Honest Tax Review
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Honest Tax is a boutique tax relief firm based in Woodland Hills, CA that has served individual and business clients for over 15 years. Their team of licensed professionals (CPAs, EAs, and tax attorneys) has more than 50 years of combined tax mediation experience, helping personal and business taxpayers with various situations.
Unlike other firms that only offer representation with the IRS, Honest Tax provides tax relief, IRS negotiation, execution/garnishment assistance, audit defense services and specialize in all payroll tax, sales tax and IRS or State audits. They offer a free, in-depth consultation with each prospective client before taking on their case.
In addition, Honest Tax is the ONLY tax mediation firm that is a member and exhibitor of both the ABI (American Bankruptcy Institute) https://www.abi.org and NACBA the (National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys) https://www.abi.org.
There are over 50 different Bankruptcy Attorney firms that Honest Tax directly work with, across the country to solve their clients tax issues. They also happen to be the chosen tax firm to do tax bankruptcy discharge analysis for law firms to help determine the dischargeability of taxes in a bankruptcy for their clients.
Types of Tax Relief Services & Terms
| Relief Types |
|
| Minimum Tax Amount Owed | $7,000 |
| Range of Fees | Starts from $1,500 |
| Type of fees | Based on tax amount |
| Type of Provider | In-house servicing |
Honest Tax is a full-service tax resolution/mediation firm. It helps Offers in Compromise (OIC), Currently Non-Collectibles, Innocent/Injured Spouse Relief, delinquent return filing, installment agreement negotiation, audit representation, and more. Plus, they offer wage garnishment and bank levy relief.
Their low minimum tax amount of $7,000 opens up their services to a wide range of taxpayers.
As for business clients: Honest Tax is best for businesses with revenues of $10,000-$1,000,000. They can help businesses with payroll tax compliance and state sales/excise taxes.
Honest Tax Pros
- Lower minimum tax amount requirements
- Serves both personal and business clients
- Wide range of services
- Free, 30-minute consultation
- Money-back guarantee
Honest Tax Cons
- Pricing or pricing structure information not available on their website
- State tax relief not available in all 50 states
Credentials
Honest Tax has CPAs, EAs, and tax attorneys on staff (all of which can represent you before the IRS). Tax attorneys handle the most complex cases, while EAs and CPAs work on more straightforward cases. According to its website, Honest Tax hires individuals with extensive financial industry experience to ensure strong customer service.
Honest Tax is a member of both the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA). Both of these memberships further solidify their expertise in assisting tax amount collectors.
Getting Started
Honest Tax makes getting started easy. First, you schedule a free, 30-minute, no-obligation phone consultation with Honest Tax’s owner to determine if you’re a good fit. To do so, you can do one of three things:
- Call
- Fill out their contact form
On the call, they’ll interview you about your tax issue and ask for any documentation relevant to your circumstances. They will then review your situation to determine if you’re a good fit and determine a fee.
Case complexity determines how long solving your issue will take. That said, Honest Tax begins working your case immediately once you agree to use their services.
If they find that you aren’t a good fit for their services, they will refer you to a company or solution that better suits your situation.
Requirements
Honest Tax has a relatively low tax amount requirement to work with them, and they make it easy to pay for their services with flexible payments.
- Minimum of $7,000 in tax owed
- Free consultation with a licensed professional or with the owner/Senior Vice President to determine if their services suit your situation
Fees
Honest Tax’s fees start at $1,500 and increase depending on a case’s complexity — although they don’t disclose this fee on their site. Other reviews suggest that Honest Tax clients pay $2,100 in fees on average.
Honest Tax does not require a retainer fee. They offer a 10-day, 100% money-back guarantee for any cases that don’t require immediate collections response action (these types of cases are defined on their site) or audit representation.
Privacy & Security
In addition to their range of credentials, Honest Tax has been accredited by the BBB since 2017 and have maintained an A+ rating since then. Plus, they have five stars with 25 total reviews. On Solvable, Honest Tax has an 8.4/10 with 138 reviews.
According to Honest Tax’s privacy policy, they only use your information to serve you, process your transaction as fast as possible, and keep you informed on your tax relief case. Your information is kept behind secure networks and only given to people who need it — those at the firm who are helping you with your case.
Honest Tax does not share personally identifiable information with anyone without providing you notice in advance — the exceptions being their web hosting partner and other parties involved in helping them run their website.
Customer Service
Honest Tax’s most significant selling point — aside from its expert staff — is its customer service.
During your 30-minute consultation, they’ll objectively evaluate your documents and tax situation to see if you’re a good fit for their services. If not, Honest Tax will refer you to another service that can better aid you — even if it means losing a paying client.
If they deem that they can help you, they’ll communicate with you regularly as your case progresses.
Many reviewers on other sites have expressed their admiration and Honest Tax’s responsiveness. According to many of these reviews, Honest Tax communicates your case’s progress with you regularly.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Honest Tax is an excellent and reputable full-service tax relief firm. Their experienced and licensed team provides a large selection of tax relief and mediation services, and they don’t require as high of tax amount to get started at other companies. They have fantastic reviews with the BBB and other online sources.
Plus, they will only take you as a client if they’re confident they can fix your situation — otherwise, they’ll help you find a better or more cost-effective solution. They truly live up to their name.
Their only drawbacks are unclear pricing (based on their site) and limited state tax availability. If you’d like to learn more about these, you’ll need to call or email them (or fill out their contact form) and schedule a free consultation. You can find out if they’ll be able to help before you pay a penny.
Address
19710 Ventura Blvd Suite 200
Woodland Hills, CA 91364