Tax Relief Lawyers in Erie County

"Tax relief" is a term normally used to discuss a few different concepts. It usually refers to any action that would reduce the tax rates, either for everyone, or for certain groups of people in Erie County, Pennsylvania, or anywhere else.

When a politician or government official uses the term "tax relief," they are usually referring to tax cuts, which are simply a reduction in the tax rate for everyone, or some people.

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 special technique that can get Pennsylvania 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 Erie County, Pennsylvania

Some con-artists in Erie County, Pennsylvania say that they have some special technique that allows you to reduce the amount of taxes you're legally required to pay, or that they can erase any tax debt that you have incurred.

In the majority of cases, however, tax relief scammers in Erie County, Pennsylvania have no actual ability to reduce your legal liability to pay your taxes. However, these scams also have several common factors which tend to be dead giveaways of their fraudulent nature, making them fairly easy to avoid if you are extremely vigilant.

Probably the strongest indication that a tax relief organization is a scam is a guarantee that they can deliver a certain result. If anyone makes an indisputable promise that they can eliminate your tax debt, they are lying to you, plain and simple. This is because it is impossible to honestly make such a pledge. The fact is, most people are not eligible for any IRS programs that let some taxpayers reduce their tax liability. This goes for most people in Erie County, Pennsylvania, as well.

And if a tax relief organization demands up-front payment, this should raise a big red flag for you. Many scammers in Erie County, whether they're pledging tax relief, or anything else, will take your money, and then disappear, without even pretending to try to help you. The worst of the worst will also take the money you agreed to pay them, and then make unapproved charges to your credit card, or withdrawals from your bank account.

How Can a Tax Relief Attorney in Erie County, Pennsylvania 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 Erie County, Pennsylvania may well be able to help you.

If you hire a good Erie County, Pennsylvania 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.