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Synergi Partners

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ERC
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Company or group
Role
Other company
Programs
ERC
Updated

The profile

A Florence, South Carolina tax-credit consultant whose Employee Retention Credit contracts called its fee a "contingency fee" but made it due when Synergi delivered the calculation, whether or not the client ever used the credit. Two bankruptcy estates have sued to take back fees they paid it, one of them $502,535.80.

Identity and role

Synergi Partners, Inc. is a South Carolina corporation with its principal place of business at 151 West Evans Street in Florence, South Carolina, according to two 2024–2025 bankruptcy complaints. It "claims to be the largest privately-owned incentive and tax credit consulting and processing company in the United States," one of them says.

Its contract describes what it is not. As quoted in one complaint, the services agreement says "Synergi DOES NOT provide tax advice, tax filings, or CPA services" and "Synergi is not a tax preparer or accountant."

Pandemic-relief role

Synergi calculated Employee Retention Credits (ERC) for businesses and delivered a "Tax Credit Package." The fee was a percentage of the calculated credit, and the timing was the point of the contract. In the agreement quoted by JSmith Civil, a North Carolina contractor, the client owed "a 15 % contingency fee" upon receipt of the package, half on delivery and half 90 days later, and "Payment of the Fee is not contingent upon whether the Client ultimately utilizes the Credits calculated by Synergi. Utilization of the Credits is the sole responsibility of the Client."

The other estate's complaint describes a 13 percent fee on the same structure. Western Express Lending, a California mortgage originator, signed a client services agreement on or about May 24, 2021, after Synergi told it, "(without basis)" in the trustee's words, that it qualified for a $4,341,315 credit. The trustee counts $502,535.80 in transfers to Synergi and $570,745.42 in obligations, and says that at 13 percent Synergi "must have spent over 2,280 hours" on the work at $250 an hour to earn that fee.

Synergi also paid for referrals. SignatureFD, an Atlanta wealth manager with about $8 billion under management, discloses in its SEC brochure that it has a referral agreement with Synergi and "is entitled to a tenth of collected revenue derived from persons introduced to Synergi Partners."

  • Seidel v. Synergi Partners (Bankr. N.D. Tex. Adv. No. 24-03089): the Chapter 7 trustee of Western Express Lending sued in October 2024 to avoid the Synergi obligations as constructively fraudulent transfers and recover $570,745.42.
  • JSmith Civil v. Synergi Partners (Bankr. E.D.N.C. Adv. No. 25-00160): the debtor sued in September 2025 to recover at least $159,936.12 of an August 9, 2022 payment of $279,964.92, and argues the services were the practice of accounting.
  • Both are the plaintiffs' allegations; we found no rulings in either in the records we reviewed. No government enforcement action against Synergi appears in them.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

The September 2025 complaint is the latest record we found.

Sources

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