Benjamin Franklin once said, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” And he was right!
There is, unfortunately, no getting around death. And there is also no getting around paying the taxman.
So if you’re thinking about trying to pull a fast one on the Internal Revenue Service, you should think again. It’s very important for you to pay your taxes each and every year when they’re due.
If you don’t pay your taxes on time or, worse, if you engage in tax evasion, it could cause all sorts of problems for you. See some of the reasons why paying taxes is so important below.
Helps You Avoid Financial Consequences
Every year, Americans are forced to pay more than $100 billion in back taxes and interest as a result of not paying the taxman on time. You can steer clear of facing these kinds of financial consequences by making it a point to pay your taxes when you’re supposed to.
Otherwise, you’re going to have to pay the IRS more than you would have had to pay them originally. It’s arguably the top reason for you to be sure that you pay your taxes in a timely fashion.
If you don’t know how to do your taxes, you can hire tax accountants and tax attorneys to assist you. They can help you fill out everything from standard tax forms to things like Form 433-B.
Prevents You From Facing Jail Time
If you fail to pay the taxman, you’re going to have to do more than just pay back taxes and interest. You might also get hit with jail time in some cases.
More often than not, you should be able to avoid going to jail over tax issues by coming to an agreement with the IRS as far as paying your taxes is concerned. But if you try to get out of paying your taxes on purpose, it could lead to you spending some time in the slammer.
Allows You to Uphold Your Civic Duty
Paying your taxes is the law. But it’s also a civic duty that you have as an American.
Despite what you might believe, the U.S. government doesn’t just take your tax money and keep it all for themselves. Instead, they use it to fund all kinds of federal programs every year.
With this in mind, you’ll be upholding your civic duty by giving the IRS a cut of your annual income.
Make Sure You Pay the Taxman Every Single Year
Now that you know why you need to pay your taxes—and more importantly, pay your taxes on time—you should make it your mission to pay the taxman every single year. It’s not necessarily going to be the most fun thing to do. But it will keep you out of trouble and help you do your part to help your country.
Check out the other articles on our blog for more useful tax-related tips and tricks.
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