Customers of tax service now being hit with IRS late fees and interest

By Terry Camp

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    BAY CITY, Michigan (WJRT) — The controversy surrounding a Bay City tax service continues, and now it appears the IRS will not be so forgiving to those customers whose taxes were either filed late or not at all.

In 2023, Falasz Tax Service customers reached out to ABC 12 News, saying the tax service they hired didn’t file their taxes, even after the October extension deadline.

People are still in tax limbo, including a man who now owes the IRS thousands in late fees and interest.

At this point, there appears to be no recourse for the man or the others impacted.

Bay City Public Safety Department did try to assist Andrew Thede in getting his 2023 tax forms back from the Falasz Tax Service, but the owners of the company couldn’t be found.

Thede is not giving up.

He is leaving messages for the co-owner of the Falasz Tax and Accounting Service, Brandy Sinicki.

In February, she told ABC 12 about the unfolding tax disaster.

“Anybody that wants their paperwork back, they are welcome to come get it back,” Sinicki said in an interview.

Thede has been trying to do that for months.

“If they respond, there is always an excuse,” says Thede.

Thede owns three small Mount Pleasant businesses and is one of many Falasz Tax Service customers who discovered their taxes weren’t filed, and extensions weren’t filed, all due to what the company said was some type of cyber attack.

Even though his 2020 taxes have not been filed, the 2021 and 2022 taxes have now been filed, but just a couple of weeks ago, he got this letter from the Internal Revenue Service.

“Penalties and interest for two of the four years, we are looking at about $25,000 alone, says Thede. “I have one bill for $64,000.”

He filed a form with the IRS explaining why the taxes were filed late, but he says the agency hasn’t been understanding.

“I don’t understand how you come up with what I need to pay, but don’t stand behind me when someone you have certified to do my taxes doesn’t do what they are supposed to do,” says Thede.

Andrew and family members were met by police at the home of Tommy Falasz, the co-owner of the tax service company.

Thede wants his 2023 tax forms back as those documents have not been filed with the IRS.

No one was home or at the tax service business just blocks away. Police tell him there is little they can do.

“They point you in the direction of the prosecutor, prosecutor points you in the direction of the FBI, FBI doesn’t have any answers yet,” he says.

We sent an email to the IRS today about the situation but did not hear back.

The FBI is believed to be investigating.

ABC 12 left text messages for the co-owners of Falasz Tax and Accounting Service, but no messages were returned.

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