We did development for a big company as a way to get money while we grow our product. It’s been 6 months and, in spite of having a contract, they haven’t paid. And I think they never will. The worst part: I already paid 20k in taxes over this contract.

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Because that's the way it works in my country. You pay the taxes whenever you make a bill, not when you actually collect the money. Some people stall the payment up until they get paid, but that carries interests, and ir could lead to being audited by our version of the IRS. The worse part is that you have to pay taxes to the Federal and the Local governments, so it amounts for a lot of money.

Since we had a contract, and they are a really big corporation, it made sense to assume they would pay in time.

I did, 15% upfront. That they paid in time.

So why'd you continue working when they didn't continue paying?

No, we delivered in time. I even have an e-mail from the director of the department we made the project for praising us for the good work and the fact that we stood up to the timetable.

Haha, of course, we have judges and everything (just a stupid ass taxation system). I have a good lawyer, but I'm debating myself whether the burden of a taking legal actions isn't worse than just accepting we were screwed and move on.

Not so much a question of judges, just about whether you had lawyers that would work on a success basis so you don't have to front the cash. That said if you're debating if it's even worthwhile then the deal may not be large enough to warrant the time and expense in pursuing it. My guess is that this is what the larger company is betting on. Sucks to get screwed this way. Sorry to hear it.