Tax Evasion Lawyers in Massapequa Park

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

There are a few strategies that tax evaders use in Massapequa Park, New York. One of the most frequent tactics is to make it appear that the taxpayer has less taxable income than they actually do. There are a wide variety of ways to hide income for the purpose of evading one's tax liability, but all of them are illegal.

"Tax evasion" should be distinguished from "tax avoidance." Tax evasion is the unlawful act of trying to hide one's tax liability. Tax avoidance, on the other hand, is perfectly legal, and simply involves using the tax laws strategically, to reduce one's actual tax liability as much as possible.

Penalties for Tax Evasion in Massapequa Park, New York

Both federal law and the law of New York treat tax evasion as a severe criminal offense.

Punishments for evading one's taxes in Massapequa Park range from paying back taxes plus interest (a relatively mild punishment) all the way up to years in prison, and fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

However, the punishments for tax evasion, especially first offenses involving relatively small amounts of money, is not normally so severe, especially when it looks like the failure to pay taxes was the result of an honest mistake, rather than deliberate fraud.

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

A Massapequa Park, New York Tax Evasion Lawyer Can Help

Attorneys in Massapequa Park, New York who practice tax law can help you stay in compliance with your tax obligations. This is a good way to ensure that you won't be suspected of tax evasion in the first place.

In the unfortunate event that you're really charged with tax evasion, it's imperative that you hire a reliable tax attorney in Massapequa Park, New York. If you are actually innocent, your tax attorney can help make sure that you have the best chance you can of being found not guilty.