In a Nutshell
pros
- Offers catch-up bookkeeping
- Can prepare and file taxes for your business
- Excellent customer reviews
cons
- Doesn’t offer shared-access bookkeeping software
- Customer service may vary by accountant
Overview
Tax Hardship Center at a Glance
What is the Tax Hardship Center?
Tax Hardship Center is a California-based tax relief company founded in 2012. The company offers tax relief, bookkeeping, and tax preparation services for individuals and small businesses.
Tax Hardship Center is especially well-suited for business owners who don’t have time to manage bookkeeping on their own or aren’t comfortable filing their own business taxes. Tax Hardship Center can help you get your books up to date, prepare all your tax forms, and file on your business’s behalf.
Tax Hardship Center can also help you get tax relief if you’ve fallen behind on your business taxes. The company’s accountants and tax lawyers can negotiate an agreement with the IRS or your state’s tax agency or defend your business during an audit.
Tax Hardship Center Services
Bookkeeping
Tax Hardship Center can take over bookkeeping for your business, freeing you up to focus on managing and growing your company. An accountant from Tax Hardship Center will review all your invoices, receipts, and business accounts to ensure all of your revenue and expenses are tracked.
If you’ve fallen behind on bookkeeping, Tax Hardship Center also offers catch-up bookkeeping. An accountant will reconcile your accounts, categorize past expenses, and get your books up to date.
Business tax preparation
Tax Hardship Center can prepare taxes on behalf of your business and file with the IRS and your state. Professional accountants will ensure you get every deduction and write-off your business is entitled to while also minimizing your tax risk.
Tax Hardship Center will also send required tax documents, including W-2 and 1099 forms, to your employees and contractors.
Audit defense
If the IRS audits your business, tax attorneys from Tax Hardship Center can defend you during the process. Attorneys will interface with IRS auditors so you don’t have to.
Business tax relief
If your business owes back taxes or faces penalties from the IRS or a state tax agency, Tax Hardship Center can help negotiate a payment plan. This can potentially reduce the total amount your business owes and lift any levies on your business bank account.
Is Tax Hardship Center Safe and Reliable?
Tax Hardship Center has been operating for more than 10 years. It has a 4.7-star rating on Trustpilot and an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
I did find some customer complaints stating that Tax Hardship Center wasn’t helpful or didn’t communicate well. However, these complaints were relatively rare, and the company responded directly to each of these reviews.
How Tax Hardship Center Works
To use Tax Hardship Center’s services, you’ll need to provide your accountant with all paperwork related to your business’s income and expenses. This includes bank statements, receipts, and invoices. Your accountant will use this information to categorize transactions, reconcile your accounts, and file your business taxes.
Tax Hardship Center doesn’t use shared-access accounting software that allows you to monitor your accounts in real-time. So, you must request a copy of your accounts to see a full list of your categorized transactions.
How To Get Started With Tax Hardship Center
You can get started with Tax Hardship Center by contacting the company by phone, email, or through a contact form on the website. An accountant will call to learn more about your business, including what types of bookkeeping, tax preparation, or tax relief services you need. They’ll also provide a quote for how much these services will cost.
I found that the onboarding process varies slightly depending on exactly what shape your business’s accounts are in. If you need catch-up bookkeeping help, your accountant will ask for your business’s bank and purchase card statements and invoices. If you need tax preparation help, you’ll need to provide access to your books and work with your accountant to review your expense categories.
Tax Hardship Center Customer Service
Tax Hardship Center offers customer service by phone and email from 8am to 5pm (PT), Monday-Friday. I called and was able to speak with an accountant right away. Email responses typically take about one business day.
Tax Hardship Center’s website has a helpful tax blog with articles about bookkeeping, payroll taxes, and business tax preparation.
How To Cancel or Pause a Tax Hardship Center Subscription
You can stop using Tax Hardship Center for your bookkeeping or tax preparation at any time. You’ll need to contact your accountant to terminate your contract.
Tax Hardship Center Pricing
Tax Hardship Center offers pricing by quote only. This makes sense since the amount of work involved in bookkeeping or tax preparation varies depending on the size and complexity of your business.
In general, small business owners should expect to pay around $1,000-$3,000 per month for bookkeeping services. This is in line with the industry average for professional bookkeeping. If you’re using Tax Hardship Center for tax relief or catch-up bookkeeping, the company offers a 14-day money-back guarantee after your first payment.
Bottom Line
Tax Hardship Center offers helpful bookkeeping and tax preparation services for small businesses. It takes a lot of the work out of managing your accounts and ensures that your business taxes are filed correctly. It’s a great feature that the Tax Hardship Center offers catch-up bookkeeping, so you can get your books in order even if you haven’t been carefully tracking income and expenses in the past.
Overall, Tax Hardship Center offers good value for small businesses. It’s worthwhile for business owners who want to focus on growing their business and worry less about bookkeeping or filing taxes.
