Taxes

Post Reply New Topic

What examples have you heard of of people getting audited by the IRS or getting sent to jail for Fraud?

How accurate were your tax calculations?

Did the IRS send you a bill?

How hard is it for you to do your taxes? How long does it take? Do you hire someone?

What kind of work do you do?

What kind of unearned income do you have?

Surely you're not worried about being audited in a minimum wage job?

Tax time was easy enough when we were both on a single wage each.
When I started a trade business and we were also running a farm and both had a second job too, tax got really complicated. We got an accounting firm to do it then, and with their deductible fees and efficiency in claiming deductions and rebates it was far cheaper than DIY.
We generally got a refund cheque on taxes automatically paid through our employment.
It was still worth doing when I went on a disability pension.
We only stopped when we were both on a pension and we fell below the taxable threshold.

Jim Bakker and Billy Sol Estes got sent to jail for fraud. I know Mike "The Situation" Sorentino did time for tax evasion.I heard that low-income people who claim the earned income tax credit who are working can get audited more but i dont know if thats true.My families taxes are fairly complex due to all the oil wells we own as a family.One time we had to talk to a U.S. Congressman about fixing a issue that resulted from our oil company taxes and its interaction with social security. However I dont have to file a income tax return because I make below the filing threshold.We hire someone to do our taxes.

Yes I find US taxes very hard, partly because I'm a foreign national and they make it harder for us. There's supposed to be a reciprocal agreement with the UK, which should mean that as I pay my taxes in the UK, I don't pay them in the US, but that's only true for federal taxes, and the states have other ideas. So AFAIK I pay local taxes but not national taxes in the US. But it's weird because the forms I fill in (actually it's an accountant that does it, as even my wife who is a US citizen doesn't fully understand the taxation of foreign nationals) say "income tax" on them. In the UK, local taxes are based on the notional value of the property you live in, so I don't know what that's about.

They want all kinds of numbers and documents I don't have to hand. In the UK they've always taken the tax at source and most people don't even have to know tax exists - no tax returns unless you're self-employed. Much better IMO. Sure, it infantilizes the individual to a degree, and as a rule I hate being treated like a kid, but hey, I can check my UK taxes are correct if I want to, and challenge them if I think they're wrong. So why not leave it to the experts? Why force all Americans to do accountancy work every damn year? Isn't that a bit of a waste of everybody's time? I know you can hire an accountant, but who pays for that? And who's held responsible if the accountant gets it wrong? End of rant.

the wealthy by and large avoid scrutiny by the IRS, more so in republican administrations, during shrub's [GWB] administratiuon the IRS concentrated their attention on people making less than 6 figures., believing there were undeserving people receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit.

I do my own taxes and have made a couple mistakes so I've filed amended returns.

To my mind the tax system has never really been fit for purpose, which probably isn't surprising considering its origins (conquering leaders sucking the conquered dry) and the lack of political will to redistribute. True, there's a little bit of socialism in the mix, but why anybody receiving less than the modal income should be paying anything is a matter that need explaining in terms of fair play and the purpose of modern taxation.

I’ve heard a few stories about people who were audited by the IRS, and some even ended up in jail for tax fraud. I read here that with the help of a specialist, those who report tax fraud can even receive financial rewards and protection from the authorities, which can be an important factor when facing such situations.

a couple minutes ago, just finished federal and state taxes.

started a couple weeks ago. wasted a lot of time and energy on it.

within one minute (!?) got an email that my federal tax return was accepted.

within fourteen minutes, got an email that my state tax return was accepted.

i owe the state $24 and it's coming directly out of my checking account.

federal owes me $300 and it's going direct deposit into my checking account.

some taxpayers have complicated situations, and their taxes take a lot of time and energy. some taxpayers don't speak english well enough to do taxes, and tax code is long, boring, and technical terminology. wouldn't it be easier if the IRS just mailed you a bill?

feel so accomplished - did taxes. this is the fourth year that i did taxes, but having done them before doesn't really make it any easier.

only got one job, zero unearned income, zero dependents, zero rental income, no unusual situations or anything like that, but i felt compelled to keep checking and checking. obsessive compulsive disorder. b/c i was afraid the IRS would knock down my Pigpen if i made a mistake. however, a couple years ago, a former "friend", Dena, told me that the IRS sent her a bill for two thousand bucks b/c she made a mistake. she did not say that the IRS knocked down her door.

Well done

$276 doesn't seem like enough to pay you for all the work you had to do, but there's not much you can do about that.

I think Americans would be better off if tax was taken at source for employees and people on benefits. Let the experts work do the sums and let the individual get on with their life if they feel they've got better things to do. Why make an entire nation of laymen do a specialist job that the professionals can do in a fraction of the time? Anybody interested could always research it and check it was right, if that was what they wanted to do.

I think some of it is "jobs for the boys" because it's hard to do it without an accountant. Yet even if you hire one, they don't get held responsible if it's wrong, the individual does.

I understand your feeling of needing to error-check the thing to an insane level. I tend to be like that myself with most things, but if the result of a mistake isn't going to hurt me much then I can usually talk myself into a much more comfortable, gung-ho approach and save myself a lot of drudgery. But if there's a risk of getting nailed up, it's another matter.

I can also relate to it not getting any easier even after doing it a few times. A year is a long time and the work is so boring and unnatural that it's not surprising it's like doing it for the first time every time. It also happens to me when I travel between the USA or the UK. I should be a confident, seasoned traveller by now, but it's never got any easier. There's a lot to remember, a lot that can go horribly wrong if I don't, and it always drives me up the wall.