Tax Evasion Lawyers in Horseheads

Tax Evasion in New York is a criminal act in which someone knowingly fails to pay their taxes.

Most frequently, people who try to evade their taxes in Horseheads, New York will take steps to harbor their assets and income, or transferring their property to other legal entities in a fraudulent manner.

You may also be acquainted with the term "tax avoidance." It is critical that you don't confuse this with "tax evasion." Tax avoidance is perfectly legal, and is probably something that every taxpayer does whenever they file, whether they know it or not. It involves employing legal methods to make one's tax liability as small as possible, taking advantages of deductions and other tax breaks.

Penalties for Tax Evasion in Horseheads, New York

The federal government and the laws of New York impose grave penalties for tax evasion - treating it as an extremely serious crime.

In Horseheads, the penalties for tax evasion can range from a court order to pay back taxes, plus a small fine, and range all the way up to penalties in the tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars, and imprisonment.

Normally, an initial offense of tax evasion, if the amount of tax evaded is comparatively small, will not result in jail time or massive fines. This is particularly the case if the government has trouble proving that the failure to pay taxes was the result of willful evasion, as opposed to an honest error in accounting.

But if the government is able to definitively establish that a defendant in Horseheads, New York intentionally engaged in fraud to get out of paying taxes, a tax court is very unlikely to show any leniency, and may well sentence the defendant to prison time.

A Horseheads, New York Tax Evasion Lawyer Can Help

An attorney in Horseheads, New York specializing in tax law can help you adhere with all the tax laws that apply to you, which makes it very unlikely that you'll ever be accused of tax evasion in the first place.

However, if you're truly accused of tax evasion, you will need a Horseheads, New York tax attorney more than ever. If you are, in fact, innocent, a tax attorney can give you the best possible chance of being found not guilty.