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About Optima Tax Relief Reviews
Founded in 2011, Optima Tax Relief is a full-service tax resolution firm for individuals and small business owners struggling with IRS or state tax burdens. The company specializes in complex cases that involve wage garnishments, bank levies, liens and other IRS collection actions. It has over 400 full-time professionals, including a team of in-house tax attorneys and licensed tax professionals.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- IRS notice analyzer
- 15-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Pricing not published
- Not available in all states
Bottom Line
If you owe taxes, Optima Tax Relief can help with a free consultation and a 15-day money-back guarantee. Anyone can use the company’s app to analyze an IRS notice or file a free extension.
Featured Reviews
My experience with Optima Tax Relief has been extremely positive. They treated me with respect and advised me on everything I needed to complete for each step of the process. Ever...
Read full reviewThey took the time to work with me on a one-on-one basis to resolve my tax issues. I feel that they were an affordable and effective solution to my tax problem. They filed old ret...
Read full reviewWhat is Optima Tax Relief?
Optima Tax Relief has offices in California and Arizona and works with individuals and small businesses to solve tax issues. It also offers three protection plan levels for those who want tax preparation help to avoid future IRS issues. It has membership with the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) and the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP).
The company also has an app through which you can:
- File a six-month extension with the IRS for free
- Take a picture of your IRS notice and have the app analyze your risk level and explain what IRS notices mean
- Request a free tax consultation
How does Optima Tax Relief work?
You can start working with Optima Tax Relief with a free consultation. Once you sign up, Optima Tax Relief has a two-phase resolution program.
The first phase is when your tax professional puts out any immediate fires, such as wage garnishments or bank levies. In this phase, the Optima team contacts the relevant taxing authorities to do a 360-degree view of your tax issues.
In the second phase, your tax professional chooses which tax resolution approach to take. For some, this might mean an installment agreement, while others might need an attorney to do a collection appeal or to help them with audit representations.
Optima Tax Relief services
Optima Tax Relief offers a variety of tax solutions and assistance, including tax liability investigation and resolution proposals, tax preparation and compliance, and tax settlement and negotiation.
Here are a few services available for tax debt clients:
- Offer in compromise (OIC)
- Penalty abatement
- Installment agreement
- Tax lien discharge
- Wage garnishment release
- Bank levy release
- Innocent spouse relief
- Currently not collectible
- Statute of limitations
- Collection appeal
Optima Tax Relief costs
Optima Tax Relief does not publish pricing on its website for either tax relief services or its tax protection plans.
Optima Tax Relief FAQ
How long will it take for Optima Tax Relief to solve my tax issues?
The company says many tax debt cases are resolved within two to 12 months. However, each tax case is unique, and you will get a better idea of how long your situation will take after a consultation.
Does Optima Tax Relief offer a money-back guarantee?
While Optima Tax Relief does not guarantee any of its services, clients can request a refund within the first 15 days of service. This is only applicable to the investigation phase — it’s not for clients enrolled with an immediate action team.
Does Optima Tax Relief file taxes?
Yes, it has a full team of tax preparation professionals who can help with state and federal tax returns for both individuals and businesses. It can also help with filing overdue taxes, reducing penalties when possible.
Does Optima Tax Relief have a debt minimum?
Optima Tax Relief does not publish if it has a tax debt minimum. Its consultation intake form allows potential clients to select a tax debt range of $0 to $9,999.
Is Optima Tax Relief legit?
Optima Tax Relief is a legitimate company with physical offices in California and Arizona. It says it has resolved over $1 billion in tax debt for clients. Its tax resolution services are available in most states, and the 15-day money-back guarantee can help clients feel more confident about pursuing services.
Optima Tax Relief Reviews
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Reviewed Aug. 27, 2023
Optima is not a scam. They will assist you with your dealings with the IRS. However, the experience was not very satisfactory, and they pretty much did little more than prepare a few tax returns. There was no negotiation with the IRS about penalties; they simply sent me a form and told me to submit it after I pay. They did not complete the work within the time frame they themselves gave me. The accountant, Ann, "forgot" our appointment to prepare taxes, and I had to call the company and get them to reach her. They promised to negotiate, but were vague on specifics and no negotiations were conducted. My team leader told me to call him any time I had a question, and I could never reach the guy on the phone. I had to nag them over and over for months to finish the job.
In the end, they did submit my returns to the IRS and they did provide me with a document that I can submit to negotiate penalty abatement, but I have to do all that myself. I paid $3500 for Optima's services, but I'd estimate the value of services provided at under $1000. I wouldn't even mind overpaying as long as they did the job so that I didn't have to. But in the end, I had to deal with the IRS myself. I can't recommend them. You are better off hiring a CPA to file your taxes, and then contacting the IRS yourself and working out your payments.
Reviewed July 25, 2023
I gave these guys 4200.00 a year and a half ago! Today they told me they didn’t get one cent of my billl taken off! Not a penalty or interest! I have a lien the same lien as when they started! Not one thing changed besides me losing 4200.00 to their scam! Buyer beware! They are the worst!
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Reviewed July 25, 2023
My case is ongoing for 2 years. Phone call are a waste of time. I explain that I prefer email as phone call go to spam. That request is not honored and lead to a frustrated client trying to get updates. When I call in they tell me they are waiting for documents, however as I have explained numerous time the customer portal doe not say they are needing documents and have taken screenshot pictures of the customer portal showing no documents required. Last to phone call they promise to email the documents yet they never show up. Today I told them I would stay on the phone until I got the document in my in box and he actually did that for me however It was for a business and not for my personal account. There is a huge problem with the way they communicate the needs of your case to you. I paid them upfront for the service and it has been a terrible experience with terrible explanation and communication.
Reviewed July 18, 2023
Bottom line is Optima doesn't have any "tax experts"- they don't fight for you, there is no team.. They stall for a year- do your next year's taxes- hope some money shakes out and if it doesn't they set up a payment plan with the IRS that anybody could do. The positive reviews only outweigh the negative because they offer dissatisfied customers $350 to sign an agreement they can't write anything negative about the company. I spent 3k to Optima and with the penalties and interest due to them stalling I ended up owing roughly 2k more to the IRS than when I contacted Optima. You can read the fake positive reviews but look at the negative reviews-- they all say the exact same thing.
Reviewed May 25, 2023
Paid over $8000.00. They eventually told me after I paid all my money "Some people we help & some people we can't help." They eventually drop me as a client when I refused a $975 payment plan a month. For years? Next 5 to 7 years. They allowed the IRS to run my taxes up from a small amount owed to over $35,000. No offer in compromise or tax relief offer was possible. I am a senior citizen & this is the horror I face for trusting these scammers. They offered me $900.00 in settlement for their poor service. I told them, "Keep the money. I'll seek legal actions first." Their final comments were. "Ok when we hear from the other parties you referring to. Then we will address their concerns, & requested responses at that date & time when ever they inquire." "However, for now we no longer consider you as a client with Optima."
They close my account & all access once they saw The IRS confiscated my 2022 refund check.. So far as of 5/19/23. IRS have confiscated thousands due to me for a refund & other finance I receive. IRS now demanding I pay more by getting equity from my home. Please. Please if you read this & thinking about using Optima? Avoid them at all cost. Horrible! Horrible! Business. If I could rate them lower I would. I made a costly $$$ mistake. Don't do the same. Hope my review help someone.
Reviewed April 14, 2023
BUYER BEWARE. TAX PAYER BEWARE. Optima Tax told me "we don't know whether we'll be able to negotiate a settlement for you or not...." BUT, they DID know. They knew that I'd recently married someone whose income made me ineligible for any reduction whatsoever; yet they charged me $8,000 before they told me that.
I submitted all but 1 of my returns to them completed by a tax professional; paid the $8,000+ fee and then waited while they re-figured the returns, then submitted the returns and finally told me there was nothing they could negotiate. My problem isn't that I owe the taxes, it's that Optima KNEW from the very beginning that they would be charging me $8k for refiguring 5 years of returns and submitting them with ZERO negotiating with the IRS to be done. They KNEW, and they charged me outrageously.
Then they said, "We told you we couldn't guarantee a reduction;" ignoring the fact that they knew all along there wasn't the **possibility** of a reduction while charging me exorbitantly for services rendered. Adding insult to injury is listening to their incessant commercials on Sirius XM Radio, with glowing reduction stories.
Reviewed March 15, 2023
Paid $24K and for two years Optima Tax Relief could not even establish some communication with IRS. My bookkeeper eventually established communication, made deal with IRS and resolved problem. Optima Tax Relief is a scam!!!
Reviewed Feb. 1, 2023
Just got off the phone with them and I was told I would have to pay the full amount of what I owed from the original start of this process. It has taken me $10,000 and 1-1/2 years to resolve this. All the while the IRS was adding on late fees and anything else they could think of over that time period. Optima was told upfront what I make for salary and yet said nothing until the last day. They told me I made too much to get any relief from the IRS. I could have used an online tax service for $500 and a month of time to complete. Basically, they will take your money and do absolutely nothing but to tell you to have patience while the IRS is running up your bill. In my opinion this is a scam company.
Reviewed Jan. 29, 2023
When you use Optima you are just throwing your money away. You call them, you get no answers. The money you pay them you could send to the IRS. I spoke with a IRS representative on the phone. They are easy to talk with, very polite and she told me people that use tax relief agencies are just throwing money away. The IRS does not negotiate back taxes. You owe what you owe. I did get a one year abatement on penalties from the agent over the phone. Call them first to work out a plan. Don't throw money away using optima.
Reviewed Jan. 7, 2023
The cost of Optima tax is over 1200.00 per month plus the settlement being proposed is another 4700.00 dollars! I will be homeless in about a month! It would have been cheaper to deal with the IRS directly. Do not use Optima!!!
Optima Tax Relief Company Information
- Company Name:
- Optima Tax Relief
- Website:
- optimatax.com
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