Tax Relief Lawyers in Atlanta
"Tax relief" in Atlanta, Georgia 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 you hear the term "tax relief" used by an elected official, or someone running for office, they're almost exclusively talking about tax cuts, which would likely apply to the speaker's target audience. A tax cut is simply a reduction in the percentage of one's income (or whatever else is being taxed) that they have to pay in taxes.
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 hard or impossible to pay back. These companies claim to have some exceptional technique that can get Georgia 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 Atlanta, Georgia
It is pretty common for scammers in Atlanta, Georgia to claim that, for a comparatively small fee, they will help you get out of paying all of your taxes.
In most cases, however, these people have absolutely no legal means to really help their "clients" ("victims" is the more accurate term), and will simply take your money and disappear. Luckily, these scams in Atlanta, Georgia normally have a few elements that are dead giveaways, which you should always be on the look out for if you're contemplating hiring someone offering "tax relief."
One of the biggest signs of a scam is an explicit guarantee or promise that the company can deliver a certain result. This is simply not a promise that any tax relief professional can rationally make. Every case is different, and in many (if not most) cases, the taxpayer will not be qualified for any legal measures that can reduce their tax liability. An honest tax relief organization in Atlanta, Georgia will be very upfront about this fact.
Another red flag to look for is a demand of a large up-front payment. Many tax relief scammers in Atlanta will not even pretend to try and assist you. Rather, 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 Atlanta, Georgia Help?
If you owe a large amount in back taxes, and are unable to pay them, it may well be helpful to seek the advice of an Atlanta, Georgia tax attorney.
A good Atlanta, Georgia 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.