Services Offered By Tax Relief Advocates
Tax Relief Advocates develops customized tax relief solutions for its clients. Information regarding its service offering is somewhat limited, but the firm has experience filing extensions and appeals; stopping wage garnishments, levies and liens; managing audits, and reducing tax debt obligations.
Tax Relief Advocates Service Features
Tax Relief Advocates offers many services and solutions, but its website lacks details on its offerings, geographic reach, and minimum debt requirement. This lack of transparency is a recurring theme with this company.
Geographic presence | Information is not available |
Minimum debt requirement | Information is not available |
Average time for relief | 6-8 weeks |
Average relief amount | Information is not available |
Note:
Any tax relief company that accentuates “average time for relief” and/or “average relief amount” on its website warrants skepticism. Averages do not provide a meaningful indication of what you can expect, given the highly personalized nature of tax relief. Moreover, a tax relief firm cannot influence these metrics, beyond legal allowances. Exaggerated claims are misleading, at best, and illegal, at worst.
Tax Relief Advocates Process
Tax Relief Advocates prides itself on developing personalized strategies for its clients. It does so via a four-step process:designed to determine your eligibility for various debt forgiveness programs. During its process, a TRA tax professional will formulate a settlement strategy to save you as much money as possible.
- Consultation: During the free consultation, a TRA expert meets with you to assess the details of your tax debt and understand any communications you’ve had with the IRS and/or other tax authorities.
- Investigation: After the consultation, you will be presented with a plan of action. If you accept it, a formal notice will be sent to the pertinent tax authorities, letting them know you are being represented by TRA. Simultaneously, TRA’s experts will proceed with the action items outlined in the plan. This step typically takes one to two weeks
- Resolution: After the research is complete, the team will launch the process of negotiating with pertinent tax authorities to resolve your debt.
- Freedom: Finally, TRA aims to give its clients freedom from their tax burdens within six to eight weeks.
Tax Relief Advocates Costs and Fees
Tax Relief Advocates does not have a transparent fee structure. . It offers no information regarding its baseline fees, the potential for other charges, or its money-back guarantee. This lack of information places TRA at a competitive disadvantage.
Fee structure | Information is not available |
Other charges | Information is not available |
Money-back guarantee/refund policies | Information is not available |
Tax Relief Advocates Customer Experience
Customer experience is an important indication of what you can expect from a tax relief company. Tax Relief Advocates customer service offering is lacking compared to some of its competitors.
- TRA’s website is very limited, making it difficult for potential customers to understand the firm and its services.
- Expanded call center support is not available, which reducesaccessibility.
- One positive service feature relates to multi-channel support. TRA communicates with new and potential clients via phone, email, and social media platforms.
- TRAoffers some basic supplemental information and tools on its Client Resources page.
- TRA does not offer a mobile solution to its clients. Mobile technology isn’t the norm with tax relief companies, but it’s a great way to gain a competitive advantage.
Tax Relief Advocates Trustworthiness and Stability
Established in 2017, TRA has been operating for just over five years. Its track record is much shorter than many of its competitors. In addition to its short business history, TRA lacks quantitative information regarding its hands-on experience. Uncertainty as to whether the firm is a member in any industry-leading associations is an additional concern. All of this call’s the firms reliability into question.
Years in business | 5 |
Customers serviced inception-to-date | Information is not available |
Tax debt managed inception-to-date | Information is not available |
Memberships in industry-leading associations | Information is not available |
Tax Relief Advocates User Reviews
Based on a limited number of reviews from Best Company, Tax Relief Advocates is not very highly rated by its users ( 3.3 out of 5 stars) on this site. The majority of complaints relate to a lack of communication and responsiveness. TRA does have a higher rating on BBB: 4.5 out of 5 stars.
A sampling of recent comments is provided below.
Matthew Laney
5.0 Best Company Rating in July 2022
Tax Relief Advocates helped me with an arrears problem that I had. They were honest and effective. They were fairly easy to communicate with on-line with decent response times to questions. They could have done better in terms of answering their phones and returning calls.
David Weeks
1.0 Best Company Rating in April 2022
Terrible experience with this company. It has taken them nearly 3 months and I still dont have a resolution... Their communication with their customers is NON-Existent. I voiced concerns about a state tax issue and I was met with silence...once I called and spoke with Tim O about the issue of communication he assured me it would be taken care of. It was not. I had to call another company to get the answers I was looking for. If you want to spend 14k for your time being wasted then this is the company for you.…
William Lightner
1.0 Best Company Rating in February 2022
It started out pretty good but when I got passed on the the tax professional it went down fast. They do not communicate or keep me informed and the next year taxes are getting ready to get done and I still haven't filed the previous year. 1 star is actually a bit to high of a rating if you ask me. I had to pay a lot to get nothing done so far. I would never recommend this company to anyone.
Anne Kathleen G.
5.0 BBB Rating in October 2022
After several years of being intimidated by problems with taxes, I feel hopeful that those problems will be resolved to my satisfaction. ***************** listened to my concerns and clearly presented solutions that have lessened my fears and apprehension considerably. He inspires confidence and reassurance. I am ever so grateful that TRA exists to help me and others like me, and I appreciate **************************** words for his knowledge and patience. Thank you for priceless peace of mind!
Barbara J
5.0 BBB Rating in October 2022
Once I got that this program could truly help me, the starting process was very easy. My representative was helpful, followed up, and got the ball moving. So far so good. Looking forward to sharing more as the journey begins.
Tax Relief Advocates Compared to Other Companies
A quick comparison of Tax Relief Advocates and two well-known competitors, Precision Tax Relief and Anthem Tax Services, is provided below. Precision is rated the best overall tax relief company by finimpact.com.
Company | Tax Relief Advocates | Precision Tax Relief | Anthem Tax Services
|
Geographic presence | Information is not available | Precision has a broad geographic reach, but it’s unclear whether it services the entire U.S. | Nationwide |
Minimum debt requirement | Information is not available | $10,000 | $10,000 |
Fee structure | Information is not available | All-inclusive flat fee | Information is not available |
Money-back guarantee/refund Policies | Information is not available | Precision offers a 30-day money-back guarantee | Anthem offers a best-in-class, virtually, unlimited money-back guarantee |
Final Thoughts
All things considered, Tax Relief Advocates could be a sound solution for tax relief. However, its relatively short business history and opaque marketing leave a lot to be desired. There are many other more established and transparent firms in the industry. Spend some time evaluating your options.
