Tax Relief Lawyers in Fairport

"Tax relief" is a term used to describe a few different concepts in Fairport, New York. It sometimes refers to actions that lower the tax rate that some taxpayers are obliged 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 supposedly 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 distinct 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 Fairport, New York

Scammers in Fairport, New York will frequently claim, for a fee of course, that they can get you out of your obligation to pay your taxes.

In the majority of cases, however, tax relief scammers in Fairport, New York 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 advise people who are really 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 Fairport, New York 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 Fairport, 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 Fairport, New York 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 Fairport, New York tax lawyer.

A skilled and reputable tax attorney in Fairport, New York 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.