Community Tax Relief Review
When taxes go unpaid, they can quickly snowball. The more you owe, the more penalties may be added to your bill, making it even harder to pay off. Tax relief companies, often called tax resolution services, can help by investigating your situation, providing guidance and negotiating with the IRS on your behalf.
Though you should always start by contacting the IRS directly, you may want to bring in a tax relief firm if you feel professional advice would help you manage the process better. Community Tax is one such option.
To learn more about Community Tax and whether it's a good fit for you or your business, read our review below.
Best for affordability
Among the tax relief companies we reviewed, Community Tax is our pick for affordability. The firm offers its services at affordable prices, with total fees ranging between roughly $2,000 to $7,000.
Investigation fees are $295 for personal cases and $595 for business cases. These are averages, though — total costs will depend on a number of individual circumstances. You can get a case-specific estimate if you schedule a free consultation.
Community Tax pros and cons
- Affordable tax services
- Free consultation
- Educational resources and materials
- Pricing not available on website
- Limited case studies available
Pros, explained
Here are a few of factors Community Tax customers have indicated they like about the firm, including its affordability and free consultation.
Affordable tax services
With Community Tax, you can expect low investigation fees and resolution costs. The company’s total fees range between $2,000 and $7,000 on average. Note that the total cost of Community Tax's tax relief services will depend on the amount of debt you have and the complexity of your case.
Free consultation provided
As with many tax relief companies, your initial consultation with Community Tax is free. That’s when you’ll give the company a picture of your finances and tax burden so its staff can decide how it wants to approach your case.
You'll also get a quote for the total estimated costs. If needed, Community's staff can advise you on how to file back taxes, suggest possible deductions you can take and point out other debt assistance options for you during the consultation.
Provides a variety of educational resources
Compared to other tax relief companies, Community Tax has an ample library of educational resources on tax debts and repayment options. For instance, its website has guides breaking down common tax terms and how to fill out a variety of tax forms. With this information, you can equip yourself with the necessary tools and knowledge to manage your taxes even after your case with Community Tax has wrapped up.
Cons, explained
There are a few drawbacks of Community Tax you should know about, like its lack of pricing transparency and limited available case studies.
Pricing information not displayed on its website
While Community Tax is known as an affordable option, there isn't much information about its pricing on its website. This is typical of the industry. To get an accurate understanding of how much you may have to pay for services, you'll need to do a free consultation.
Limited published case results
Though there are testimonials online, there isn’t much publicly available information about Community Tax's cases on its website. These sorts of results can be helpful in illustrating other customers' experiences and how much of an impact the company had.
Community Tax offerings
Community Tax offers a variety of financial services, including tax relief, tax prep, accounting and bookkeeping.
Tax resolution
The main feature of Community Tax is its tax relief services — in fact, the company claims to have resolved over $1.3 billion in debt.
Note that tax resolution doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily get any debts or penalties reduced. In some cases, Community Tax will instead help you extend the amount of time to pay off your debts by negotiating an installment plan with the IRS.
Below are some of the main outcomes Community Tax can help you obtain.
Offers in compromise, or OICs, are typically best for taxpayers who have more expenses than income. The IRS determines the maximum amount eligible taxpayers are financially capable of paying and forgives the rest of the debt.
On the other hand, installment agreements allow taxpayers to pay off their debt balance over time — generally in monthly installments over a period of six months to 10 years. The form of your installment agreement will depend on your assets, income, other financial responsibilities and the statute of limitations on your tax debt.
Below are some of the main resolution options that Community Tax says it may be able to help you obtain:
- Stair-step agreements give you the option of paying off a larger debt first in low monthly payments for one year, then increasing the payment over time.
- Streamlined installment agreements help taxpayers with more substantial assets or income — those not suffering from the kind of hardship that would qualify for an offer in compromise — pay off their balance within a six-year period, as long as the balance is under $50,000.
- Partial pay installment agreements are installment plans that continue until the end of the 10-year statute of limitations on a given year’s tax debt.
- Conditional expense installment agreements allow you to pay off your debt in installments over a period of six years in case you don’t qualify for a streamlined installment agreement. What makes this agreement different is that you need to give more information about your assets and financial situation to the IRS. Then, based on this information, you will be approved or denied.
- Simple installment plans give you up to 10 years to pay your debt.
- Currently not collectible is a status that means a person is battling financial hardship and is relieved of their tax debt until they are able to pay.
- Penalty abatements can decrease or eliminate penalties on back taxes if you can prove you missed or made late payments for reasons you can’t control.
Tax planning
Community Tax offers tax planning services to help you minimize your tax liability and maximize your savings. Its staff can provide you with a customized tax plan that fits your unique financial situation. Through its $39-a-month CTAX+ subscription, it can also help you identify tax deductions and credits that you may have missed and provide ongoing support to help you stay compliant.
Tax prep
Community Tax offers dedicated tax preparers to help you fill out your tax returns. After giving the company access to your tax documents, staff can prepare your return. The team, which includes certified public accountants (CPAs), will review everything and send it to you for your signature before Community Tax files the return with the IRS directly.
Community Tax pricing
The initial consultation is free. Typical costs for Community Tax’s services range from $2,000 to $7,000, though the specific price you’ll pay depends on the details of your individual case.
Community Tax accessibility
Availability
You can reach Community Tax via phone, email and mail.
Contact information
The Community Tax phone number is 888-697-0029.
You can email Community Tax at info@communitytax.com. You can also contact the company through an online contact form on its website at any time.
Community Tax is one of the few tax relief companies that offers bilingual assistance in both Spanish and English.
User experience
Customers' experience with Community Tax is generally solid, according to recent BBB user reviews that mention the staff is patient and professional.
Community Tax customer satisfaction
Community Tax has a good online reputation across multiple review websites. Plus, it's responsive to comments on these sites.
The company has a 4 out of 5 on the BBB website based on over 120 reviews. In addition, Community Tax is rated by the BBB to have an A+ grade. Though not a measure of performance, BBB ratings are intended to indicate how likely a business is to interact with customers. Users who have Community Tax complaints include some who had qualms about paying for extra services that they didn't want and others who experienced poor communication with staff.
On Trustpilot, Community Tax has a 3.8 rating out of 5 and over 740 reviews.
Community Tax FAQ
How does Community Tax's resolution process work?
- Information gathering: Community Tax's team will gather your information and documents to put together a holistic picture of your financial status and tax burden, including back taxes and penalties for which you are liable.
- Investigation: You give the team of CPAs, attorneys and accountants access to your IRS records, and they put together a list of possible solutions and negotiations for your situation.
- Resolution: You are given options to consider based on this investigation. Once you make a decision on your resolution, Community Tax will submit the proposal to the IRS and wait for a reply. If your proposal gets approved, then the service is over and you just need to pay what was agreed on. In the case that your proposal is not approved, Community Tax offers a refund on the investigation fees.
What types of tax issues is Community Tax best at handling?
What is Community Tax's refund policy?
How we evaluated Community Tax
We considered multiple factors when evaluating Community Tax's services, including:
- The number and quality of services offered
- Pricing according to online reviews on trusted third-party sites like the BBB
- Accessibility of information
- Communications and contact information
- Resources offered
- Financial stability and reputation
- Customer satisfaction via ratings and reviews
Summary of Money's Community Tax review
There are plenty of places online that can tell you how to file your taxes for free, but for tax relief, you may want to get expert support. Community Tax offers tax resolution, tax planning and tax prep services at affordable prices. This provider offers a free consultation and resources to help you get your taxes back on track. The major drawback of Community Tax is its lack of pricing transparency and case studies on its website.
As a final note, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to go through a tax relief company — you can deal directly with the IRS and get tax relief on your own.
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