By Dallas Gagnon
masslive.com
(TNS)
The Federal Trade Commission is suing a supposed “tax debt relief” company over claims it was falsely impersonating government agencies, threatening consumers and pocketing “tens of millions of consumers’ dollars.”
Now a federal court has temporarily halted the company from falsely impersonating government agencies, according to the FTC.
The FTC recently filed a joint lawsuit with the state of Nevada against American Tax Service as well as its owners and seven affiliated parties for making false claims that they could help taxpayers with their debts.
Instead, the service exaggerated taxpayers’ debts, coaxed them into paying for services that promised debt release and falsely claimed the IRS was investigating them.
“The Commission alleges the company’s operators falsely claimed they could settle taxpayers’ back taxes for ‘pennies on the dollar’ or for only a “fraction” of what taxpayers owed, often making these claims before evaluating the taxpayer’s circumstances,” the FTC said.
American Tax Service has been operating these schemes since at least 2019.
According to the FTC, the company has continually misled consumers by impersonating the government and mailing threatening letters.
The lawsuit claims American Tax Service also made false claims about their services, failed to fulfill its promises and refused refunds to paying and dissatisfied customers.
“ATS (American Tax Service) sales representatives misled consumers about the severity of their tax debt issues to scare them into paying for ATS’s tax debt relief services,” the FTC wrote in a statement.
“… Once consumers agree to pay for ATS’s services, the operators of the scheme did little, if any, of the promised work and rarely, if ever, obtained the promised results.”
According to the FTC, American Tax Service violated the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule requirements, made false and empty promises to reduce tax payer debts and impersonated local, state and federal authorities.
The FTC and state of Nevada are seeking permanent injunction, monetary relief, and other relief, including an asset freeze, the appointment of a receiver, and immediate access to American Tax Service business property.
Photo credit: Greggory DiSalvo/iStock
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©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit masslive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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