ANJA, Inc.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a field sales representative for SDI Marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ANJA, Inc.?

I needed someone to provide me with tax processing services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had appointments with Fernando (Principal) at their office, where he reviewed my papers and provided me with ideas of how much my refund will be. He then sent me various tax forms for me to sign and mail back at the appropriate rate.

What is the team composition?

I just worked with Fernando.

How did you come to work with ANJA, Inc.?

I used to do taxes with a CPA in LA. She did great work until she passed away. Her sister took over my account, but she got me in trouble with the IRS. I then started to look for local vendors and ANJA was referred to me by a friend.

How much have you invested with them?

The services I acquired were usually in the $200 USD range, but there was also a $75 USD amendment fee.

What is the status of this engagement?

I worked with ANJA from March 2017–March 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

I had some issues with Fernando making mistakes on my taxes, which I didn’t expect considering he’s a CPA. I talked to him and told him I was still willing to work with him, but it seemed like he didn’t want to deal with the problem as he wasn’t returning my calls. He’d been making the same mistakes for the past three years which resulted in my taxes getting rejected and before 2020, he got one digit wrong on of my children’s social security numbers.

The IRS rejection was sent to him instead of me, so I waited for my return to come in the mail. I called IRS and they told me that the person doing my taxes should’ve informed me about the entire situation. I called Fernando after that, which prompted him to file an amended tax return for me. However, the IRS told me I wasn’t supposed to do an amended return since my taxes were rejected.

In 2020, I was doing my taxes and found out that the income for my wife is non-taxable. (She works in a home support service to help my mother, and my mother lives with me in the same household). That’s about $9,000–$10,000 USD income a year that I didn’t have to pay since home support care is non-taxable.

Moreover, I found out from another CPA that there’s a code that Fernando was supposed to enter in the filing in order to become exempt on that portion. I talked to him about it and told me didn’t know what the code was.

They’re good people, but I don’t know how they don’t know that part of tax filing. Fernando is a CPA, and he does accounting for many companies — we all make mistakes, but he should at least admit it and work with me to fix it.

How was project management handled?

I normally called their office and Fernando would call me back. It’s hard to get a direct hold of him since he’s the owner. Normally, he’d call me back but last time, he told me he’d find out what the code was in order to do the amendment — and he never called me back.

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

Other than what I said, ANJA did a good job. They didn’t get me in trouble with the IRS as it was just a matter of little things that had to be fixed. They’re good people to deal with and I just need them to admit the mistakes they made and fix them.

In what specific areas can they improve?

They should review their social security numbers before printing them. He filled out the returns based on the papers I gave him, but he needed to look at the original social security numbers.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

I’d just tell them what my experience was. I would advise people to do their taxes with them, but they should be careful and take my experiences into consideration.