I hear this one a few times every year: "I owe the IRS a lot of money this year. If I don't file my taxes, they won't know that I owe them, and I won't have to pay it."
In a world where you are the only one who reports to the IRS, that strategy might be a great one!
However, that is not the world we live in.
You know all of those forms you receive every year that your accountant asks you for? W2s, 1099s from every bank and contract gig, etc? What most people do not realize is that one copy of that goes to you to use on your tax return, the other copy goes to the IRS. So as much as you may want to "hide", the truth is, they already know that you exist.
The greater problem with that logic is that the most expensive part of having the IRS decide you owe them taxes from a few years back is the penalties and interest that get tacked on and charged all the way back from the date they believe you SHOULD have paid them.
Unfortunetaly, hundreds of thousands of Americans get into that trap every year.
If you have back tax returns you haven't filed, or if you've received an "IRS Love Letter" that you want help dealing with, give me a call. There are ways we can try to reduce penalties and interest, as well as some tricks we may be able to employ to see if we can reduce the amount you have to pay back, as well as get you into a payment plan you can actually afford.
Moral of the story: You can't hide! Dealing with the issue on your terms (rather than theirs) will almost ALWAYS get you a better outcome than waiting until they come for you.
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