Ouch! TaxMasters hit w/ $195 million judgement!

[David2012]

If your hiring your income taxes done professionally, you might not want to hire TaxMasters.... they probably won't be around much longer.......

TaxMasters Hit With $195M Judgement
Written By Dunstan Prial
Published April 04, 2012
FOXBusiness


TaxMasters Inc., a Texas-based tax advisory firm perhaps best known for its ubiquitous advertisements on cable television, has been ordered to pay more than $195 million in penalties for defrauding its clients.

Patrick Cox, the firm’s heavyset, bearded founder and chief executive officer, has to pay $46 million of the judgment handed down last week by a Texas jury. Cox appeared in many of TaxMasters’ commercials.

TaxMasters was found to have committed more than 110,000 violations of Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act, according to a statement released by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. ......

...... Among other illegal acts, TaxMasters was accused of lying to customers by telling them a TaxMaster representative would start work on their case immediately. Instead, TaxMasters employees only started work when a client had paid in-full. That often meant clients missed important deadlines set by the IRS.

In addition, TaxMasters often failed to contact the IRS on behalf of its clients and failed to show up for IRS hearings, according to prosecutors.




Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2012/04/04/taxmasters-hit-with-15m-judgement/#ixzz1r95XjThx

 

[ronny]

I never did care for that guy.

 

[tRidiot]

Yikes.

 

[OKNewshawk]

They didn't do tax returns-they claimed to be able to get the IRS to reduce your back taxes, interest and penalties. They were the ones you went to when you didn't do your taxes.

That being said, I also thought Patrick Cox was about the smarmiest pitchman on TV-he made Vince (the ShamWow guy) look legit. The creepiest thing about his commercials was how he would start out all eerie and threatening, then brighten up as he said "HELLOOOOO! I'm Patrick Cox!"

 

[Wheel Gun]

Never trust anyone who sits sideways when he talks to you.

 

[rhodesbe]

[Broken External Image]

 

[AKguy1985]

[Broken External Image]

LMAO thats funny.

 

[woolworh]

Funny.

 

[JB Books]

My understanding is that the IRS is not too fond off those settlement mills. I don't know about Tax Masters in particular, but the way I heard settlement firms worked was that you'd pay a good sized fee (typically $5000 or so on a credit card) and then they'd submit an Offer in Compromise to the IRS. However, it's not just as simple as submitting paperwork, to actually qualify, you have to meet certain criteria and it actually has to be an offer in good faith. If you don't meet the requirements, you can be hit with additional penalties and interest that can quickly rack up to be substastanial.

The best bet is to always pay your taxes and avoid trouble with the IRS. The fact is you will pay one way or the other.