eh. most people don't correctly fill out their taxes.
Did you pay your use taxes? (actually, I believe that has been simplified, in california, allowing you to pay a flat fee now.)
If you ordered anything from amazon tax free, well, you should have filed your use taxes. I know one person, besides me, that does, and I pay someone else to do it.
There are all sorts of other little gotchas, even if you are an employee on a 1040EZ.
Also, this complexity leads to incredible risk; I mean, I generally don't mind paying taxes. (I mean, I'd like to pay less, but eh, I've shopped around, and the rates here are pretty okay for what I need and what I get.) but I fear nothing like I fear the tax man. With almost any other tax mistake? the worst that can happen is corporate and personal bankruptcy.
Now, screw up your taxes? yeah, you aren't particularly likely to go to jail, I mean, assuming you weren't trying to commit fraud, but it is pretty easy to end up with a whole lot of debt that you can't run out on.
Because of this, I outsource nearly all my accounting and bookkeeping. and yeah, it costs money, but as far as I can tell? it's the only insurance I can buy against one of the very few (likely) events that can put me in debt for life.
(Now, obviously, this is only scary because I have a low-margin business with revenue that is substantial compared to my personal earning power; if the IRS reclassified some of my revenue as income? it wouldn't take very much to put me in the red. If you are on a 1040ez and you miss your use tax and get audited? eh, it's not a bankruptcy event.)
Did you pay your use taxes? (actually, I believe that has been simplified, in california, allowing you to pay a flat fee now.)
If you ordered anything from amazon tax free, well, you should have filed your use taxes. I know one person, besides me, that does, and I pay someone else to do it.
There are all sorts of other little gotchas, even if you are an employee on a 1040EZ.
Also, this complexity leads to incredible risk; I mean, I generally don't mind paying taxes. (I mean, I'd like to pay less, but eh, I've shopped around, and the rates here are pretty okay for what I need and what I get.) but I fear nothing like I fear the tax man. With almost any other tax mistake? the worst that can happen is corporate and personal bankruptcy.
Now, screw up your taxes? yeah, you aren't particularly likely to go to jail, I mean, assuming you weren't trying to commit fraud, but it is pretty easy to end up with a whole lot of debt that you can't run out on.
Because of this, I outsource nearly all my accounting and bookkeeping. and yeah, it costs money, but as far as I can tell? it's the only insurance I can buy against one of the very few (likely) events that can put me in debt for life.
(Now, obviously, this is only scary because I have a low-margin business with revenue that is substantial compared to my personal earning power; if the IRS reclassified some of my revenue as income? it wouldn't take very much to put me in the red. If you are on a 1040ez and you miss your use tax and get audited? eh, it's not a bankruptcy event.)