Stand Up to the IRS Blog

Remember “The Godfather"?  Now that’s True Art. I’m sure you recall the famous opening sequence takes place at Connie Corleone’s wedding where a young Michael Corleone, home from the war, introduces his very Italian family to Kay, his decidedly non-Italian girlfriend. The message Michael is sending to the rest of his powerful, violent and corrupt family, is that he wants to be legit and rejects all that his family stands for. But temptation is a funny thing. And money can be a dark master. When you marry the two, you can sway the most moral of characters. In my decade plus spent in the tax resolution industry, I’ve seen it happen. Example on the way.

A small business owes the IRS and hires a tax resolution company based solely on what the salesman is selling. The salesman is charming, articulate and spins an amazingly good game, a Michael Corleone type. He promises an Appeal out of the gate, guaranteed reduction of the tax and a quick, easy resolution with almost no effort. What this small business owner doesn't realize, is that the company behind the salesman isn't going to backup the sales pitch.  Like the Godfather, the company does what it wants after it has the money.  You see, Michael was trained by Vito (and by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote his smooth, Oscar-winning dialogue) to say whatever it took; to promise a-n-y-thing to get money in the door.  Because once the new client is “in the door,” odds are they’ll be convinced to keep right on paying fee after undisclosed fee, even if those payments are more like cement shoes to their financial future.  And like the mob, tax resolution firms use scare tactics to make sure prospective clients sign on and current clients stay put.

Better Business Bureau Reputation

Like the Corleone’s, tax resolution companies use different methods to gain prospective client’s trust – testimonials, high dollar marketing presentations, a huge online presence, references, and of course the Better Business Bureau. And it’s hard to tell the difference between the gangsters of the tax resolution industry and the honest, up-front tax experts. The BBB is heavily relied upon by just about every tax resolution company out there. M&M has an exceptional BBB rating and we boast about it often. But you’ve really got to look at a company’s BBB report before you make your final decision. An A+ BBB rating can may also be a BBB record with twenty-two complaints, if you just check it. And when I say check it, I mean check with the BBB, not the salesman working for the Corleone company.

Here’s why. BBB ratings can be deceiving. The size of a business relative to its number of complaints matters to the Better Business Bureau. What this means is that a company can have several complaints and still carry an A+ rating with the BBB if they are a large enough. Say you’re looking at a smaller company with two complaints over the last three years and a larger company with twenty-two complaints over the same time frame; it’s possible that both could have A+ ratings. You won’t know the difference unless you go to the BBB website and check the complaint records yourself. I don’t know about you, but to me twenty-two complaints means that twenty-two people aren’t happy about hiring that larger company with the sales pitch that’s almost too good to be true.

M&M Client Reviews

A scheme practiced by one of our competitors to get a better BBB rating is getting a PO Box in a different city and sign up for the BBB there to avoid detection and complaints. Another M&M competitor flat out lied to the BBB about their length of time in business to get a higher rating.  And some of those that jumped into tax resolution from other industries, like mortgage services, just use their original start-up date to help paint the image of an experienced firm. To avoid getting caught by this trick, you can always check the Secretary of State’s website to confirm the length of time in business and any name changes or Assumed/Trade Names.

The Better Business Bureau admits they’re not perfect. You may have heard that the BBB once gave Hamas (the organization commonly viewed as TERRORISTS by most of the western world) an A- rating. (I guess if you want to pay someone to do some terrorizing, they’re really good at it.)  It really does pay to do a little bit of checking before you trust a company with your tax debt and livelihood. We recommend hiring a company that has been in business, practicing tax resolution for at least 5+ years and a maximum of six BBB complaints (that’s an average of two per year). M&M has been helping delinquent taxpayers since 2005, we have an A+ BBB rating with just two complaints in our entire history, and we employ experienced, licensed tax debt resolution experts.

M&M Financial specializes in resolving IRS and State tax liabilities. We have perfected a unique tax resolution system that allows us to work within the strict guidelines set by the IRS and State taxing authorities, ensuring the best possible results for our clients. We can prove it.  Call us at 866-487-5624 or contact us here to find out how M&M’s Tax Resolution System can help you.