Tax Relief Lawyers in Waltham
The term "tax relief" can refer to several different things in Waltham, Massachusetts. But, it is typically used to refer to some action that reduces the tax liability of an individual, corporation, or a certain category of individuals.
When you hear the term "tax relief" used by an elected official, or someone running for office, they're almost always talking about tax cuts, which would apparently 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.
However, when most people think of "tax relief," they are thinking of an individual, law firm, or corporation that claims to offer a way to get out of paying some or all of one's back taxes. They usually claim that they will have proficient lawyers negotiate with the IRS or Massachusetts tax authorities, to reduce your tax liability. While some of these businesses are legitimate, there are also many scams in this area.
Tax Relief Scams in Waltham, Massachusetts
Scammers in Waltham, Massachusetts often claim that they can employ some distinct method enabling you pay the IRS less than you actually owe, or even erase your tax debt.
In the majority of cases, however, tax relief scammers in Waltham, Massachusetts 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 Waltham, Massachusetts 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 Waltham 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 Waltham, Massachusetts 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 speak with a Waltham, Massachusetts tax lawyer.
A good Waltham, Massachusetts 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 probably doesn't use his or her real name.