Tax Relief Lawyers in Portland

The term "tax relief" can refer to many different things in Portland, Maine. 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 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.

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 special technique that can get Maine 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 Portland, Maine

It is pretty common for scammers in Portland, Maine to claim that, for a relatively small fee, they will help you get out of paying all of your taxes.

In the majority of cases, however, tax relief scammers in Portland, Maine have no actual ability to reduce your legal liability to pay your taxes. However, these scams also have many 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 unequivocal 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 a promise. 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 Portland, Maine, as well.

And if a tax relief organization demands up-front payment, this should raise a big red flag for you. Many scammers in Portland, whether they're promising 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 unauthorized charges to your credit card, or withdrawals from your bank account.

How Can a Tax Relief Attorney in Portland, Maine 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 Portland, Maine may well be able to advise you.

A skilled and reputable tax attorney in Portland, Maine will give you objective legal advice on how to handle a tax law issue. A knowledgeable 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.