Tax Relief Lawyers in Arcata

"Tax relief" in Arcata, California can refer to a wide range of subjects. However, it almost always refers to lowering the tax liability, either of an individual, or a group of people.

When a government official or politician talks about "tax relief," they are usually talking about a tax cut, which is a reduction in a particular tax rate.

Increasingly, however, the general public is being inundated with advertisements on the Internet, the radio, and in print, from companies offering "tax relief" to consumers who owe back taxes in amounts that will be difficult or impossible to pay back. These companies claim to have some special technique that can get California residents out of paying their taxes, or at least negotiate their final tax bill down to a smaller amount. Some of these companies are legitimate, but many of them are total frauds.

Tax Relief Scams in Arcata, California

Some con-artists in Arcata, California say that they have some special technique that allows you to reduce the amount of taxes you're legally required to pay, or that they can erase any tax debt that you have incurred.

In the majority of cases, however, tax relief scammers in Arcata, California have no actual ability to reduce your legal liability to pay your taxes. However, these scams also have several common factors which tend to be dead giveaways of their fraudulent nature, making them fairly easy to avoid if you are extremely vigilant.

There is one warning sign that virtually guarantees that the tax relief company you're dealing with intends to defraud you: if they make an indisputable guarantee that they can lower your tax bill. While there are some legal ways to try and reduce your tax obligation, including negotiating with the IRS, there is no guarantee that they will succeed. And although the IRS does have programs to assist people who are truly unable to pay for their taxes, they are only available to very small subset of the population, and most Arcata, California taxpayers aren't eligible to participate in them.

Another red flag to look for is a demand of a large up-front payment. Many tax relief scammers in Arcata will not even pretend to try and help you. Instead, they simply take the money and disappear, sometimes after making additional, and unapproved, charges to your credit card or withdrawals from your bank account.

How Can a Tax Relief Attorney in Arcata, California Help?

If you owe a huge amount in back taxes, and are unable to pay them, it may well be helpful to seek the advice of an Arcata, California tax attorney.

Your tax lawyer in Arcata, California will be able to give you real, useful advice about your tax situation. Just be prepared: your tax attorney will give you honest advice, whether or not that's what you want to hear. Furthermore, in the unlikely event that a licensed tax attorney defrauds you (or attempts to defraud you), you will have significant legal recourse against that attorney through your state bar association.