The Internal Revenue Service has issued warnings regarding tax relief companies who claim they can help you settle your issues with the IRS. The latest, American Tax Relief, claimed it could assist tax delinquents for just “pennies on the dollar”, but it seems it just isn’t so. New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs has filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing them of sending out misleading junk mail and then charging clients for services they know they cannot render. This is just one of several law suits that J.K. Harris & Co faces across several states.
One woman paid them $5,000 to resolve what a $50,000 tax debt was originally. When all was said and done, she ended up paying the IRS $80,000 in addition to the $5,000 she had already paid American Tax Relief. The Internal Revenue Service warned consumers in 2004 that scam artists were trying to take advantage of the fact that people were concerned with the taxes they owed the government, but people still believed that they could be of help. ■
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