Bright!TaxReviews of brighttax.com

In the first few months, my experience was disappointing. There was no clear tax strategy, no preliminary estimates shared, and no proactive communication. The process felt automated: information was collected, and after a long silence, I received the tax returns without recommendations or context. Fortunately, after I raised questions, the exchange became more fluid and the process was completed. I believe BrightTax should engage more closely with clients during the early stages by providing a customized tax strategy aligned with each client’s profile, while being more proactive and communicative throughout the entire process. If that happens, I will probably regain my confidence in the service next year.

This was my first year filing taxes with BrightTax and I had to pay penalty for late filing/payment for the year. I was promised a turnaround time of 6-8 weeks in a (paid) call with CPA where I explained my sources of income. I uploaded all documents 8 weeks before the deadline. However, a week before the deadline when I asked about the status, I was told that forms will not be ready by the deadline, but I do not have to worry as I do not owe taxes as per "initial assessment". After the deadline, it turned out I do owe taxes and interest and late payment penalty. To be fair, I was offered a discount for next year filing, if I chose to use BrightTax again, but the discount barely covers the extra interest and penalty which I had to pay for 2023 tax return. FWIW, accountants seem professional. However, in my experience, communication from BrightTax leaves a lot to be desired. Update (Jul 18): BrightTax offered to pay the interest and late payment penalty incurred because of late filing along with refunding 50% of the this year's fees. Based on this, I am raising rating of this review.

The hard part is the time lag between correspondance. It would be more efficient if the correspondance exchanges for requiring more information were done sooner as it takes a bit refresh my memory after a month or two of not looking at the required info.

Sometimes the assistance and reply is good but sometimes it is slow, perhaps because the workload it is greater than their human resources.

I have been using Brighttax for the past five years and whilst the returns and fbars are prepared and filed competently their service and responses to emails had really dropped in speed, quality of consultations, tax advice to a level that I have considered moving firms. What I need is good advice that allows me and my expat family to know our tax liability and plan. This is not available from Brighttax and their advisors. Most correspondence is delayed by up to three weeks and any questions about our tax issues are general in their replies.

I engaged BrightTax to do my 2019 US Federal and State return as an expat living in the Netherlands. They omitted my Country of Residence on my NJ state return, and as a result I could not receive my refund or any correspondence, since the mail was being returned. When I called NJ taxation to find out why my refund was held up, I was told that there were issues with the return that had to be resolved, and that my accountant can call for clarification, since I am not skilled in these matters and did not fully understand. When I relayed the information to them, they simply said that they had not had luck calling in the past, and gave me an email address for NJ taxation for ME to resolve the matter. NJ taxation does not accept questions about returns by email, because of privacy concerns. I feel that they should stand behind their work and resolve the problem, not push it on me! After emailing them back, with follow-ups, I have not received any reply from them, so it seems I am on my own. I am very disappointed in the service that I have received, and I hope that I will be able to get my down-payment on my 2020 return back. Update: I did get my down-payment back, was able to resolve my issues with NJ and get my refund. BrightTax has apologised and recently reached out to me to win back my business and show that it was a one-time issue with a reduced-rate offer for my 2021 tax return. They also asked me if their intended response to this review was fair (it was), which I appreciate. This has earned them a lot of good will from me, and I would try them again if I were not happy with my current preparer.