Tax Relief Lawyers in Riverside
"Tax relief" in Riverside, 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 in the general public, particularly in these troubled economic times, often hear the words "tax relief" used in a totally different context. The phrase has become synonymous with businesses and individuals who claim they have some exceptional method to help you lower your tax liability in California. While some of these offers are legitimate, many of them are scams, and if you hire them, you'll end up in a worse position than you were before.
Tax Relief Scams in Riverside, California
Scammers in Riverside, California will frequently claim, for a fee of course, that they can get you out of your requirement to pay your taxes.
In the majority of cases, however, tax relief scammers in Riverside, California have no actual capacity to reduce your legal liability to pay your taxes. However, these scams also have various common factors which tend to be dead giveaways of their fraudulent nature, making them fairly easy to avoid if you are extremely vigilant.
Probably the strongest indication that a tax relief organization is a scam is a guarantee that they can deliver a specific result. If anyone makes an explicit promise that they can absolve your tax debt, they are lying to you, plain and simple. This is because it is impossible to honestly make such an affirmation. The fact is, most people are not suitable for any IRS programs that let some taxpayers reduce their tax liability. This goes for most people in Riverside, California, as well.
Another red flag to look for is a demand of a large up-front payment. Many tax relief scammers in Riverside will not even pretend to try and advise you. Alternatively, they simply take the money and disappear, sometimes after making further, and unlawful, charges to your credit card or withdrawals from your bank account.
How Can a Tax Relief Attorney in Riverside, California Help?
If you find that you are unable to pay your taxes, through no fault of your own, you may be tempted to answer an advertisement for a "tax relief" company. Before that, you should talk with a Riverside, California tax lawyer.
A good Riverside, California tax attorney can give you honest, unbiased legal advice that will be useful in handling any problem you have with your taxes. Of course, as you probably know, honest advice is, more often than not, the opposite of what one wants to hear, even if it is more useful than whatever puffery you'll hear from a scammer. Plus, in the extremely unlikely event that your tax attorney defrauds you, it will be much easier to seek legal action against a licensed attorney than against some scammer who likely doesn't use his or her real name.