View Poll Results: Which best describes your feelings on paying taxes?

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39. This poll is closed
  • I don't cheat and pay what I owe in goodfaith.

    27 69.23%
  • I cheat a little here & there.

    4 10.26%
  • I get away with all I can.

    6 15.38%
  • I don't know.

    2 5.13%
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Thread: Paying Taxes

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  1. #1
    Hope guides me Senior Member Hosakawa Tito's Avatar
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    Default Paying Taxes

    Considering the recent cabinet nominee revelations on failure to pay taxes I was curious about my fellow orgahs feelings on paying one's taxes. The US tax code's complexity is certainly an issue with and cause for some of the skeletons in a political candidate's closet, but integrity, or lack of, is also a factor. Does the fact that some of these rich, connected, and powerful people get away with it, why can't I ?, influence the average person's compliance with paying what they owe? Which of the options best describes your feelings?
    "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." *Jim Elliot*

  2. #2
    L'Etranger Senior Member Banquo's Ghost's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    I voted that I pay in good faith, which is true, but I also use whatever legal means there are available to avoid excessive tax. I have to pay taxes in four different countries, and it must be said tax avoidance is easier in some than others.

    It also depends on the tax. Whereas I'm relatively content to pay company tax on profits as my businesses benefit from the societal infrastructure funded thereby, I'm very unhappy to pay inheritance taxes since my inheritance is both stewarded for future generations and it has already been taxed in most cases. Thus the latter gets my accountants' full attention in the matter of avoidance planning.
    "If there is a sin against life, it consists not so much in despairing as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this one."
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  3. #3
    Old Town Road Senior Member Strike For The South's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    I have no idea. I know they take some out of my check and then I get some back.

    When I get older I plan to launder the money to the Caymans so the government cant get there ungodly hands on it.
    There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford

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  4. #4
    Jillian & Allison's Daddy Senior Member Don Corleone's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    The only thing Don Corleone-senior (mi papa) fears is the IRS. And he instilled that fear into me from a very young age. I don't mess with the taxman, and if a deduction I could by all rights take gets listed as suspicious by TurboTax, I don't take it.

    The thing to remember when dealing with the IRS... it's the only time in the American Judicial system you have to prove your innocence. Look it up.
    Last edited by Don Corleone; 02-05-2009 at 21:39.
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  5. #5
    Stranger in a strange land Moderator Hooahguy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    i only pay income tax, and that is automatically deducted off my paycheck, so i couldnt cheat even if i wanted to.
    anyhow, cheating is dumb, b/c if you are caught.... in the slammer.
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  6. #6
    Jillian & Allison's Daddy Senior Member Don Corleone's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    Quote Originally Posted by hooahguy View Post
    i only pay income tax, and that is automatically deducted off my paycheck, so i couldnt cheat even if i wanted to.
    anyhow, cheating is dumb, b/c if you are caught.... in the slammer.
    We all have our taxes deducted. It's the only system in the world where you have to pre-pay, then prove you're entitled to a refund (unless you live in California... )

    The way you cheat is when you do the paperwork to prove what you should have paid versus what you actually did, and get a larger refund (or, if you did your W-2 statement correctly, reduce your tax payment).
    Last edited by Don Corleone; 02-05-2009 at 21:46.
    "A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."
    Don Vito Corleone: The Godfather, Part 1.

    "Then wait for them and swear to God in heaven that if they spew that bull to you or your family again you will cave there heads in with a sledgehammer"
    Strike for the South

  7. #7
    Nobody expects the Senior Member Lemur's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    I'll second Don C's motion. The I.R.S. is a group of people you really don't want to tick off. I had a roommate just after college who tried to get cute with his taxes, and it was instructive to watch them destroy him. I don't know if he ever got that sorted out, considering how ugly it got.

    The lemur family gathers all of its relevant paperwork once a year and delivers it to the C.P.A., who makes the bad people go away. The nice thing about spending a couple hundred bucks on a C.P.A. is that if the I.R.S. ever wants to come after you, he has to represent you. He's sort of like a condom on your paperwork.

  8. #8
    Moderator Moderator Gregoshi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    I pay what I owe but try to take advantage of every legal deduction I'm entitle to. That being said, while I don't resent paying federal taxes, what I do resent is paying some ying yang accountant to do my taxes (or spend weeks trying to figure it out myself). I've no qualms about state and local taxes - fill in a few lines, multiply and done.
    This space intentionally left blank

  9. #9
    Swarthylicious Member Spino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    I cheat a little but not much and that cheating typically comes in the form of simply not reporting cash income. I used to cheat alot back when a sizeable chunk of my income came in the form of cash.
    "Why spoil the beauty of the thing with legality?" - Theodore Roosevelt

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  10. #10
    Spirit King Senior Member seireikhaan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    I actually know a bit here and there about tax code, having done some simpler returns for folks back in high school as a part of my accounting III class. I get away with every penny I legally can.
    It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then, the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.

  11. #11
    Poll Smoker Senior Member CountArach's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    I don't earn enough to qualify to pay tax - so I'll be getting a nice tax refund come July 1st. However, I would always pay in good faith with the best intentions.
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  12. #12
    Nobody expects the Senior Member Lemur's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    Quote Originally Posted by Spino View Post
    I used to cheat alot back when a sizeable chunk of my income came in the form of cash.
    You and the entire population of Brooklyn. It's a freaking epidemic there.

  13. #13
    Hope guides me Senior Member Hosakawa Tito's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    I voted that I pay in good faith, which is true, but I also use whatever legal means there are available to avoid excessive tax.
    This also mirrors my feelings, and vote, on the question of paying taxes. One thing my father always stressed to me was paying ones bills & taxes on time, and in good faith.

    what I do resent is paying some ying yang accountant to do my taxes
    This is a major part of the problem with the tax code, and why some people get jammed up. It's so dang complicated and Byzantine that one gets a different result depending on who figures out your taxes. Even the IRS can't agree on or completely understand the tax code. One of my sister's is a CPA and I used to have her do my taxes. However, she is so busy taking care of clients during tax season that she couldn't get around to mine till near the deadline, and I don't like cutting it that close. I like being self-relient so I started doing my own several years ago. I use the TurboTax program mentioned by others and wouldn't think of tackling my somewhat complicated return without it. It's $80+ for the program, but cheaper than an accountant, and I feel I am in control of my situation and understand my investments and assets better.

    My wife, on the other hand, would prefer to pay nothing and would happily lie on our tax forms.
    Yes, my current wife, my second, got in a deep financial hole with a heap of help from her ex over unpaid taxes & credit card bills. We've just about got that slate clean. It was an expensive lesson for her, and she's more than happy to let me take care of the finances & taxes.
    "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." *Jim Elliot*

  14. #14
    Dux Nova Scotia Member lars573's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paying Taxes

    I've never had to pay taxes. Never made enough to qualify.

    We all have our taxes deducted. It's the only system in the world where you have to pre-pay, then prove you're entitled to a refund (unless you live in California... )
    Not the only country. For the 8 months I had a real job I got taxes deducted too. And if I ever file a return for 2005 and 2006 I might get that money back.
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