Tax Evasion Lawyers in Oceanside

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

There are a few strategies that tax evaders use in Oceanside, New York. One of the most typical 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 harbor 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 prohibited 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 Oceanside, New York

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

Punishments for evading one's taxes in Oceanside 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.

Most often, tax evasion - if it's a first offense and the tax liability is small - will not be cause for huge fines or imprisonment. This is especially true if the prosecution can't definitively prove that that the defendant's failure to pay taxes was deliberate, as opposed to an honest mistake.

However, if the relevant tax authorities are able to demonstrate that a taxpayer in Oceanside, New York committed deliberate fraud, in order to evade their legal duty to pay taxes, a tax court is probably going to impose a more severe penalty, which may include jail time, and large financial penalties.

A Oceanside, New York Tax Evasion Lawyer Can Help

Attorneys in Oceanside, 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.

However, if you're truly accused of tax evasion, you will need an Oceanside, 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.