Tax Relief Lawyers in Totowa

"Tax relief" is a term used to describe a few different concepts in Totowa, New Jersey. It sometimes refers to actions that lower the tax rate that some taxpayers are obligated to pay.

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 hypothetically 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 skilled lawyers negotiate with the IRS or New Jersey 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 Totowa, New Jersey

Scammers in Totowa, New Jersey often claim that they can employ some special 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 Totowa, New Jersey 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.

One of the biggest warning signs that one should look for is an unequivocal promise that someone can eliminate your tax debt. This is simply not a promise that anyone can honestly make. While the IRS does have programs to assist people who are truly unable to pay their back taxes, through no fault of their own, they only apply in the most extreme cases, so the vast majority of taxpayers in Totowa, New Jersey don't qualify for them.

And if a tax relief organization demands up-front payment, this should raise a big red flag for you. Many scammers in Totowa, whether they're promising tax relief, or anything else, will take your money, and then disappear, without even pretending to try to help 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 Totowa, New Jersey Help?

If you owe a huge amount in back taxes, and are unable to pay them, it may well be helpful to seek the advice of a Totowa, New Jersey tax attorney.

If you hire a good Totowa, New Jersey 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 sometimes 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.