Tax Relief Lawyers in Bellaire

"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 some groups of people in Bellaire, Texas, or anywhere else.

When a politician or other government official uses the term "tax relief," they're mostly commonly talking about tax cuts, or some other actual or contemplated government action which would reduce the tax liability of some individuals or corporations.

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 hard or impossible to pay back. These companies claim to have some distinct technique that can get Texas 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 Bellaire, Texas

It is pretty common for scammers in Bellaire, Texas to claim that, for a relatively small fee, they will help you get out of paying all of your taxes.

In the majority of cases, however, tax relief scammers in Bellaire, Texas 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.

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 indisputable guarantee that they can lower your tax bill. While there are some legal ways to try and reduce your tax obligation, including negotiating with the IRS, there is no guarantee that they will succeed. And although the IRS does have programs to help people who are absolutely unable to pay for their taxes, they are only available to very small subset of the population, and most Bellaire, Texas taxpayers aren't qualified to participate in them.

Another red flag to look for is a demand of a large up-front payment. Many tax relief scammers in Bellaire will not even pretend to try and assist you. Rather, they simply take the money and disappear, sometimes after making additional, and unapproved, charges to your credit card or withdrawals from your bank account.

How Can a Tax Relief Attorney in Bellaire, Texas 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 speak with a Bellaire, Texas tax lawyer.

A qualified and reputable tax attorney in Bellaire, Texas will give you objective legal advice on how to handle a tax law issue. A brilliant tax attorney delivering honest advice, however, will tell you the truth, which may not necessarily be what you want to hear. The upside, of course, is that the information they're giving you is actually useful, as opposed to the "advice" given to you by a tax relief scammer, which, if followed, would put you in a worse position than you were before. Plus, you will have a good deal of legal recourse against a tax attorney, in the unlikely event that a licensed attorney defrauds you.