back over to the bank. They said if we agreed to be out by a certain date and left all appliances we could walk away. We did that. In 2008 we started getting billed from the IRS. They are stating we had unreported income(the difference for what we owed and what the house sold for), and now with penalities and fines we owe federal almost 15,000. State just contacted us in the past 2 weeks, same thing, we owe 5,000. I was sick to my stomach thinking how can we lose everything and now they want us to pay more. They were threatening the usual, and I was so stressed I couldn't sleep and late night seen what I thought was the answer to my prayers.

JK Harris-I called they arranged a meeting with me, the agent said oh don't worry about any of this, you didn't recieve any monies so you wouldn't owe any. The problem is it will cost you about 2300. But if you agree to pay us that we will take your case and you will owe no more than 500. and I am sure not even that. I was so relieved I was sobbing. We signed the paper and agreed to monthly payments. A year later we find out that we now have a payment plan with the IRS for the full amount and more fines and penalties to come on the federal starting in Jan of 2010.

Basically, we still owe what we started with and more in fines and penalties and we owe JK Harris 2300.00 on top of that. I try to talk to them about what exactly did they do for us and they don't say anything except you signed the paper. You owe us the money. They never return our calls I have to track them down, and when you do get someone on the phone, it's only to find out that I now have another new agent. I have had 5 different agents that I know of and none of them have ever contacted me. I thought I hired people who have my best interest at heart. I was instead completely scammed. I am going to stop payment with them and let the chips fall where they may. I have nothing left.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Follow us on Twitter.

Back to the top |