Tax Relief Lawyers in St. Joseph County

The term "tax relief" can refer to numerous different things in St. Joseph County, Indiana. But, it is normally used to refer to some action that reduces the tax liability of an individual, corporation, or a certain category of individuals.

When a politician or government official uses the term "tax relief," they are typically referring to tax cuts, which are simply a reduction in the tax rate for everybody, or certain people.

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 challenging or impossible to pay back. These companies claim to have some distinct technique that can get Indiana 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 St. Joseph County, Indiana

Many scammers in St. Joseph County, Indiana claim that they can completely discharge you of your requirement to pay your taxes - for a fee, of course.

But buyer beware: these scammers in St. Joseph County, Indiana, and elsewhere, cannot possibly deliver on their promises, and they know it. Thankfully, most tax relief scams have a few common factors that can give them away to vigilant consumers.

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 absolute guarantee that they can lower your tax bill. While there are some legal ways to try and reduce your tax requirement, including negotiating with the IRS, there is no guarantee that they will prevail. And although the IRS does have programs to advise people who are really unable to pay for their taxes, they are only available to very small subset of the population, and most St. Joseph County, Indiana taxpayers aren't suitable to participate in them.

Another red flag to look for is a demand of a large up-front payment. Many tax relief scammers in St. Joseph County will not even pretend to try and advise you. Alternatively, they simply take the money and disappear, sometimes after making further, and illegal, charges to your credit card or withdrawals from your bank account.

How Can a Tax Relief Attorney in St. Joseph County, Indiana Help?

If you owe a massive amount in back taxes, and are unable to pay them, it may well be helpful to seek the advice of a St. Joseph County, Indiana tax attorney.

If you hire a reliable St. Joseph County, Indiana tax lawyer, your attorney will be able to provide you with honest advice about your legal situations vis-à-vis your taxes. Fair warning: honest legal advice occasionally doesn't involve telling you what you want to hear. However, the advice of an attorney will be far more useful than anything most "tax relief" companies tell you. Plus, in the very rare event that your attorney tries to defraud you, you have much more legal recourse against them than you would have against some fly-by-night "tax relief" company.