Reasons To Retain An IRS Tax Attorney
It is estimated that around 15% of individuals and businesses do not follow the guidelines set by the IRS. While not all of these instances are done intentionally, if the IRS ever feels someone may be cheating on their taxes, they will get audited. In some cases, not only will there be an audit, but a criminal investigation and charges of fraud will follow as well. If an individual finds themselves in this situation, it is imperative to retain a knowledgeable IRS Tax Attorney.
The most common charge associated under tax law is tax evasion, which is when an individual or business underreports what their actual earnings are. The second most common crime, while it does not happen too often, is overstating taxable deductions and so-called business expenses. If caught with either of these two charges, an auditor may either give a penalty, or in larger cases may turn it over to the criminal investigation department of the IRS.
It is important to note that any individual or business whose audit has been turned over for a criminal investigation will not be informed of it until they are formally charged. If the auditor feels it was genuinely a mistake, there still may be up to a 20% fine; however, intentional charges may cost upwards of 75% of your tax bill.
While any lawyer could provide quality defense to tax evasion or deduction overstatement cases, an IRS Tax Lawyer can provide superior defense because they are considered experts in the area of IRS. New laws are made almost daily in the IRS which can make it foreseeable that mistakes will occur. Hiring a lawyer specializing in tax law means that they are more apt at finding an explanation for overstated deductions or for why the income reported was so far below what the actual income was.
In cases where the fraud was so blatant and obvious that there may seem no way to defend it, an experienced tax lawyer will still be able to help. The charges may stick, but with a good lawyer individuals may avoid criminal punishments such as jail time and punitive penalties, and businesses charged may avoid extremely steep fines that could potentially put them out of business.
Another very significant protection individuals and companies get from retaining a lawyer is that this relationship falls under the attorney-client privilege, and so does any person hired by the attorney on your behalf to aid in the development of your case. This would mean, for example, an accountant hired by the attorney to prove no fraud existed would fall under the attorney-client privilege and would not be allowed to testify against the person in court or to the IRS.
Getting charged with anything by the IRS is a very serious matter, one that most people would not be able to handle on their own. An experienced and highly specialized IRS Tax Attorney may be a person’s best hope in creating a defense that will either clear the charges or at least get the penalties dramatically reduced.