Everyone was super helpful. My questions were answered quick and it was clear everyone was…read moreknowledgeable. Thank you!

Very helpful and would highly recommend. Nicole helped us with a complicated tax situation and it…read morewas resolved to our complete satisfaction.

There are no words that can fully express how much I loooovvvee Alan Lopato and his staff. You see,…read morewhen I got divorced and decided to become a small business owner as a Real Estate Agent I didn't have a lot of energy left to handle the other parts of my life. He made sure that I saved money, kept on top of everthing that I needed to help me make the right financial decisions. Every year I am so impressed by them. I am truely grateful. I refer all of my clients to Alan. I don't know what I would do without him and his staff. Angela

Pros: they're very reasonably priced Cons: i could've done…read moremy own taxes and came up with the same numbers, i used an accountant hoping for them to use their expertise to do more than just the basics but ended up owing just as much as had i done them on my own. They also take a very long time, filed two extensions before finishing my taxes. They basically take your info and tell you they'll call you when they're ready. They weren't ready until months after taxes were due.

Had a consultation with Magali and was very impressed with her professionalism and dedication to…read moreher work! She was referred to us by a trusted colleague and we were very glad to find her. It was apparent that she had a lot of experience with large reputable firms and is truly passionate about her work. We discussed several specifics and she was very knowledgeable. Highly recommend!

A very efficient help with my tax return. Not sure how we could have done any better. Thank you.read more

Hidden gem and a true professional! We were introduced to…read moreRon through his wife Nancy. Nancy helped us buy a house in San Diego in 2010. At the time, we were still having our annual income tax filing done up in Los Angeles. Ron is a CPA servicing both commercial and personal income tax. We were looking for an expert who stands by their work. You never know if you are going to be randomly picked by the IRS to be audited. If you do, you want Ron in your corner, with a successful track history of being on point with his tax work. He has long time customers who moved out of state and still use his services. If you are looking for peace of mind, I highly recommend Ron for preparing annual income tax filing.

Ron is a consummate professional and always friendly. I have…read morenever felt rushed or pressured and Ron has navigated me expertly through some complicated tax issues involving a rental. I believe his fees are more than reasonable and would highly recommend his services! Gregg Van Slyke

I cannot emphasize enough how confident we are with David York's Tax Services…read more In the years that we've been blessed to use his service, we've been thoroughly impressed with his timeliness, preparedness, professionalism and expertise. We've been treated to a worry free process every filing system. Thanks David (and supporting cast)

A couple years ago I got the kind of scary mail from the IRS you never want to see, and it's…read morebecause of a straightforward W-2 mistake David made on my income tax return. He still won't pay me back for it. The facts: - In 2021 I got a decent-sized raise at my job. (Brag?) When it came time to file my 2021 taxes, David accidentally COPY AND PASTED the much lower income from the previous year, 2020. So he underreported my income by a lot. Of course he had my accurate 2021 W-2 -- but he was too disorganized, rushed or careless to use it. - Not only that, he copy and pasted some *unemployment income* from 2020 into my 2021 return, so -- to add insult to injury -- not only did he massively under-report my salary, he also slightly over-reported it with non-existent unemployment income. - I ended up owing almost $10K in back taxes, interest, and an extra-high penalty. - After I paid the back taxes, he tried to help with appealing the penalty. But he did this by sending the IRS a half-hearted ashy letter about numbers that were "entered incorrectly" and he didn't specifically request or argue for an abatement in the penalty. - (I also paid a ridiculous amount of interest.) - Unsurprisingly the IRS rejected this attempt and ruled that the penalty must be paid. - It's around this time that communication with David York became especially spotty, where he said he'll call the IRS...but then he fell off the map and it took weeks to hear back from him. - I paid the penalty by the deadline. - He called the IRS (after the deadline lol) then emailed me claiming that the "the penalty and interest have been removed" and I'm like...wtf are you talking about. That's probably because of what I paid already?? - I've asked him to reimburse me just for some of penalties and interest, $1,852.68 -- which doesn't even include an earlier interest payment or state penalties that his mistake bubbled up. Gave him an address to send a check. But he hasn't. It's been radio silence from David York. - "You should hear back from me by Monday" is the last thing he wrote to me, back in January 2025, words to echo on into the void forever. - Silver lining though, I recently learned Rihanna's accountant also owes her money so now I have something in common with Rihanna. Read the one-star reviews. They'll save you a lot of time and $$$$$ in the future. (Oh, and side note not related to this income tax fiasco -- on a return for my S Corp at the time, he didn't even provide us the full return, just an authorization page that was missing Form 1120-S and the K1, so we were scrambling the following year looking for it.) I also noticed his business has a second profile on yelp, which might help him get around these one-stars. You should choose literally anyone else to do your taxes.

My husband and I are still genuinely confused about how our relatively simple tax return was…read morehandled so poorly. We chose Max based on the positive reviews. We had recently gotten married and filed jointly for the first time. Our return consisted of four W-2s and a gifted property deed. We uploaded everything requested, and Max confirmed he had all the necessary documents and should have our numbers finalized by our first meeting scheduled the following week. At our first meeting, we were shown a large refund amount, which surprised us since we typically owe significant taxes individually. A few days later, Max admitted he failed to include all four W-2s in the calculations. Once corrected, the outcome changed dramatically and we owed money instead. To his credit, he refunded his preparation fee and offered to file an amendment at no charge. However, the amended return numbers did not match the revised figures we reviewed. Shortly after, we received federal and California refunds that also did not align with the submitted amounts. Months later, the IRS notified us the return was processed incorrectly and requested repayment. We immediately paid it back and are still waiting to see what happens with the California Franchise Tax Board. What makes this especially frustrating is that this was not a highly complex return. It was four W-2s and a property deed. We later consulted another reputable tax professional who was also confused by how these errors occurred. After revisiting prior reviews more carefully, we noticed similar complaints involving incorrect calculations and filing inconsistencies. Based on our personal experience, we strongly encourage others to carefully review all submitted figures and consider obtaining a second opinion before filing. This review reflects only our personal experience. Also, there is no need for a public response from the firm. Multiple apologies do not resolve the stress, confusion, or time spent dealing with these issues.

My wife and I chose Max to perform our taxes, a filing that on paper should be pretty cut and dry…read more 4 W-2's between the 2 of us and that's it. Nothing complicated. Apparently Max thought the same thing and became complacent, causing him to miss one of the 4 W-2's we provided, causing it to go from us getting a sizable return to now owing money. This resulted in him having to file an amendment which took way longer to be processed, and having the CA FTB and the IRS sending the incorrect refunds which I ultimately had to pay back. My problem is not that we owed money. I get that part. But the fact that this filing should have been a walk in the park yet was turned into a situation where I had to deal with the IRS directly for the first time in my life because Max and his shoot-from-the-hip cowboy BS thought that this was too easy to fail and thought he was making an easy over 500(!) dollars. Granted, we were rightfully refunded the outrageous sum that Max charged us for the filing but it does beg the question, where do you people get off charging over 500 dollars for a simple tax filing? It's not as if we had multiple businesses, dependents and assets to work with. He already had the numbers filled when we say into his office so this was obviously an easy close, yet he still screwed it up. I could have taken this to Turbo Tax or H&R Block and they would have done it for less that half of what Max charges and they wouldn't have made such a novice mistake. Max, you caused my wife and I a lot of trouble during a time where we should have been celebrating. This was our first year filing taxes together and were in the middle of a move to another town entirely so this burden was something we definitely did not need. But no worries. I am going to make sure that knowledge your incompetence is spread on any forum I can find, and any organization that fields complaints from hacks like you will have you on their radar. Let's see if I can't create problems in your life as you have with mine.

Okay, this guy is a FORMER IRS AGENT!!! Do you know how rare that is to find?? I don't know of…read moreanyone else in San Diego who can claim that. Plus he's a SUPER NICE GUY!! He is funny and also quite brilliant. He knows codes and rules and strategies and can recite them to you from memory. I use him for my personal and business tax filings. I have never been audited and even if I did, he completely knows the system so well, that I would not even lose a moment's sleep because I know he would handle the whole thing. He has told me some amazing stories about his days in the IRS (28 years!), stuff you will never here elsewhere. NOTE: HE IS NOT FOR EVERYONE!!! You can't be Mr. Cheap and pay him a bargain rate because he is experienced and he knows what he is doing. Use him if the IRS is going after you or you are in serious hot water. HE WILL SAVE YOUR ASS. But understand that his time is valuable, he has a waiting list of people to see him. His Yelp page says he gives free consultations, so you can at least find out what he's all about. Bottom line: if you want to make sure your taxes are flied correctly, nay, to perfection, then you can trust this man. Call him and talk to him, you will see right away what I'm saying.

Alan was an IRS audit/appeals officer for 28 years and after a stellar career, decided to cross…read moreover and help people who have tax issues. I cannot think of a better or more knowledgeable individual to have working alongside you if you need tax counsel. He helped me immensely with an offer/compromise and crafted it in a manner where he knew what the IRS would accept and reject. Don't joust with the IRS alone... get advice from Alan Spiegel and follow it to the "T".

Very expensive for single filer. They wanted $500 to file a W2 and some education documents.read more

The best tax group around! Kathy DeMonte is a true asset and will always steered my family and…read morebusiness to great success.