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Customer: P-----s W-----s
0 - Star Overall Customer Rating
Our Tax Relief Advisors Experience
In 2023, we were notified by the IRS that we had failed to file taxes in 2018, and as such, the IRS filled out a tax return on our behalf, and we now owed them $700K, which included their calculations of our tax debt along with penalties and interest.
We won’t defend not filing. The reasons don’t matter. The reality is that we hadn’t filed.
We hired a CPA to create a real tax return for 2018 and then filed the amended tax return with the IRS.
The IRS took almost a year to get to the amended return and then came back with the amended number that was lower than the number that the IRS had calculated (still a large number of over $600K) and a request for us to pay the amount due. Not able to pay the IRS debt, we were stressed and looking for solutions.
We had heard advertisements on SiriusXM for Tax Relief Advocates and their promises:
- Don’t Lose Hope: Tax Nightmares
- Stop IRS Collections and Liens
- Settle for Less with the IRS — Bye-Bye Back Taxes!
- Our passion is helping individuals and small businesses fix their IRS problems.
- TRA can eliminate or reduce what you owe to the IRS by negotiating with them on your behalf to get you the best resolution possible.
- Overwhelmed by tax debt? Our tax relief advocates can help.
We called TRA (Tax Relief Advocates) for consultation, and after explaining our situation to the Tax Consultant at TRA, we were told that they believed they could help us. We were told that it would cost $695 for TRA to do a review of our tax records and come back with a plan. We paid TRA the $695, filled out forms for Power of Attorney to give TRA access to our IRS tax records, and filed out informational forms for TRA.
After reviewing our IRS tax records and our information, TRA contacted us in the middle of May 2024 and told us that they had reviewed our case and believed they could help us. The TRA plan was to make an Offer in Compromise to the IRS. We were told that, sic “while we cannot guarantee the IRS will accept the offer, we believe we can get it to be around $60,000,” which sounded good at the time since we were so freaked out and scared about what the IRS might be able to do to our family. We were told that they can prevent the IRS from seizing our assets, placing a lien on our house, freezing our passports, etc. The fee for the service was $35,000! We gulped, took out a credit card, and paid $35,000 to TRA, after all, it looked like they were going to save us hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Over the next 4 weeks, we were assigned an account representative, N—-L G—M, and we filled out more forms and answered questions about our past IRS filings. We were notified by TRA that our 2018 tax return had errors and needed to be refiled. TRA filled out the tax return, yielding a higher tax debt, which we should have questioned, but at the time, were just anxious to get this behind us and were told by TRA that it would’t affect the Offer in Compromise, so we signed the return and off it went back to the IRS.
In January of 2025, we were notified that we had a new account representative, Y——-a B——a. She said she would be handling the case and be in contact with us. We pressed to find out why we were not getting the Offer in Compromise moving forward and was told that the IRS was reviewing another one of our tax years and since it was being reviewed, they could not negotiate with the IRS. We later found out that is an inaccurate claim.
Another long period of 8 months went by, during that time, the IRS came back to us and said that in their (IRS) audit of two other tax years, they led to additional amounts due, which they added to our tax liability and resulting penalties and interest.
We frequently attempted to get an update from TRA on where we were in the process.
This is a good time to discuss how hard it was to get any information from TRA. The typical process was that we would call the customer service line and ask to talk to our account representative. They would put us on hold, come back to tell us they were unavailable, and tell us we would get a call back. We would send emails directly to the account representative asking for a call back or use their Calendly link to schedule a call. After all that, days would pass without a call, even with us repeating the intense contact attempts day after day. Later, when we were passed to yet another account representative, A——s E——a, it was the same situation and frustration in contacting our account representative. Customer Service is a function, not a philosophy, at TRA!
In June of 2025, the IRS placed a lien on our house.
We were freaked out, and as described earlier, after many repeated attempts to contact TRA, we finally were able to talk to our account representative and told them about the lien. Y——a told us that it is part of the IRS’s normal process and we didn’t need to worry. Again, we were told that TRA could not negotiate since the IRS was reviewing one of our tax years.
Fast forward to August 2025. We received an Intent to Levy Notice from the IRS. I had just been laid off from my company and had received a severance check and, as such, were freaked out that the IRS could come and take basically everything we have. After sleepless nights trying to get in touch with Y—a, she told us, “Don’t worry, this is what the IRS does to scare you into paying. This is their normal process. They will send other notices before they levy. Send us any notices, and we can stop them if they start to levy.”
The IRS had also sent the U.S. State Department a letter to freeze my passport. My line of work requires international travel, and the jobs I was interviewing for required international travel.
We keep bugging TRA. We kept getting told that the IRS is still reviewing a tax year, so nothing they can do right then.
October 31, 2025. Contrary to what we were told by TRA, we got a call from our bank telling us that the $34K we had in the bank had been levied by the IRS, clearing our bank account out (we didn’t receive a notice from the IRS until 2 days later). The bank told us they can hold the money for 21 days, that they see this with other customers, and that we can get the IRS to release the levy if we can set up a plan with the IRS.
We are stressed! We are cleaned out. On November 1st, the next day, we have our mortgage and other payments that need to be made, and now no funds to make the payments. We end up having to use our credit cards to pay bills, racking up debt and huge interest fees.
We call TRA. After getting the runaround by the Customer Service people, We demanded to talk to someone. TRA wanted a copy of the Lien Notice, which we had to get from the bank and the fax number of the bank, so they can work on getting the money released.
We are later contacted by A—-s and E—-s, who we are informed is our new Account Representative. He tells us he will work on getting to a resolution. Days pass. We keep asking via email what he is doing to release our levied funds at the bank. We ask if they will try to levy other assets. We are told it is likely and impossible to tell what the IRS will do. More days pass, and the 21-day timeframe is approaching. After continual bugging A—-s, he says he has a plan for us, and we jump on a call. A——s show us two options: an Offer in Compromise and a Payment Plan. The Offer in Compromise is $200K+, and the monthly payment is $10,000. We are told that on the Offer in Compromise, the IRS is slow; they would submit the offer, and it could take 4 to 6 months for the IRS to review the offer and make a decision. He tells us to think about what path we want to take. We absolutely cannot afford the $10,000 per month, nor can we wait 4-6 months for the IRS to evaluate the offer before I can get my passport released.
We press A—-s on getting the levy on our funds at the bank released, and on Day 20 of the 21 days of the hold, We are told in an email from A—-s, sic “once the IRS has taken the money, there is nothing they can do to get it back.” This ends up being completely false!
We decided to get a second opinion. A quick web search found a tax attorney in my area. We contacted that attorney. Tell him our story. He said he believed he could help us. We paid a $5,000 retainer on our credit card. Within 24 hours, we got the levy released at the bank and got our money back into our account. He negotiated a payment arrangement with the IRS at a livable monthly amount. He got my passport released 30 days after the agreement. He stopped all further collections by the IRS. All within 24 hours. Relieving a multi-year stressful period of life! To get to this point, we had to fill out the IRS’s Form 433-F, which collects information about your ability to pay the tax debt (income, debts, etc.). The IRS agent told our attorney that based on my normal income level (part of this was a job offer I had just received), we would in no way qualify for an Offer In Compromise, because at my income level, they believed they could get more than they would receive in an Offer In Compromise. Also, we learned, TRA had NEVER been in direct contact with the IRS to negotiate on my behalf. Yes, they submitted an amended tax return, but NEVER physically talked to anyone at the IRS about our case.
Now that we were second-guessing everything the TRA ever told us, We have gone back to the CPA that filed our first amended tax return for 2018. He reviewed our return and assured us his was correct and the TRA amended return was inaccurate. We will now be filing a re-amended return to correct the return and reduce our tax burden. Yet, another problem the TRA caused us.
We contacted TRA to demand a refund. Continued to get the royal run-around. Was passed to 3 different Customer Service Supervisors. The last one telling us that they will take our request to the “Board.” They came back telling us that the “Board” had denied a refund, stating that because they believe they have saved us money by identifying underreported income, saving us $80K. We have asked, and have yet not received an answer on how increasing our tax burden results in a tax savings. It increased the amount we have to pay back and increased the amount of penalties and interest we need to pay back because of the increase. Let’s just say that their adjustments are correct and they did save us money. Is that what their service promises? Is that what customers come to them to solve? We can only speak for ourselves. Our sole purpose was for TRA to negotiate with the IRS on our behalf to solve our tax issue.
Further, we are being told by TRA that by going the Tax Attorney route, we have violated our contact with TRA because they are supposed to be the negotiators. This is rich! If we had continued to let them NOT negotiate on our behalf, we would have lost the $35K that was levied and still be in a holding pattern waiting for the IRS to make a decision on an Offer in Compromise; they were NEVER going to approve and likely have the IRS come after our other assets.
For these reasons, TRA is stating we will not be receiving a refund. We basically paid TRA $35K to fill out an amended tax return, provide terrible and inconsistent service, cause us stress, increase our tax liability through extra interest /penalties, and ultimately not solve our tax issues.
In contacting TRA to demand a refund, we have been passed around to three different Customer Service Supervisors. In all three cases, promises directly with them on a callback after they talked to the “Board” were never fulfilled, and in each case we need to chase them down with multiple calls to their direct line, Customer Service, and emails, with days of pestering before making contact. In addition, speaking of their customer service, each time we were passed to a different Customer Service Supervisor, we had to completely retell our story, as it is clear they do not even keep accurate notes on customer status and what is happening with each customer. The second Supervisor, J—s A—-s upon us being transferred to him, asked if we were ready to move forward with the settlement plan. Crazy that we had to tell him that we already solved our tax issue and then had to tell him our story. The third Supervisor, J—-e R——z, reached out first with an email asking if we were ready to move forward with one of their settlement plans, and when we were finally able to reach her by phone, wanted to again know if we were ready to move forward. Good customer service organizations would know exactly where each customer is in their process or what issues or ongoing resolutions are happening with the customer. Obviously, TRA is not one of those organizations.
If TRA had been honest or had really understood that an Offer In Compromise on our case was not going to be a valid path, they could have been up front and forthright and, in the beginning, negotiated on our behalf for a reasonable payment plan. Instead, they have added additional cost for penalties and interest that have accumulated since that time.
In our last conversation with, J—-e R—-z the Customer Service Supervisor, they still stand by that they can negotiate an Offer in Compromise with the IRS. This is their way of not having to give a refund because they are now in the “we could solve your problem, but you are letting us” mode. We are not sure how they know they can get the offer when they have NOT even talked to the IRS about our case and our attorney was told by the IRS agent directly that we would NOT qualify for an Offer in Compromise because we have too high of an income level. Reading other compilations on the Better Business Bureau site you will see this is also common with other other customers being told they can qualify only to find out the IRS will not accept their offer because the make too much money. TRA is not honest and now is using every excuse to not refund our money.
Our Specific Complaints & Realized Experience with TRA
TRA uses false or misleading marketing
The radio adds, tell people they don’t need to be scared of the IRS because they are here to help you! (The reality is that you actually DON’T need to be afraid of the IRS. They want to get their money; they will work with you!)
The radio ads tell you that they can stop collections, prevent the IRS from levying your property and assets. (The reality is that they did not do this for us. We kept being told “don’t worry” we can prevent them from levying. Once the IRS did levy, there they were NOT there to help us get those levies released and instead were told, sic “nothing we can do!”)
The radio ads tell you that they will negotiate on behalf of you and stand behind you. (In our case, NO ONE from TRA actually ever physically contacted the IRS, even after the IRS had levied all of our funds. Where was that advocacy?)
The radio ads tell you that they will settle your tax debt. (Read the fine print. TRA will settle for just reducing the amount you owe and call that good, without actually settling the tax issue. See the other complaints on the Better Business Bureau Site in regard to TRA. Ours is not a one-off, this is a common theme)
TRA doesn’t actually seem to know how the IRS works.
The answer we have been given for why TRA didn’t need to physically contact the IRS on our case is because they are familiar and trained on how the IRS evaluates cases, their processes and practices, and what they will be willing to accept in negotiations.
Clearly this is not an accurate statement when we were told two completely inaccurate statements, one that has cost us additionally in penalties and interest accumulated in the long delay because they said they could not negotiate our case with the IRS because one of our tax years was being reviewed by the IRS. Our attorney had no problem talking to them and getting a settlement while one of our tax years still shows it is being reviewed. Secondly, in being told that once the IRS had levied our bank account and the $34K we had in that account that there was “nothing we can do”. Our attorney had it released in 24 hours.
TRA’s Customer Service is ABYSMAL!
Getting in touch with your Account Representative at TRA is almost impossible. As mentioned in our story, you can go days without being able to reach them. This is extremely stressful when you have received letters or demands from the IRS and you cannot get any help from TRA!
They use a 3rd party independent call service for calls they cannot answer. Not uncommon, but when you get to them, you know you aren’t going to get anyone to help you. There we would leave messages and a week could pass without a call from your representative forcing you to then track them down. You will know you have been passed to the 3rd party company when you are on hold listening to their terrible hold music and an alarming and really loud telephone ring unlike the normal ring at TRA is heard and the agent picking up and needs WAY more information about you. Normal TRA reps get served up your case using your call-in number and just ask for you to validate your account with phone, address, email, etc. The 3rd party call center has NO IDEA who you are.
As noted, they don’t keep accurate information on the status of your account. You frequently need to remind them of where you are in the process or what your last conversation with them was and what was discussed.
They seem to go through a LOT of personnel (high turnover). Our account rep changed 3 times in the time we were with TRA. This is likely a byproduct of what we can only assume is a terrible place to work with customers not getting serviced, and the obvious lack of training provided to their customer service staff.
The cost of the service WAY outpaces the value customers will receive.
We paid $35,000 to TRA for what ultimately ended up only being for them to file an amended tax return (which should not have been amended). Other than the phone calls and emails we exchanged, they did very little on our case. They DID NOT physically contact the IRS on our behalf! They did not negotiate some great settlement! They ultimately cost us more money in interest and penalties for the time wasted when they could have just negotiated a payment settlement on our behalf in the first 24 hours of us contacting them.
We were able to have our nightmare end and get to settlement by paying a $5,000 retainer to a local tax attorney who settled everything, including getting our $34,000 in funds at our bank that had been liened by the IRS released. We still have $1,000 on our retainer with that attorney. Total cost $4,000 for actual work on our behalf, solving our problems.