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May 2024 by Jenny Y.
SAFE HARBOR CPA & YOUR DATA SECURITY (Beware!) It's been a nightmare to say the least. Please be aware that Chun outsourced his work to 3rd party in India and they had disputes among themselves. Long story short, the 3rd party got hold of my financial data and had shared it to my employee. Long story short, your data may have been shared without proper care. No respond from emails to Chun's attorney and to Chun. He even cancelled his cellphone number. I am looking to file an official complaint and take legal action. Stay away.
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January 2022 by Bryant L.
Sent a Yelp request to help file my taxes and they responded asking some screening questions for my tax situation. They told me to email them directly with the answers. Emailed them Jan 13th (no response), follow up email jan 19th (no response)...I guess they are too busy and I'm not worth their time
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January 2022 by Candace B.
My company went through an acquisition and I enlisted Safe Harbor to help me project the taxes I would owe as a result. Early on in the process it became clear that there was an error in their projections. The stock from my original company was being paid out as a cash component and also as stock in the new company. Safe Harbor kept mistakenly treating the cash I was given as the cost basis for the stock I was also given. I pointed out this error as soon as I got the original projections and Chun offered to set up a meeting. In the meeting he interrupted me several times insisting I should just trust their projections. I then got an email from Chun saying that actually there was an error and the cash component was *not* the cost basis for the stock I was given. At this point I had lost all confidence in the accuracy of the information I was getting from Safe Harbor. I asked them to stop working on this and I enlisted the services of a different accounting firm. I then received a bill for over $6K from Safe Harbor. Almost all of the hours they were charging me for were for the hours they spent going back and forth after I had initially pointed out the error. The other accounting firm I asked to work on the same problem with the same information quickly gave me accurate projections and billed me for 2 hours of work.
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December 2021 by Mike T.
My experience is similar to most of the other 1-star reviews. Concern #1 * Safe Harbor (SH) offered an estimate of $2500-3000, but in the end they sent me an invoice with a total charge of $6350. Exceeding an estimate by more than 100% is unacceptable IMO. * There was never any warning that we had exceeded the original estimate, or that the work was different than originally expected. Throughout the 3.5 month intermittent relationship, I was expecting that we were inside the original estimate. In fact, we had blown through the high-end estimate in the first two days. * I know other people in my situation who received similar assistance from other vendors for $3000-3500 total. * When I expressed surprise about the high invoice amount, Chun never acknowledged that missing an estimate by so much was any kind of a problem, and never really explained what had gone wrong in the original estimate. (Eventually, he did give me a $120 discount, or 1.8%.) * They asked for a large ($2500) retainer fee up front. * At one point, Chun compared the bill amount to my AGI for the year, apparently in an attempt to make the charge appear irrelevant and I should just pay it. Concern #2 * SH made numerous, large mistakes while working through my situation. I think (hope) we eventually settled on accurate calculations, but they spent a lot of time revisiting the same work to come up with new results, and I ended up paying for these hours. * I spent a lot of time writing lengthy emails explaining to them that they had made errors and suggesting they should look at issues in a different way. * There were numerous instances where it felt like Chun was not paying attention to what I was saying. I expect this contributed to the mistakes mentioned above. * I eventually felt like SH was educating themselves at my expense. Concern #3 * The tax strategies SH offered me were simplistic at best. Sell your underwater stocks for tax-loss harvesting. That was it. (This was a strategy I was already aware of.) * Chun seemed unfamiliar with the tax advantages of donating appreciated stocks to charity, when I brought up this possible strategy. Given the mistakes that were made, the simplistic advice, and the time I spent on my end correcting the errors, I received nowhere near $6230 in value from this relationship. I expect that there are certain cases where Chun and his team have strong expertise and can provide useful insights. However, I believe there can sometimes be a large disconnect between the value Chun believes he's delivering vs. the value he's actually delivering. In these cases, you may be in for some big surprises in what you get, how long it takes to get it, and how much you need to pay.
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November 2021 by Dana G.
rther. We have a super complicated tax history from working overseas, had a great chat with Chun, who was friendly and knowledgeable and working after hours, no less.
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November 2021 by Sara L.
Searching high and low for someone who understands International Tax laws? look no further. We have a super complicated tax history from working overseas, had a great chat with Chun, who was friendly and knowledgeable and working after hours, no less. Recommend contacting Safe Harbor for your tax needs. It is truly hard to find consultants who understand the international side. thanks!
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August 2021 by Bruno C.
It's been a couple of years in a row working with SafeHarbor, and it's always a hassle-free, straightforward process. The team does a great job at keeping me up-to-date while preparing my non-trivial tax filings. I'll definitely be working with them again!
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March 2021 by Jason A.
I got them info from a friend. Then look over Yelp to check them out. I have called. A lady basically told me. Best way to get more info is the email. No calls. Just email us. I assume she was WAY busy to just give me a quick info and not waste my time waiting for them email. Then end of the day. I received an email. Most of the email is them outrages rates. Outrages it's the right ward. I usually do my Busines return and personal for 800$. But not this place. Rip off. He was asking close to 4-5k just to file my tax return. And I assume it's not something they want to say over the phone. They do t have the guts for that. So over email. Let's try to ripped him off. Oh well. I am glad I didn't choose then. I find a good place. Recommended by friends and 5 stars on Yelp for 650$ Busines return and 120$ personal. Not 5 K Best of luck.
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February 2021 by Béla B.
I spent some time looking for CPAs knowledgable in international tax issues (US tax treaties with other countries, tax liability from foreign income, etc), until I finally came across Safe Harbor CPAs. I could easily book a consultation with Chun and he definitely cleared up all the questions and concerns I had. He is very knowledgable and friendly! Highly recommended for all topics involving international tax!
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November 2020 by Leon F.
Chun and the team at SafeHarborCPA have been doing our tax returns for the last three years. My wife and I are both foreign internationals working in the U.S. Declaring global tax is a complex and tedious subject that can only be completed by a qualified CPA that specializes in international tax. Chun ticks the boxes in all aspects of his work, professionalism, knowledge, and customer service. Avoid cheap, no idea tax agents who will only end up getting you in trouble with the IRS for not knowing rules and regulations in this specialized area of tax.
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August 2020 by Ryan H.
I have worked with Safe Harbor for about 5 years. The team is responsive and provides exceptional service. Chun is very knowledgable and provides advice that ensures you are making a proper decision. So, stop reading right now and hire them. You have no need to look further for a tax consultant.
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June 2020 by John D.
Avoid working with them at any cost. The worse accounting firm you can find, they scare you about your return to earn your business, then they charge you unreasonable amount even for the work that has not been delivered, they are not knowledgeable and provide wrong advice. they are not trustworthy and give you misinformation.
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March 2020 by Bobby L.
I was helping a family member with an unusual tax situation involving stock purchases made under an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. After months of research, phone calls, referrals, and discussions, I could not find a single CPA willing to help us figure out answers to our questions. Desperate, I searched Yelp and Google for CPA's experienced in employee stock purchases and stock options tax treatment. I took a chance to gave Chun at Safe Harbor a call. Chun carefully listened to our situation, understood the research I had already completed, and quickly understood the dilemma. He reached into his network to conduct in-depth research for a more thorough answer. And he came back with very well-researched advice and next steps. I'm greatly appreciative for his thoughtfulness, curiosity, research, time, and advice. He went above and beyond to help when no other CPA in the Bay Area would. I highly recommend Safe Harbor to anyone looking for tax advice.
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July 2019 by Dario P.
I am a foreigner living in the Bay Area. The international tax regulation is extremely complex and I was having a hard time understanding how to be compliant. Spoke to many CPAs but found out that most of them don't really know much about international tax. Chun has been extremely helpful in guiding me through the different requirements. I highly recommend him!
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August 2018 by Nancy B.
I was stuck on some decisions re: exercising stock options from the startup I recently left, and Chun provided me information about tax implications and guided me in getting the information I needed from the company. His subject matter expertise was deep and he was generous in his time with me. Above and beyond!
