I'm a 73 year old Australian widow living in Brighton. Today I found out that Roy A. Berg from Moodys Gartner used scare tactics to bill me a ridiculous amount in fees. I first heard of Moodys Gartner at a seminar on international tax. Since I'm Australian I wanted to know more about my own tax situation. Roy A. Berg started by talking about having foreign bank accounts greater than $10k while living in the U.S., now at first I didn't think much of this since I don't have any bank accounts. Then, he specifically mentioned Superannuation accounts. I began to worry about what he was going to say. After a few minutes he began mentioning that Superannuation accounts need to be reported on the U.S. income tax and are taxable. I began to panic! I've been living in Australia my whole life and not once did I know about this. Then Mr. Berg began to talk about the penalties involved with my situation. I nearly had a heart attack when he mentioned jail time. So once the seminar was over I went to talk with Roy Berg to get more guidance. After a few minutes or so of talking he said that he can get me back into compliance with the IRS through something called an Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program.
Now, first of all, I didn't know about U.S. tax compliance at the time so I agreed. He wanted to know exactly how much I had in my Superannuation account to "determine if I qualified." So I gave him the exact amount in my Super down to the cent. After we talked he said he'll reach out to me once he arrived to his office in Calgary. The next day he called me and we spoke for about an hour, he walked me through the process and explained everything in detail. Then came the fees associated with this, $35,000 was the cost of coming back into compliance with the IRS. I had no idea it would cost so much, so I decided to have a day or two to think about it. I wasn't able to sleep at night because I kept thinking about the penalties and jail time Mr. Berg kept pushing on me. So two days later I decided I was going to go through with the Offshore program and wire over the $35K.
Before doing so I decided to call another firm in Australia to see if maybe they can give me some insight or to see if they've worked with Moodys Gartner before. The young lady told me that they've heard of them, but not really worked with them. Instead she gave me a number to another tax firm that they work very closely with. So I decided to try them out and gave them a call. I don't know if it was a sign or maybe my husband is looking out for me from heaven, but this other firm said that I didnt need to do the Offshore program. They were honest with me and said that most practitioners will push that program mainly because it's expensive and they get a bigger cut. The manager explained that what I needed to do was the Streamlined Filing Compliance program. He explained it to me, answered all my questions in great detail, and even better my fee was only going to be a tenth of what Roy Berg was trying to charge me. I'm now in compliance with the IRS and I only had to pay $3,500! I even received a letter from the IRS stating I was officially back in compliance. It was such a weight lifted off my shoulders.
I honestly can't believe that I was going to pay $35,000! Any company or individual that uses scare tactics on an elderly widow shouldn't even be allowed to operate. All I have left is my retirement from Australia, and I would've lost a big portion of my money had I gone with Moodys Gartner. They are evil, stay away!
Moodys Gartner Tax Law LLP Reviews
I'm a 73 year old Australian widow living in Brighton. Today I found out that Roy A. Berg from Moodys Gartner used scare tactics to bill me a ridiculous amount in fees. I first heard of Moodys Gartner at a seminar on international tax. Since I'm Australian I wanted to know more about my own tax situation. Roy A. Berg started by talking about having foreign bank accounts greater than $10k while living in the U.S., now at first I didn't think much of this since I don't have any bank accounts. Then, he specifically mentioned Superannuation accounts. I began to worry about what he was going to say. After a few minutes he began mentioning that Superannuation accounts need to be reported on the U.S. income tax and are taxable. I began to panic! I've been living in Australia my whole life and not once did I know about this. Then Mr. Berg began to talk about the penalties involved with my situation. I nearly had a heart attack when he mentioned jail time. So once the seminar was over I went to talk with Roy Berg to get more guidance. After a few minutes or so of talking he said that he can get me back into compliance with the IRS through something called an Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program.
Now, first of all, I didn't know about U.S. tax compliance at the time so I agreed. He wanted to know exactly how much I had in my Superannuation account to "determine if I qualified." So I gave him the exact amount in my Super down to the cent. After we talked he said he'll reach out to me once he arrived to his office in Calgary. The next day he called me and we spoke for about an hour, he walked me through the process and explained everything in detail. Then came the fees associated with this, $35,000 was the cost of coming back into compliance with the IRS. I had no idea it would cost so much, so I decided to have a day or two to think about it. I wasn't able to sleep at night because I kept thinking about the penalties and jail time Mr. Berg kept pushing on me. So two days later I decided I was going to go through with the Offshore program and wire over the $35K.
Before doing so I decided to call another firm in Australia to see if maybe they can give me some insight or to see if they've worked with Moodys Gartner before. The young lady told me that they've heard of them, but not really worked with them. Instead she gave me a number to another tax firm that they work very closely with. So I decided to try them out and gave them a call. I don't know if it was a sign or maybe my husband is looking out for me from heaven, but this other firm said that I didnt need to do the Offshore program. They were honest with me and said that most practitioners will push that program mainly because it's expensive and they get a bigger cut. The manager explained that what I needed to do was the Streamlined Filing Compliance program. He explained it to me, answered all my questions in great detail, and even better my fee was only going to be a tenth of what Roy Berg was trying to charge me. I'm now in compliance with the IRS and I only had to pay $3,500! I even received a letter from the IRS stating I was officially back in compliance. It was such a weight lifted off my shoulders.
I honestly can't believe that I was going to pay $35,000! Any company or individual that uses scare tactics on an elderly widow shouldn't even be allowed to operate. All I have left is my retirement from Australia, and I would've lost a big portion of my money had I gone with Moodys Gartner. They are evil, stay away!