Municipal Auditing Services - Unsubstantiated invoice for non-existant claims! a very poorly-run collection agency. In 2011, my entire neighborhood in Hawthorne, CA (Bodger Park area, we all talk together) received identical form letters stating: "We believe you are selling retail merchandise in Hawthorne. Pay for a business license or face penalties." -17 identical scare-tactic form letters mailed to us in the last six years. - 12.9.17: They mailed me an unsubstantiated "Invoice" for $7,253 (claiming over $500,000 in "gross retail sales" per year for the past seven years.) ALTHOUGH I HAVE NEVER BEEN IN THE RETAIL SALES BUSINESS! - with a Feb 1, 2018 deadline. - THERE IS NO WAY TO REPLY TO THEM: - Invoice says, "absent further taxpayer submissions," yet - 12.12.17: I called twice during weekday business hours: NO ANSWER at their number 877 845 7370 - 12.12.17: I mailed a certified, registered letter to their ONLY LISTED ADDRESS, a PO Box, not yet signed for as of 12.28.17 - MAS website www.mastax.org has no information on their Co: instead just a list of click-thru ads for unrelated companies such as "investing, signage, adoption, auto glass repair, gift baskets, medical facilities, TV shows," etc - No information on how to request an extension of their Feb 1 deadline. - Their Invoice: - only one page long - said "continued, Hawthorne business tax application package attached," - nothing was attached - Invoice says, "taxpayer has been properly noticed and has failed to resolve this matter," - Incorrect - this is the 1st notice/Invoice I've received. Signs MAS is actually just a poorly-run collection agency: - Their Caller ID says "Unknown" - When I call back, phone never answers - Website is just ads for unrelated companies - Not accepting Certified mail or emails - "If" no response from them, my only recourse is to direct my lawyer to hire a courier to wait daily at their PO Box until someone arrives to pick up mail (if ever,) and require MAS to pay legal fees read more

Scam. Please dont send anything (or any of your financial information!) to these people. They should be fined and shut down. Unfortunately they are one of many (lots located in Fresno and Sacramento) who scan the business names in the public domain and send threatening blanket mail out to them wanting money. Ive been incorporated for 4 months now and have received no less than five of these types of letters. I rip them up, and send them back in pieces in unstamped no-return address envelopes with the words "RUSH" on them. Sometimes I wait and stuff them full of other trash or something from another scammer in the hopes they pay extra postage. Probably doesnt do much but it makes me feel better. read more

I just Incorporated a few months ago and my license became active a few weeks ago I didn't even start my business. All of a sudden I get this in the mail from these guys claiming God oh well over $2,000 for business conducted when I haven't even got my business off the ground you! I think this is a scam all you other folks on here put our heads together for the class action lawsuit against these people read more

same complaint as the other reviewers. have no business in hawthorne but receive notice after notice that i owe back taxes. this is city supported extortion!! funny, there is no state agency stepping forward to stop municipalities support for this illegal activity. read more

This business sent me a letter stating that I owed 5 years back city taxes for the City of Covina, totalling $775 (First Notice). They said that I was a licensed real estate salesperson associated with a broker operating in the City of Covina, when I just use my friend's smog shop for a mailing address. My broker is not even located in Covina. He is located in Rancho Cucamonga and I haven't talked to him for years. I have not done any real estate transactions for years, and all the one's I have done were in the Inland Empire. They asked me for my tax forms. I sent it to them, showing my Rowland Heights, CA address with all the computer work that I have been doing for the past 5 years. I am a computer technician that's based out of Rowland Heights for the past 5 years. And they still insisted that I had to pay the City of Covina and gave me some strange reason why I still had to pay even though I had not been doing any real estate for years. I don't know what's up with these guys trying to squeeze money out of people in order to fill their pockets. They need to change their business practice. I don't know what the world has come to if businesses like this try to force collect money from people for no reason at all. read more

this biz is a sham. I paid my biz license fees through 6/12, yet they supposedly did an audit and decided that I owed biz license fees from 2009 thru 2013. They, MUNICIPAL AUDITING SERVICES, get paid based on how much they collect, so their incentive is to over-charge you, not how much you actually owe. They over-charged me $569.80. MAKE SURE YOU KEEP YOUR PAPERWORK BECAUSE THE CITY OF ALAMEDA AND THIS COMPANY WILL BLEED YOU TO DEATH ON FEES THAT YOU DON'T OWE. read more

This company is currently trying to shake me down for 5 years of back taxes on a new business that has made 0 dollars. There is currently no business being done and no money has exchanged hands. They are saying I owe $7,249.00 in taxes. What is wrong with these people? Is this legal? Legally I should owe nothing if next to nothing on a business started this year that has made 0 dollars. Why would I ever want to keep a business in the city of Hawthorne California if this is what happens to new businesses? How can I owe 5 years of taxes on a business started in 2016? Something needs to be done. read more

How can I protect myself? This company is billing me $770 for licenses, fees and penalties just because I got a California Seller's permit though I never used it! I never had a penny of income. Yet, they write and threaten me. Can they do anything? Is my credit at risk? read more