Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If you run a small business that only needs to make pocket money there is no reason not to file a proper return. With fairly easy planning and legitimate deductions you can get the return down to an insignificant taxable amount.
You can easily tie in items you would use personally in many cases to become expenses for the business. You can do so without lying or cheating. You just need to plan.
When they audit the person who paid you off the books, they'll get you, next...plus penalties and interest.
1) IF there's a record of it.
2) From USA Today for 2015: The audit rate, the percentage of individuals' tax returns IRS revenue agents examined either in person or via correspondence, fell to 0.86% last year (2014), the data show. Your chances of facing an IRS audit rate dropped to the lowest level in at least a decade in 2014 and are expected to fall further this year.
The head of the IRS is telling anyone who will listen ....that budget cuts have led to a “deeply disturbing drop in our individual audit rates.” Audit rates for individual tax returns fell last year to the lowest level in a decade ... and will fall even more this year.
I wonder what percentage of people worry about the sky falling?
Small business audit rates are completely different. But even then I would imagine that an audit isn't likely.
I'd imagine that a business man who pays in cash, but claims an employee in other records is at a different exposure rate than, a neighbor who maintains a person's yard and landscaping in exchange for food from that person's garden, or a plumber who fixes a friend's toilet in exchange for thta friends kid babysitting the plumber's kids.
Whatever you do....just be smart about it. But that's not tax advice...that's general LIFE adivce...who you marry, where you live, where you work, choosing friends...WHAT YOU POST online.
WHAT the heck is the agita about this issue? Mind YOUR business, keep YOUR business private, don't hurt other people, live life to the fullest....and you should get through most of life OK.
.........................
WHAT the heck is the agita about this issue? Mind YOUR business, keep YOUR business private, don't hurtother people, live life to the fullest....and you should get through most of life OK.
Tax cheats ARE hurting other people. They are hurting all of us who have paid our taxes honestly by shifting more tax burden to us. It's analogous to someone shoplifting in a store or in a market - the cost is borne by all who pay for their merchandise via slightly higher prices.
Don't believe me? Consider Greece, where tax evasion is a national pastime. There are ultimately consequences to that, and Greece has been suffering them severely during the past several years.
Attitude about what? 1) I never gave my opinion about the issue...I never advised do it or don't do it.
2) I posted information that was reported by news outlets. It's common knowledge by anyone who's paying attention.
Many times in life the only thing that keeps people from doing something they probably shouldn't...is the likelihood of getting caught. It's human nature. If you want to be upset about that...have at it. Most people have "their thing" (or to or three) that they're upset about...
If you run a small business that only needs to make pocket money there is no reason not to file a proper return. With fairly easy planning and legitimate deductions you can get the return down to an insignificant taxable amount.
You can easily tie in items you would use personally in many cases to become expenses for the business. You can do so without lying or cheating. You just need to plan.
I don't understand how you legally buy something for personal use and then charge it towards your business expenses. Sounds like lying and cheating to me.
I will probably need to work part time for awhile after retirement but am not interested
in starting a new career and will have health care. Wondering if I want a "real" job.
Wondering about if I take SS early about the 14,400 earnings cap.
Wondering about working for cash. Low pay I'm sure, but no taxes. Anyone do this?
My friend earns between 800-$1000/month dog sitting. She prefers cash.
I pay my lawn guy about $400 each summer. All cash. I'd wager most of his clients do the same.
Attitude about what? 1) I never gave my opinion about the issue...I never advised do it or don't do it.
2) I posted information that was reported by news outlets. It's common knowledge by anyone who's paying attention.
Many times in life the only thing that keeps people from doing something they probably shouldn't...is the likelihood of getting caught. It's human nature. If you want to be upset about that...have at it. Most people have "their thing" (or to or three) that they're upset about...
To me, by recommending we not be concerned about people cheating on their taxes ("mind your own business"), you were endorsing dishonesty. In other words, you were saying you don't understand what people are upset about. Well, dishonesty does upset me.
If this is not the correct interpretation of your view, then I withdraw that statement about a sleazy attitude.
This all reminds me of a time when I was 13 and too young to work. So instead of being a lazy couch potato, like many young kids during summertime, I decided to mow lawns around the neighborhood. One day a guy who owned a lawn business pulled up his truck as my Dad was picking me up. The guy demanded to know if I or my father was paying taxes on the money I was earning. Lucky for him, my father met God a few years earlier.
People, MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!
If the government said you must bend over and take it up the A$$ for every 20k you make in a year, would you do that too? I'm quite sure of it; even if they decided to raise that "TAX" to Double Penetration .
I am curious to know if enough will EVER indeed be enough from a tyrannous government.
He was probably fishing to see if he could hire you under the table. As we all know, no kid mowing lawns in the summer is going to make enough money to have to file a tax return.
I'm old enough to have been raised with a sense of responsibility and self-respect. The government maintains roads for me, takes care of my medical bills with medicare, and provides a basic income with Social Security. I'm not going to duck my responsibility to pay taxes, particularly since taxes are so much lower now than they used to be.
jrlinky- I book a trip to attend a convention in Miami. The cost of the flight and room are deductible for me. If I go sightseeing and to the beach does that make me a tax cheat?
I buy a cell phone for the business if I make some de minimus # of personal calls am I a tax cheat?
I buy a new car and drive it 10,000 business miles I take the standard deduction of 57 cents a mile. If some of those business trips include a stop to drop of my dry cleaning or grocery shop does that end the business miles?
I buy a computer for my business but use it to post sometimes on City Data do I lose the deductibility?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
.
