Tax Relief Lawyers in Hilton Head Island

"Tax relief" is a term largely used to discuss a few different concepts. It generally refers to any action that would reduce the tax rates, either for everyone, or for certain groups of people in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, or anywhere else.

When a government official or politician talks about "tax relief," they are usually talking about a tax cut, which is a reduction in a specific tax rate.

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 distinct technique that can get South Carolina 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 Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Some con-artists in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina say that they have some distinct 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 Hilton Head Island, South Carolina have no actual capacity to reduce your legal liability to pay your taxes. However, these scams also have numerous common factors which tend to be dead giveaways of their fraudulent nature, making them fairly easy to avoid if you are extremely vigilant.

There is one warning sign that virtually guarantees that the tax relief company you're dealing with intends to defraud you: if they make an absolute guarantee that they can lower your tax bill. While there are some legal ways to try and reduce your tax requirement, including negotiating with the IRS, there is no guarantee that they will prevail. And although the IRS does have programs to assist people who are truly unable to pay for their taxes, they are only available to very small subset of the population, and most Hilton Head Island, South Carolina taxpayers aren't eligible to participate in them.

Another red flag to look for is a demand of a large up-front payment. Many tax relief scammers in Hilton Head Island will not even pretend to try and help you. Instead, they simply take the money and disappear, sometimes after making further, and illegal, charges to your credit card or withdrawals from your bank account.

How Can a Tax Relief Attorney in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina 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 talk with a Hilton Head Island, South Carolina tax lawyer.

Your tax lawyer in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina will be able to give you real, useful advice about your tax situation. Just be ready: your tax attorney will give you honest advice, whether or not that's what you want to hear. Furthermore, in the unlikely event that a licensed tax attorney defrauds you (or attempts to defraud you), you will have significant legal recourse against that attorney through your state bar association.