So, this company offers free tax e-file if you make under a certain amount. They then offer you to do your state for a fee of $12.88. I figured I might as well do them all together and paid.
Well, my state application was listed as “duplicate” and I was instructed to call the IRS. Wrong number. The very nice IRS agent gave me the CA number to call and get cleared up. That agent told me that the site entered the information TWICE so the forms would not be accepted because they were duplicate. He said I had to fill out a whole new form and send it by mail. I did such, and found out that citizentax.com had not given me all the correct deductions that was on the simple 1040ez form. I complained that their company error made me have to do my taxes myself and there system hadn’t even processed my information correctly. There is no number to a real person to call, just a very hidden and hard to find area to write in. After several interactions, they not only won’t refund me, but wrote “… we haven’t been clear. The fact that you filed another return with a tax preparer is irrelevant. Your CA return has accepted through our e-file…”
This company did not listen to a WORD I wrote, so on four attempts I give up.
DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE!!!!
They file your taxes WRONG and offer NO help to fix them, just an IRS number. Their “customer service” department is for several websites that you have to sign up to even use and they are NO HELP!!!
I’m out 13 bucks and had a whole day lost on the phone to clear up the mess they made.
Subscribe to anyone
We regret Circe’s bad experience; however, she needs to read the instructions and follow directions. We charge a fee for all state returns. It is not hidden, but is posted on the homepage for all to see. Circe’s issue is a duplicate for a state return. It is not very common, but occurred as she submitted her return multiple times resulting in a ‘duplicate’. Once a return is received by the IRS or State, the SSN is logged and a message is returned; however, if they receive multiple transmissions from the same taxpayer it is returned as a duplicate. This is her error – not the software and not CitizenTax.
Circe needs to take responsibility for her actions and not be a victim. We provide a superior product and responsive customer support and have e-filed hundreds of thousands of returns. We understand tax season is stressful, but her anger is misplaced.
A little advice Circe – next time, read the instructions.
JG Rollins, CEO
CitizenTax
JG Rollins, CEO on April 2nd, 2008 at 2:42 pm | Link
WOW, If JG Rollins really is CEO of this citizentax.com company than they are very arrogant and you can easily see how difficult they would be to work with when the occasional problem does occur. It really is appalling A CEO of a company would take this dameanor with a customer over $13.00. I can bet you your response JG has lost you 1000 times that $13.00. When you could have just reurned the ladies $13.00 helped her get her error fixed and she would have gone on a rant on how you went far beyond the call of duty to help her out. And you would have gained customer.
owell I know who not to use for my future taxes.
thanks for showing your true colors!!
mark on April 9th, 2008 at 8:42 am | Link
It’s the 13th of April. I e-filed my taxes 5 days ago and never received my DCN number. I will never use them again. Their CEO is a joke. He even posted here for some reason. Losers try to cover their mistakes and this isn’t the place to do it. Mr. Rollins, your tax service is sub par. I will have to contact the IRS and determine what I have to do. I also have no clue as to how to get my 17 dollars back. I also tried to log on to Citizen Tax this morning and the connection was refused. To all reading this, I would use TaxAct. It’s user friendly. I prepared my moms taxes with it and within a day, she recieved her DCN number.
Mr. Rollins, your no CEO. You’re a joke.
Bobby Davidson on April 13th, 2008 at 8:29 am | Link
Citizen Tax DO NOT USE they also botched up my whole families state taxes and haven’t refunded us either. I have tried numerous attempts to contact them and they do not respond back they owe my money!!
M Boone on April 13th, 2008 at 11:21 am | Link
. Their services seems to be defective. IRS rejected me, and code 0020 was given for reason. I didn’t miss spell my name, or their software should’ve detected it. I tried another service and was accepted in three hours. just file with your credit card company
Steve on April 13th, 2008 at 1:05 pm | Link
i will never return to use citizentax… they triple-charged me for services that i did not even complete because their software is so entirely screwed up, and trying to contact a representative is nearly impossible! every email address i attempt is rejected. i am highly disappointed. after speaking with someone from the IRS, they advised me to delete everything and use a different program - i used the turbotax free program , which was incredibly simple and actually free!
maranda on April 13th, 2008 at 5:23 pm | Link
I did my federal and Virginia returns on citizentax and it went through fine. I did have to read the directions carefully and check on a couple of things, but I didn’t have any trouble being accepted. I got my refund in just a few days. I have used the site for two years now, and have been completely satisfied both times.
Julie on April 13th, 2008 at 5:34 pm | Link
CitizenTax screwed up my taxes too. Their attitude is arrogant and unhelpful. Just check out their website’s “Contact Us” button: that’s NOT where they put the info about how to contact them. It’s just a dead-end. (By the way, the REAL contact info, which requires a whole separate registration process, is buried in the FAQ section.)
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and encourage others to do the same. Also, notify the IRS that this service is flawed and encourage them to remove the link to CitizenTax from their website.
consumed on April 14th, 2008 at 10:08 am | Link
I filed my return with this website last Thursday, and today I can’t access their site to check on the status of my return. The last time I checked on Friday the status was that they were waiting to hear back from IRS that it had been accepted. That’s the last time I checked until this morning, and not I can’t access their website. Has anyone else had this problem? I’ll keep trying–hoping they’ll get their site going again later today.
AEC on April 14th, 2008 at 11:03 am | Link
Well, we can’t even access their website at all! Looks like they are no longer around!
Lisa on April 14th, 2008 at 11:07 am | Link
So how or where do we complain? I’m panicking because I even paid by electronic check what I owed to IRS and haven’t been able to confirm that my return or payment have been received! It hasn’t gone thru my bank yet as of last nite. Not sure what to do.
AEC on April 14th, 2008 at 11:34 am | Link
It is too bad that JG Rollins, the (self-reported) CEO of CitizenTax did not post any of his person contact info: address, cell phone, phone number, or you might be able to contact him directly.
DO NOT USE CITIZENTAX.COM TO DO YOUR TAX RETURN. IT has HORRIBLE SERVICE. I had to call the state to make sure they receive my tax return because it says that my state return was a duplicate. WTF. I f****** submitted once.
Better alternative: TRY turbotax.com OR taxact.com.
ONCE AGAIN, DO NOT USE CITIZENTAX.COM.
ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT I REGRET USING IT. I WILL NOT USE IT NEXT YEAR.
cx on April 14th, 2008 at 5:22 pm | Link
i also tried to track my status but cant log on to citizentax.com , the page is just blank white … last i saw they were awaiting irs confirmation , also i couldnt print out or go back to see my return , i tried many times , they did however instantly take their payment out of my checking account , i think their fee is the main thing they are worried about , i hope the irs gets my return and it isnt all screwed up ???
mark on April 14th, 2008 at 6:00 pm | Link
Does having the DCN number mean the taxes went through? It’s been 3 days and it still says: Waiting IRS Response
BUT I do have a DCN number? I am so confused and yes, trying to get help from them is impossible.
I am stressing out because today is the last day. I filed in time, but am not sure if the IRS accepted the return or not.
Please help!
Thanks,
Sheila
Sheila on April 15th, 2008 at 2:23 pm | Link
To Sheila, Not sure that the DCN # means much. I was finally able to access their site late on the 14th, but it wasn’t until the 15th that the site actually told me that the IRS had accepted my return. It did say that it was accepted on the 14th. Not sure about my payment yet, as that hasn’t cleared my bank yet although I paid by elect. check. I hope that too reached the IRS on the 15th. I have also used TurboTax before and they were much better at this whole thing that this website has been. I didn’t go with TT this time because they were still going to charge a fee for doing a simple 1040EZ. I didn’t get charged by Cit. Tax, but I think Ill stick w/TT next time.
AEC on April 16th, 2008 at 10:00 am | Link
I have also had problems with citizen tax. Ultimately, I was forced to file my state taxes late because the return was rejected. The CT website didn’t adequately explain how to fix the tax form, and didn’t provide a phone number for customer service. I won’t use CT again, and I intend to file a report with the Better Business Bureau.
AMC on April 22nd, 2008 at 8:28 am | Link
hey, just wanted to weigh in; the exact same thing happened to me re: a duplicate state return. I just found out that I’ve got to file a D-400X amended return because citizentax is bad at its job. I also like the difficulty one faces when trying to contact the company, it’s a joke. Citizentax, thanks for nothing. Now I’ve got to add a call to the Better Business Bureau, my state tax agency, the IRS, and my credit card company to my to-do list.
Kurt on April 22nd, 2008 at 9:09 am | Link
i agree- don’t use citizen tax. i tried to file MA state taxes here and they took my money but then had no website to actually file?! i’ve used tons of other websites over the years (including h&r block, tax-engine, turbotax) with at most minor problems and good customer service. this site’s supposed customer service site is inaccessible to me despite registering multiple times and so i’ve given up and reported it to my credit card company. irs.gov should remove this site’s link.
margaret on April 22nd, 2008 at 11:34 am | Link
Citizentax is worthless. I’ve had several of the problems described above. And good luck contacting them.
Matt on April 23rd, 2008 at 4:36 pm | Link
Citizentax is a rip-off. I just found out they never filed my tax return. Can’t contact them to find out why. They have my money. Here’s the kicker…I got to them by following a link on the IRS.gov website. If it is on the IRS website, I assumed the IRS endorsed this company. I spoke with the IRS after learning my taxes were never filed. He said the IRS couldn’t help me. I told him they should not have links to fraudulent companies on the IRS website, he was unaware that they even did this. He suggested I contact the Federal Trade Commission, which I intend on doing.
I also have filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s office in Arkansas (presumably where this company is headquartered). They also go by the name “Smokey Software”.
I have checked with Conway Arkansas Chamber of Commerce. They never heard of them (what a shock)!
If I have to, I will visit this a-hole in Arkansas and a gentle reminder that he can’t treat US Citizens this way. I will get my money’s worth from him one way or the other…it’s his choice.
Lightbody on May 1st, 2008 at 1:09 pm | Link