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BEWARE!! THEY WILL TAKE YOUR MONEY AND RUN...
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I contacted South Coast Tax after hearing their ad on the Joel Osteen channel on Sirius XM radio. I owed taxes for 2017-2018 tax years and needed help finding deductions for the time I was self-employed in those years. I had purchased Turbo Tax for both tax years but felt that I was missing deductions that could help reduce my tax debt. I contacted Ryan Born and spoke to him on the phone. Ryan assured me that Turbo Tax had limited algorithms and he would be able to help me identify expenses to reduce my tax debt. That was the only reason I contacted South Coast Tax - for help with deductions. Honestly, why else would I pay $375 per tax year to file my taxes when I have no assets, no retirement, no property, and no children. I had a simple 1040 and needed help with the deductions. I ended the conversation letting Ryan know that I would call him again when I had gathered all of my tax documents. A few weeks later, I received a call from Randy at South Coast Tax, he assured me that they would get me a better rate than Turbo Tax and work with the IRS to get me on a payment that would fit my budget. He said they reduced many other tax debts to pennies that several times larger than mine. Randy told me that I did not need to wait until I received all of my W-2s since they would call the IRS and get my income that was reported regardless. He said that my records were for verification that nothing was missed. I sent what documents I had and $750 to Ryan on October 28, 2019. I sent the remaining documents to him on November 6th. I had to contact Ryan’s office on November 14th and again on November 18th to find out if my returns were prepared. This seemed strange to me since I was told that they would contact the IRS and start my returns on October 28th when I paid. I finally received a one sentence response asking for my tax deductions. These were the same deductions Ryan and Randy told me would be discussed with me in detail; I still had no idea what expenses to look for and what could be deducted. After several days of online research to learn what qualified as an eligible deduction, I finally reached out to Ryan and complained that there was no follow-up from him or his office. No one reached out to me to find out if I needed anything, or if there were any questions that could answered. After I paid Ryan, the only time I heard from him was when I requested an update on my returns. I finally pulled together what I thought were qualifying expenses and sent them to Ryan. Ryan never sent me a follow-up email to suggest, recommend, nor advise me on what deductions could be applied and he never answered the questions I asked in my email. I received an email with the tax forms completed and a tax debt that was the same as I received from Turbo Tax. In his email, Ryan told me to check for accuracy and sign, and now, I would have to call the IRS and make my own payment arrangements. I am furious at the treatment I received from Ryan Born and South Coast Tax. Ryan refuses to give me my money back and states that he prepared the taxes, except I purchased the expertise and tax knowledge of a professional who sold me on his ability to save people money and help fix tax problems. That was not the service that was provided to me. Now I have tax forms that I cannot file; I have to find and pay another tax specialist and start this process all over again; and I have to go through the legal process in order to get my money back from Ryan. The most insulting part of all of this is that I explained to Ryan how worried I am about my taxes and needed someone that would really work with me and help me, and Ryan took advantage of my complicated tax situation. Ryan Born at South Coast Tax charged me $750 to fill in 10 lines on a 1040 tax form and now I have to spend twice that much in order to get my money back. When I asked Ryan if my comment about the lack of communication with his office was the reason for his dismissive behavior, he responded “On a personal note, I would never take a negative comment from a client and use it as a reason to stall the work and I will continue my positive behavior with every client I have, good or bad.” I guess wanting contact my supposed tax specialist makes me a “bad” client.
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