After reading the latest post on this company from Oct 10, I got chills. Three of us became friendly in a "training" course @ Universal Tax Services & since have learned so much we are not going back. Two of us drove & one took the bus & it was costing us money to attend training. We found out we would NOT be paid for training which was in excess of 4-5 weeks as "role playing" was also involved.
In training, we were told to include expenses that were fraudulent and their primary objective is to increase the refund & their fee to prepare the tax. Many reports have been posted of people now receiving IRS letters & King will not help anyone.
We've since learned King was born in Nigeria; is a con artist; is not an accountant; and only in business for 3 years although he states he's been in business for years; wears makeup & eyeliner daily - very creepy. When we mentioned his Maserati was a nice car & we had noticed it, he never drove the car to the office again. This particular model was in excess of $150K.
His scam is that he hires dozens & dozens of people each tax season & demands YOU bring in @ least 100 clients. That's the only way you can make money - to bring in your OWN clients. He doesn't provide any tax returns for you to prepare. Then at the end of tax season, he has your clients, he fires everyone & that's now he acquires all these clients. Preparers make 20% commission, King gets the other 80% of the commission. He prepares taxes all season w/clients he has stolen & he gets 100% of that fee in addition to the 80% he receives from the other preparers. One complaint referred to him as a boiler room con artist - very appropriate. When another report from a disgruntled client stated he never received return calls so he actually came into the office to confront King, King made sure the gun in his waistband was obvious to the complainant.
He pays preparers on a 1099-MISC so he doesn't pay Federal withholding, soc security or unemployment. That way he can expense everything he pays the preparers & doesn't have to pay any taxes on your wages. All preparers now are not eligible for unemployment because he's not paid into the system. Preparers are responsible for all their own taxes.
We three are glad to be out of there but we noticed a few things we may make available to the Labor Board. Federal law states that employers MUST provide bottled or cooler water available to employees. Water and a bathroom are the only Federally mandated items. One of us wanted some water & the 5-gallon bottle of water on the cooler was empty & appears it had been for a long time. We told them that & were instructed to use the water in the bathroom. It's unsanitary & against the law. They have no regard for employees. There is no microwave, no fridge to hold lunches and no bottled water. They had machines installed to hold food & snacks but the machines were not plugged in & no products are available.
It's a very depressing company and we pity the general public who will fall prey to their business practices. The part of town this office is located in will definitely be taking advantage of the lower income people who need their money in a hurry & Universal will see they pay higher fees in order to get their money fast.
King is a con artist with an ever-present smug look on his face like he's fooling everyone. We wish someone would shut them down.
Universal Tax Services Reviews
After reading the latest post on this company from Oct 10, I got chills. Three of us became friendly in a "training" course @ Universal Tax Services & since have learned so much we are not going back. Two of us drove & one took the bus & it was costing us money to attend training. We found out we would NOT be paid for training which was in excess of 4-5 weeks as "role playing" was also involved.
In training, we were told to include expenses that were fraudulent and their primary objective is to increase the refund & their fee to prepare the tax. Many reports have been posted of people now receiving IRS letters & King will not help anyone.
We've since learned King was born in Nigeria; is a con artist; is not an accountant; and only in business for 3 years although he states he's been in business for years; wears makeup & eyeliner daily - very creepy. When we mentioned his Maserati was a nice car & we had noticed it, he never drove the car to the office again. This particular model was in excess of $150K.
His scam is that he hires dozens & dozens of people each tax season & demands YOU bring in @ least 100 clients. That's the only way you can make money - to bring in your OWN clients. He doesn't provide any tax returns for you to prepare. Then at the end of tax season, he has your clients, he fires everyone & that's now he acquires all these clients. Preparers make 20% commission, King gets the other 80% of the commission. He prepares taxes all season w/clients he has stolen & he gets 100% of that fee in addition to the 80% he receives from the other preparers. One complaint referred to him as a boiler room con artist - very appropriate. When another report from a disgruntled client stated he never received return calls so he actually came into the office to confront King, King made sure the gun in his waistband was obvious to the complainant.
He pays preparers on a 1099-MISC so he doesn't pay Federal withholding, soc security or unemployment. That way he can expense everything he pays the preparers & doesn't have to pay any taxes on your wages. All preparers now are not eligible for unemployment because he's not paid into the system. Preparers are responsible for all their own taxes.
We three are glad to be out of there but we noticed a few things we may make available to the Labor Board. Federal law states that employers MUST provide bottled or cooler water available to employees. Water and a bathroom are the only Federally mandated items. One of us wanted some water & the 5-gallon bottle of water on the cooler was empty & appears it had been for a long time. We told them that & were instructed to use the water in the bathroom. It's unsanitary & against the law. They have no regard for employees. There is no microwave, no fridge to hold lunches and no bottled water. They had machines installed to hold food & snacks but the machines were not plugged in & no products are available.
It's a very depressing company and we pity the general public who will fall prey to their business practices. The part of town this office is located in will definitely be taking advantage of the lower income people who need their money in a hurry & Universal will see they pay higher fees in order to get their money fast.
King is a con artist with an ever-present smug look on his face like he's fooling everyone. We wish someone would shut them down.