Tax Group Center Reviews 7

If I could give zero stars, I would. I would never recommend this company. We hired them for help with back taxes, but instead of solutions we were given poor advice that left us in a worse situation. The most disappointing part is that nothing was ever resolved — when it came time to deal with the IRS, we ended up having to handle the conversations ourselves. I am embarrassed to admit how much money we paid only to feel completely scammed. To make matters worse, I prepaid for 2025 tax preparation services that I will not be using, yet my repeated requests for a refund have been ignored. This company has been unresponsive, unprofessional, and a costly mistake. Thanks for nothing Jennifer Shapiro and Julie Misha!

Avoid Tax Group Center at all costs. This company is operating under what I believe to be extremely deceptive and unethical practices.

We were told up front that the total cost for services would be \$2,000 — nothing more. That’s what we agreed to and paid. But after receiving ,no real communication, no real service, and no meaningful progress, we asked for a refund.

That’s when the scam became clear: they fabricated a bogus invoice that falsely claimed they had provided over $4,000 worth of services, and then pretended to issue a “partial refund” of $2,197.50 from that inflated total. This made it look like they were doing us a favor and issuing a refund, when in reality, they never returned a single dollar to my original payment method.

They used my own complaint timeline to backfill the invoice and make it seem like work was done. Then they tried to get me to sign a release agreement to waive any claims against them — which I refused, because the entire operation is shady and dishonest.

This wasn't just poor service. It was a calculated attempt to avoid refunding money they did not earn. They misled us at the beginning, overpromised, delivered nothing, and then tried to cover their tracks by inflating the “value of services” to protect their bottom line.

I have filed a complaint with the Attorney General in both CA and ID.

They supposedly have two locations; Idaho and the corporate office is in California, however; on their website it states that their corporate office is located in Calabasas (5010 Parkway Calabasas, Suite 110, Calabasas, CA 91302), but when you research there is another address that comes up for Sherman Oaks, CA (15260 Ventura Blvd #1200 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5347). So, I called and asked where their corporation office location is and I was told that it was located in San Francisco (1 Market Spear Tower 36FL San Francisco, CA 94105). I asked if they have moved offices in CA because there are two addresses that I found and that their website states that they are headquartered in Calabasa. She responded by telling me " no, they have not moved and that they only have the two locations. She also would not provide a phone number for the location after I asked, she said she does not have a number. Shady? yes, indeed.

I strongly urge anyone else who has been scammed by this company to do the same both in CA and in ID. They should be audited, investigated, and held accountable for what they’re doing to people who are just trying to get tax help.

It's time for The People to rise against corruption.

I Paid $17,000 and Got Nothing—Please Don’t Make the Same Mistake

If you're considering Tax Group Center (TGC), I urge you to pause and read this first.

Back in 2021, I got a letter from the IRS saying I owed taxes for 2019. It was overwhelming. I searched for help online, and TGC showed up. They called me right away, sounded confident, and promised they could lower what I owed through negotiation with the IRS.

That gave me hope—so I signed on and paid them $17,000.

But here's the truth: they did nothing to reduce my tax debt. I still owe the same amount today.

All TGC did was submit a Power of Attorney form, file a few years of tax returns, and calculate what I owed—something any basic tax software could do. They promised bookkeeping support and had me send over all my sole proprietor transactions. In the end, I had to do it all myself using QuickBooks.

Once they had my money, they became nearly impossible to reach. No updates. No progress. If I managed to speak to someone, they gave vague excuses like, “We’re working on your case.”

Even worse, one of their managers applied for loans in my name without asking me—causing hard credit inquiries and lowering my credit score. When those loans were denied, she hung up and never called back. This happened three times.

I requested a refund for the services they never performed. It’s been months. No response. No resolution. Not even an apology.

To this day—four years later—I’ve still never spoken to a licensed attorney, despite that being part of what I paid for.

Please learn from my experience. TGC will take your money quickly but deliver nothing in return. You're far better off speaking directly with the IRS to set up a payment plan or consulting a local, licensed tax professional. Don’t fall for their pitch the way I did.

ARE ANY OF THESE TAX GROUPS LEGIT????
I FIND MYSELF READING THE SAME COMPLAINTS AS ANOTHER TAX PROGRAM I WAS IN, IDEAL TAX SOLUTION.....BETTER OFF JUST STAYING WITH IRS AND DEALING WITH THEIR FEE

Robertj R.
San Francisco, CA
01
Sep 2, 2024
Terrible experience, I wish I researched a little more, seven pages of negative replies against T.G.C. It was such a bad experience my BBB complaint specialist agreed with me after reviewing my formal complaint. I resolved my 2021 tax issue with the Connecticut Dept. of Revenue and I.R.S. for thousands of dollars less on my own. That part is worth repeating, I+- resolved my tax issues with the Connecticut Dept. of Revenue and the I.R.S. for thousands of dollars less than these organizations originally requested. After a year, I was told by the second attorney assigned to me, that my financials indicated I would not be eligible to be placed under a hardship case as T.G.C. stated," just pay the full amount there's no room to negotiate" said the "Tax Professional". T.G.C. had my financial information available to them on 7-18-2022. Why didn't the "Tax Professionals" inform me then I would not be eligible for a hardship. They stated they had everything they needed for the completion of my case. It should be noted T.G.C. kept on billing me. I was able to negotiate on my own by submitting a letter detailing the incompetence of T.G.C. employees, and by providing evidence such as, T.G.C. invoices, saved voicemails, conversations, Information regarding disabled pensioners including the Connecticut General Statutes, that Evan, my attorney did nothing with. U.S.P.S. receipts of government document copies I mailed to T.G.C. showing increased interest and penalties that kept complying. I was told by the "Tax Professionals "It's all set, you won't be receiving anymore notices" well that wasn't true. they continued. That I was assured the letters would stop about Tax Warrants that can and were applied to my bank account from I.R.S. The letters from Conn. Dept of Revenue and I.R.S. would stop because as Fuentas stated in the voicemail, " "Evan spoke to someone." second voicemail Jaquline Fuentas states "Evan is close to a settlement and should hear something by the end of the day or by Thursday the latest, this was 7-2022. T.G.C. was unable to provide a name of the agent, date, or time they "spoke to someone. There was no settlement in place. When I asked them, this information that should be in my file, the phone call was disconnected, and my repeated calls and voicemails went unanswered. On 6-2023, Misha, the second attorney who took over my case informed me Evan had left the company. Misha stated my financials came back and I am not eligible for the program under a hardship. this information was known last year. The figures Misha quoted on my invoice from 7-7-2023 owing the I.R.S. $37k, this figure was slightly off by $12,879.51. I corrected T.G.C. again by providing the correct amount of $24,120.49. This figure was provided to me on August 22, 2023, by I.R.S. agent Diaz of the I.R.S. Department 193 Grant Street, Waterbury, Connecticut. The letters I sent to the I.R.S. and Connecticut Dept. of Revenue outlining the incompetence of T.G.C. "Tax Professionals" and asking for a reduction in the figures was one the factors in getting my balances lowered. I am requesting a refund of $4,000 Four Thousand dollars out of my $5500.00 retainer. TGC started at $1792.50 and recently went as high as $3250.00 seven months ago. Four Thousand dollars $4,000.00. What work did T.G.C. do to earn $1500. NOTHING, I should be receiving the entire sum and an apology. ROBERT RANFONE , East Haven Connecticut 06513.

I first contacted Tax Group Center in the Spring of 2021 after receiving several letters from the IRS owing a total of $12,266 for 2018 and 2019. Tax Group Center told me they could help me get my taxes reduced and taken care of for a fee of a few thousand dollars or even get my taxes reduced. There was never any discussions about charging $350 for me to fill out paperwork they sent me, $350 an hour to for them to call me on the phone, $350 an hour to send me an email, or I would have to pay to file taxes that I had already filed. I was charged twice $500 for 2022 taxes that I had already done along with 2020 and 2021 taxes that were not even part of either 2018 or 2019 taxes. I gave them money on three occasions the first two i had to go through their credit agency for a total of $11,800 at 16% interest, for which i thought was to pay the taxes I owed. February 2023 I was called on the phone asking for another $11,200 that I had to put on my credit card at 12.9% interest. July 19th 2023 I received a phone call from Tax Group Center stating my case was resolved and I owed the IRS $20,000This is when I started to attempt to get answers to why i paid them so much money. After repeated emails and phone calls that were never answered on Sept 7th 2023 I finally received a receipt for services that was filled with ridiculous charges and a statement that they owe me $13,430 of money that I over paid them and they will pay me back over a 12 month period at $1,119.16, I find that unacceptable. I still have not been answered why I paid so much, why it took 2 years to resolve, why I wasn't told about the fees upfront. Tax Group Center never had my best interest in mind when representing me to the IRS.

If you have tax worries like I did, this is the place to make them a nightmare.
After paying this company to handle my Fresh Start Program and thinking they had done it professionally, I find out they filed my State taxes without using my W-2 information. This is information they should have known to request from the state but did not. I got bills from my state totaling over $17,400 for this stupid mistake.
In the end I paid them to do a job that I am now having to pay a reputable CPA to fix.
During our experience with this company they lost documents more than once. And never once did they tell us that they had filed State taxes without using W-2 information.
When I ask them to help me get their problem corrected. They told us they did not contract to do our State return. Something that was specifically described in my conversations with Ladd Vance.
So if your considering using these people to do your taxes, know this, they do not stand behind their tax services. Check their BBB and other rating sites. You'll see what I mean.
Get a local CPA. You'll be better off.