Celebrity Deductions 2003

Taking Advantage

One thing about the kinds of taxes our rulers use to take money from people is how much control people have over whether or not to pay them. Some are close to voluntary, such as the luxury and gas guzzler taxes. A person can easily decide simply not to buy those things. Other things are not so easily avoided. Nicotine addicts have been popular targets for tax hungry rulers who are literally exploiting the addiction by tacking several dollars of taxes on each pack of cancer sticks.

Another target of money-hungry rulers seems to be nursing home residents. About two years ago, I discussed efforts here in Arkansas to levy a $5.25 per day per bed tax on those people. According to this story, the rulers in Pennsylvania are considering the same kind of thing, $5.00 per bed per person.

Am I wrong in thinking that this kind of exploitation of people at their most vulnerable state is disgusting, or is it just a matter of the ends justifying the means? Governments need money and however they get it is fine and bringing morality into the discussion is just out of place. Is that how people see this? If so, where does it stop? Will we see huge taxes levied on organ transplant patients? Pay it or die.

KMK

Six Ways To Keep IRS At Bay

Some good pointers.  I could add several more, such as:

   File tax returns later – earlier filed returns are more likely to be selected for audit

   Over-document out of the ordinary items – attach plenty of documentation to avoid having to go through an audit.

  Avoid electronic filing – unable to explain things in the limiting format required by e-filing.

  Use a Professional Tax Preparer – While this may sound self-serving, it is a fact that amateurs make many times more mistakes than pros; so IRS reviews self-prepared returns more closely. 

Use a C corp to smooth out income and prevent yourself from going into the higher target upper income levels.  Small corps are also audited much less frequently than 1040s or large corps.

KMK