Tax Relief Lawyers in Cortland

"Tax relief" is a term used to describe a few different concepts in Cortland, New York. 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 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 difficult or impossible to pay back. These companies claim to have some exceptional technique that can get New York 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 Cortland, New York

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

But buyer beware: these scammers in Cortland, New York, and elsewhere, cannot possibly deliver on their promises, and they know it. Luckily, 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 unequivocal 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 Cortland, New York 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 Cortland will not even pretend to try and help you. Instead, they simply take the money and disappear, sometimes after making additional, and unauthorized, charges to your credit card or withdrawals from your bank account.

How Can a Tax Relief Attorney in Cortland, New York 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 Cortland, New York may well be able to help you.

If you hire a good Cortland, New York 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.