Your Guide to Sue Liberty Tax Service in Small Claims Court

1

Can you sue Liberty Tax Service? Does it qualify for small claims court?

Looking to sue Liberty Tax Service? You have to verify first and foremost so that your case qualifies.

Small claims courts are unique and only take certain types of cases so before you run off to sue Liberty Tax Service in small claims court you have to make sure that your case qualifies.

Small claims courts have limits for how much monetary compensation you can ask for. Every state is different, with some having limits as low as $2,500 and others upwards of $10,000. When you add together all of the damages that you want in compensation, it may or may not exceed this maximum. Issues with taxes can very quickly escalate especially when it comes to a tax mistake that resulted in subsequent fines and fees from the IRS. You can find a list of all 50 states’ monetary limits here.
You also can only ask for monetary compensation in most small claims courts as opposed to equitable, like property. Given that the issues with the tax service, it’s very likely that the competition you’re asking for is monetary but if the issue escalated to the point where your property was confiscated, for example, you won’t be able to ask for that property back but you will be able to ask for the monetary value of it.

If your claim doesn’t fall within the limits of your state’s small claims court, you’ll have to arbitrate your claim instead.

2

Send a demand letter.

Your case qualified? Great. Now you start the process to sue Liberty Tax Service in small claims court with a demand letter. The demand letter is a very simple letter required by most courts in an attempt to allow Liberty Tax Service to fix the problem voluntarily. The use of any court is a burden on the taxpayers which is why they want to make sure you’ve exercised all of your options before coming to them.

This letter doesn’t have to be complicated, in fact, all it has to do is explain your name and contact information, what your issue is, and how you want Liberty Tax Service to fix it’s just to give them the opportunity to acknowledge your issue and rectify the situation.

You have to mail a hard copy of this letter to their official, legal address via certified mail to:

JTH Tax, Inc.
Corporate Creations Network, Inc.
3411 Silverside Road Tatnall Building, Ste 104
Wilmington, DE 19810

If you would like examples of demand letters or more information about how to write them, you can find an excellent guide here.

3

Fill out court forms.

Now that you sent the letter and received no response it’s time to fill out the forms to sue Liberty Tax Service in small claims court. Different states require different forms so make sure you check your state court website to figure out what forms you need.

Find your state court website here.

You also need to make sure you have the right number of copies. Most of the time you need three or four copies for the next step and if you don’t have enough, you’ll have to come back and try again.

4

File your court forms.

With all of your copies ready to go, now you have to go to the court, most of the time in person to hand-deliver the documents to your county clerk. There are different rules for this process and it’s important that you verify with the court where you live.

In order to sue Liberty Tax Service you will have to pay the small claims court filing fee, the amount of which should be listed on your court website.

Most courts require you visit during specific days of the week and specific hours of the day and after standing in line under the fluorescent lights with the quintessential tile floors, you will approach the clerk, get your document stamps, and get a hearing date.

5

“Serve” your forms on Liberty Tax Service.

Once you are done filing, the next step to sue Liberty Tax Service is to let them know that you have filed the paperwork officially. This process is called serving.

Once again, every court is different in terms of how you are to properly serve documents to a defendant. If you don’t follow each and every rule for this step your case will be thrown out with no compensation.

6

Show up for court.

Once you are done serving the company you are ready for court. When you head to small claims court make sure you bring your copy of the file to court documents and any evidence you have to back up why you decided to sue Liberty Tax Service.

Whether Liberty Tax Service sends someone to oppose you or not, your job at this point is simply to present your evidence and explain your side of the story. If you have done everything right, chances are you will get compensation for qualifying cases.

Bear in mind that this decision could be rendered by the judge on the same day, but it might take a few weeks before the judge comes to a binding decision. It all depends on the situation.

Ready to sue Liberty Tax Service in small claims court?
If this sounds too hard and expensive, try consumer arbitration instead…

Want to sue Liberty Tax Service in small claims court?