Tax Relief Lawyers in East Palo Alto

"Tax relief" in East Palo Alto, California can refer to a wide range of subjects. However, it almost exclusively refers to lowering the tax liability, either of an individual, or a group of individuals.

When a politician or other government official uses the term "tax relief," they're mostly frequently talking about tax cuts, or some other actual or prospective government action which would reduce the tax liability of some individuals or corporations.

However, many people associate the phrase "tax relief" with individuals, corporations, or law firms that offer services claiming to reduce or eliminate one's tax liability - getting them out of their requirement to pay the taxes. Most of the time, they'll say that they have experienced negotiators on their staff who can negotiate with the tax collectors in California or the IRS, to lower your tax bill. Some of these businesses are forthright, and have the best interests of their customers in mind. However, many of them are scams.

Tax Relief Scams in East Palo Alto, California

Some con-artists in East Palo Alto, California say that they have some unique technique that permits you to reduce the amount of taxes you're legally obliged to pay, or that they can erase any tax debt that you have incurred.

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

One of the biggest warning signs that one should look for is an absolute promise that someone can eliminate your tax debt. This is simply not a promise that anyone can honestly make. While the IRS does have programs to advise people who are really unable to pay their back taxes, through no fault of their own, they only apply in the most extreme cases, so the vast majority of taxpayers in East Palo Alto, California don't qualify for them.

And if a tax relief organization demands up-front payment, this should raise a big red flag for you. Many scammers in East Palo Alto, whether they're assuring tax relief, or anything else, will take your money, and then disappear, without even pretending to try to advise you. The worst of the worst will also take the money you agreed to pay them, and then make illegal charges to your credit card, or withdrawals from your bank account.

How Can a Tax Relief Attorney in East Palo Alto, California Help?

If you find that you can't pay your taxes, and this is not a result of any fault or irresponsibility on your part, a tax attorney in East Palo Alto, California may well be able to advise you.

A skilled and reputable tax attorney in East Palo Alto, California will give you objective legal advice on how to handle a tax law issue. A reliable tax attorney delivering honest advice, however, will tell you the truth, which may not necessarily be what you want to hear. The upside, of course, is that the information they're giving you is actually useful, as opposed to the "advice" given to you by a tax relief scammer, which, if followed, would put you in a worse position than you were before. Plus, you will have a good deal of legal recourse against a tax attorney, in the unlikely event that a licensed attorney defrauds you.