Richard Allen Tax

I have been going to Richard for years, he does excellent tax preparation. Even though I’ve left the state, I continue to do my taxes through him. My taxes are complicated, but he always gets through them like a breeze and knows all the right questions/​deductions to ask about. He costs more than H&R but is worth every penny and has a real sense of principle that he runs his business on. Do not hesitate to go here, you will be blown away by their service!
PS They are also one of the only tax preparers I have gone to that have a secure way to upload/​transfer files and documentation. Much of the accounting and legal industry is sadly lagging behind technological advancement and still sending sensitive information like SSNs and books over email. Richard has gone into the future!

So glad that I found this place! Our experience here was wonderful from the moment we walked in until we left. Richard was friendly, outgoing, knowlegable and really seemed to care. I know he’s swamped and although he told us it would be 7 – 10 days he called the very next day to say he finished our returns! Couldn’t be more satisfied. I highly recommend!

Richard Novac has done my taxes two years in a row now and will be doing them next year as well. He is knowledgeable, meticulous and thorough. He responds to emails with questions promptly no matter the time of year. I feel my returns are in the best of hands and that means I don’t worry! A far cry from other tax preparers over the years.

Went in today and was told I had to have an appointment but they took me in anyway (did NOT look too happy about it.) I was informed it would take about a week for them to get back to me. Let’s see how it goes, I will update with the results.

After consulting with many other professionals, and after wasting countless hours trying to have my tax problem resolved, it took this firm literally one brief session to rectify the entire situation. I could not be pleased nor impressed with their services.

I came to see Richard after I received a «scary» letter form the IRS. His help was invaluable. I appreciated his professionalism, vast knowledge, thoroughness and flexible schedule. I highly recommend him.

I’m so disappointed to write this update but I experienced such terrible customer service this year, it feels like a completely different business!
Richard and co have been doing my taxes for 4+ years and I came to expect quick, professional, and at the very least responsive service but this year I got none of those things.
I emailed my tax documents in mid February, expecting to hear back in a few weeks time but I never heard anything, not even a confirmation or some acknowledgement that they’d get me on the books in a few weeks or whatever. Radio silence.
I called the office about 3 weeks later and they said oh Sheera, yes yes we’re getting to you. So I thought great, I’ll hear soon.
Then more radio silence.
3 emails went unresponded (on 2/​28, 3/​9, and ³⁄₂₁) I finally called again and let them know I would be traveling on business at the end of March and really would like to wrap my taxes up before then, as we were approaching the filing deadline.
Finally on ⁴⁄₁₁ I hear back that since I live outside the US, I get an automatic 2 month extension, and would I rather file on ⁶⁄₁₅?
OK, I get it. in the weeks and days before the deadline I’m sure it’s pure madness in a tax office but as a longtime customer, but really as *anyone* who’d been waiting for service for over 2 months, I really expected my return complete and my refund returned to me in a timely fashion. Now, when Richard finally explained that it was in my financial/​tax interest to wait and file later, I said fine, let’s do that and he said he’d follow up in a few weeks.
Sigh. More radio silence.
I checked in in late May and again in early June and received no response to my phone message or emails. We’re now down to the wire and I have 3 days to file or potentially face penalties so I’ve had to look elsewhere for tax prep service.
Terrible communication just moved a 5-​star business to a 1-​star :/

Hands Down best customer service in south bay. Spoke to Richard explained my situation, one word messed up. Set up an appointment. Lets see how it goes.

Richard Novac is THE (tax) man! He’s my family’s go-​to for all tax filings. He makes himself available throughout the year to address any questions/​concerns and always provides clear direction and guidance… typically on the spot, without any research or follow-​up required. He’s wicked smart and able to break it down for dummies like me who find government jargon completely encrypted. I trust his knowledge and advice… Did I mention he’s hilarious?! The whole staff is upbeat and fun to interact with (despite Uncle Sam being the elephant in the room). I highly recommend Richard Allen & Associates!

I’ve been going to Richard Allen Tax for many years now — it’s just taken me forever to write this review. Richard Novac is fantastic. He has been my tax adviser even before he took over the business from Richard Allen. He knows his stuff and is always helpful when I have questions. It doesn’t matter what time of the year it is, you can call or email him with questions and you will actually get a reply. He’s a hard working, honest, and caring tax professional. I recommend him to anyone looking for a tax adviser.

Richard Allen and Associates has seen me through my individual tax returns as a single person, a married person, a married person with kids, and a married person with kids and a home. Richard Allen was great, and now that he is retired, Richard Novac is every bit as wonderful and helpful. Richard is extremely knowledgeable, and has taken a great deal of time with me in recent weeks to answer questions about home buying and selling. He is a very valuable resource, and I highly recommend his services. Overall, my experiences with Richard Allen and Associates has been wonderful, and I highly recommend their team of experienced professionals to anyone looking for help with their taxes and/​or tax questions!

I first, and foremost want to apologize to Richard, for taking this long to write my review. I recently had my taxes prepared by Richard Allen, and let me tell you, as someone who is always on the look for honest and helpful assistance this is as great and honest as it gets. Richard is honest about all his work, and never made me feel rushed through the process. My situation was more detailed than just getting my taxes filed, but Richard was patient in explaining in detail all possible outcomes in helping me with tax debt. I really can not express enough how grateful i am to have found an honest and reliable tax preparer who i will see for all my future accounting needs. Thank you Richard for your help! You really are the best in the south bay!

We have been going to Richard Allen Tax for years. Richard Novac has been by far the best tax accountant we have ever had. He is extremely knowledgeable and up to date on all the new tax laws. I have recommended him to a few friends and they are very happy with his work. I could not imagine finding anyone better than Richard, I highly recommend him.

My wife and I went to see Richard about our taxes and financial planning, We had our consultation with Richard and he was excellent, took his time to help us with all of our questions, was not in a hurry to get us out of there.
Richard gave us some great advice and recommendations for our future financial planning.
I would gladly go to Richard for all of our future tax needs, I would highly recommend Richard.

I fond this place on Unilocal and decide to go there because of high reputation. However, I was so disappointed with the service. My tax refund should be e-​deposited in two weeks after they process, however I haven’t received any refund on bank account for 1 month, so I claimed about it to the office and they asked me to stop by the office and sign the document again because they have to mail the document finally. I think they never realize until I mention that I haven’t received the refund and my tax refund takes longer to be delivered. I’m not satisfied with the service this time as compared with the fee…

I have been using H&R Block for the past 6 years thru several different states that I lived in, and every time I used them, the person seemed so uncertain of what they were doing, that I always had concerns and questions, wondering is it was done right. I know they are trained, but that is not their primary job, and I even twice caught them making mistakes as they were filling out the forms. Not a re-​assuring feeling, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt.
This year however, being that I purchased a house, I decided to pay a little extra for someone that truly does this for a living, and used Richard Allen based on Unilocal reviews. I am glad I did…
He offers to review the past 3 years of taxes, and within minutes (less than 10), he found mistakes in each of my past 3 years. One I should have gotten hundreds back (happy about that, and will have him redo them), another had mistakes but return & what I owe was even, and the worst was before that, from another state, that had a deduction (or credit, not sure) that was filed wrongly, and I owed quite a bit… not too happy there. Now I am concerned about all my taxes going back 6 years, and will have him verify them just in case. I am going back to see him after tax season is over, to review everything.
Definitely recommend, over any software and local tax places like I did, that train most of their employees for tax season only…

Found Richard Allen Tax and Richard Novac from reading all the positive Unilocal reviews, and am so glad I did. He is professional, experienced, thorough, knowledgeable and competent. He was a pleasure to work with and answered all my tax questions. I highly recommend his services and will use him again in the future.

These guys are awesome! They literally have MAGIC fingers, I’ve never had this much come back to me from taxes. Well done, I’ll see you guys next year!

I usually do the tax preparation for myself and my husband, but after selling a piece of property in 2009, I wanted a professional to do our taxes last year to ensure everything was done properly. Richard Allen was referred to me and I was very happy with the services he provided. I felt that his fees were fair as well. Mr. Allen helped me twice — once to figure out how much tax I should pay upfront after the sale of the property and based on our other finances, how to do some other end-​of-​the-​year accounting and contributions. Then he did our yearly tax preparation for us a few months later. He was very nice, extremely knowledgeable and easy to work with. I would highly recommend him.

Richard Novac has been my accountant for over 4 years now, helping me with my entertainment business affairs as well as advising me on all my financial decisions and I wouldn’t think TWICE about using anyone else ever. The piece of mind you get from his services for the great rates he offers is a great value, especially for a small business owner like myself.
He also helped me with my credit, setting up an LLC, filing for tax exemptions and organizational advice that has helped me tremendously.