If you never made a mistake or fudged on your taxes, raise your hand.

[trof]

Poll question: If you never made a mistake or fudged on your taxes, raise your hand.

As recently as last year I screwed up on calculating taxes on Social Security and had to fork over another $3500.
No hand here.

[ClarkUSA]

1. Close relative made a $75K mistake a few years ago. Paid up when Taxman came around. Huge penalties

[azmouse]

2. We have our taxes done and the tax guy made a mistake.

We owed taxes but at least didn't have to pay the penalty.

[spotbird]

3. A mistake and fudging are very different things, nt

[stray cat]

6. and intent is difficult to prove or disprove

[trof]

7. Yep, and I've done both.

And that's all I have to say about that.
:-)

[grantcart]

4. Also on the Geitner issue

It is very confusing when you work for an International Organization.


If you are a local hire then they follow the rules of the country they work in. If you reach Professional status then contributions for your national social security fund is optional. They have a mandatory plan for international civil servants that you have to pay into and then you have the option for a second plan but you must make the payments. You not only have to pay the employee percentage but also the employer portion. I did not know of a single officer that made those payments (which amounts to a second social security fund beyond the mandatory one that you have to pay in to). Geitner's problem was that he made only the employee contribution and not the employer's, he would have been better off not making either.

[KittyWampus]

5. I overpaid once and it took 2+ years to get my money back from NY State.

[trof]

8. It goes in fast and comes out slow.

And this is NOT a sex thread.
;-)

[high density]

9. Never had a problem

Then again, the company I work for doesn't offer me hundreds of thousands of dollars of perks and then forget to send me a 1099 for them. Nor do I have any household employees that I have to pay unemployment taxes on.

[Inkyfuzzbottom]

10. The inequity in treatment is the problem for many...

as an employee of the Treasury department I am not allowed to make mistakes on my taxes. There is this nifty little organization called TIGTA (Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration) that will have your ass if you are a flunky employed by the Treasury (IRS in particular) and you make an error or omission on your tax return that results in an underpayment of your tax liability. Employees are not afforded the same rights as regular taxpayers. They are investigated and treated as criminals AND they try their damndest to fire you. There are instances of low paid clerical employees being put through the ringer for less than $100.00 of additional tax liability. This is why the appointment of Geithner as Treasury Secretary was so distasteful to many rank and file Treasury employees. Had we done what he was guilty of we'd no longer be employed.

[roguevalley]

11. consider this. I am assuming Daschle is the issue here. He works

as a lobbyist, he was in political office for forty years. He wrote a bunch of the rules and he KNOWS them. He KNOWS the rules. His WIFE knows the rules. This is nobles oblige. By the way, that social security thing must have been awful. You have my sympathies.

[trof]

13. We were audited when Miz t. went to work for the IRS.

I guess it's SOP.
They asked her why 'we' (I) filed for the extension to file almost every year.
Her answer: "Because he has that right."
They hired her anyway.
:-)

[Uzybone]

12. Lets just say I will never be confirmed by the Senate

[trof]

14. That's two of us.

[jkshaw]

15. I will never forget this, a stupid mistake

We changed banks and sent for new checks -- the business type, three to a sheet. But instead of shredding the old checks, I left them where they were in the desk cupboard, many months later noticed I had more checks, decided to use them.

Seven checks. It was bad enough that local businesses had checks returned with wtf?, but I'd sent in our tax bill with one of them. It terrified me, and it took three months to straighten out.

H&R Block does our taxes, and from then on, I've sent any taxes owed electronically.

[eyesroll]

16. Technically, if you find a $5 bill on the street you're supposed to report it as income.

Learned that in tax class last week.

[jberryhill]

18. There ain't no "technically" about it - it's income

I'm on a crusade against the word "technically".

"All income, from whatever source derived" means what it says.

[pipi_k]

23. Oh shit...!!!!

I hope there's a statute of limitations...

I never did report all those dimes under my pillow from the Tooth Fairy...


:scared:

[eyesroll]

25. Those were gifts.

Gifts are excluded.

There is also a statute of limitations for income tax reporting, but I don't remember offhand what it is.

[jberryhill]

35. Three years, but

Income from the Tooth Fairy is not a gift.

Money from the Tooth Fairy is a "reward", and might even be considered an exchange for value, since the Tooth Fairy collects the tooth.

Nobody really knows what the Tooth Fairy does with those teeth, although it is rumored they have been turning up as Chinese dental prostheses.

[Dappleganger]

17. We were audited once...

the year we had significant moving expense when we relocated to Florida. We did make a mistake but it was in our favor and they had to pay US.


:7

[Kaylee]

19. My first job was an internship....

In my youthful ignorance (or ignoring what I was told) I did not take taxes out of my paycheck and instead spent the money. Come tax time, I had no money to pay the reaper. Took over a year to pay it back at 9% compounded daily - OUCH!

[trof]

21. I didn't even file for 2 years.

I was in my 20s and not especially...'responsible'?
Took about a year to get it cleared up.
I did no hard time.
;-)

[demokatgurrl]

20. I may have made a mistake... if I did

the IRS never let me know but, in any case, it was never to the tune of hunreds of thousands of dollars because that's more than I make.

[JayMusgrove]

22. Maybe I made an arithmetical error, but the IRS corrected it...

And it CERTAINLY DID NOT AMOUNT to over a hundred thousand dollars......or even a thousand dollars.

[Fire1]

24. In my defense, my accountant made the mistake and of course

I paid for it. He no longer prepares my taxes.

[FarLeftRage]

26. Once, I underestimated my state tax refund...

They corrected it and gave me the additional money that was coming to me.

[Sebastian Doyle]

27. I should be fortunate enough to have such problems

I.e. make enough money that cheating on my taxes becomes an option.

[Lyric]

28. I've never made a mistake that I know of.

Then again, our taxes are pretty simple--standard deductions, no complicated investments to account for, etc. Hell, most of the time we file 1040EZ, if that tells you anything.

[Bonobo]

29. I don't make 5 million bucks a year either, so it's no fair comparison.

[racaulk]

30. I haven't made any mistakes on mine, at least none that I am aware of.

Then again, my taxes are pretty simple. I take the standard deduction, I have my W-2 and a 1098 for student loan interest. It's pretty hard to mess that up!

:hi:

[uponit7771]

31. If you've NEVER reported your birthday\Christmas etc presents then you've "screwed" up your taxes

...yeap, cause the gifts you get are income.

[stillcool]

32. I don't even remember what ...

we did wrong, but we owed back taxes for one year. I don't want to talk about when I was younger and working off the books. You people would throw me in jail.

[Jennicut]

33. I am not saying what I have done. My lips and keyboard are sealed!

[backscatter712]

34. I know I screwed up.

Granted, it's small-potatoes, but my current tactic is hoping the IRS doesn't notice...

[Enrique]

36. do everyone a favor please

if Obama nominates you to his cabinet, PLEASE let his people know about this issue right away.

[trekbiker]

37. I cheat every damn year, been doing it for over 30 years

I consider it my duty. my "dubious" deductions are small potatos, only a couple grand of writeoffs, totally under the radar, but it sure makes me feel better. anybody itemizing not taking at least the $500 charitable donation deduction every year is a fool. Am I being a "bad" citizen? Irresponsible? until the govt starts to spend my tax dollars wisely then I say NO. and trust me, I pay more in taxes than most on this forum

[smalll]

39. Somehow, I think you should be on the "other site." (ahem, ahem)

(ahem) RimJob (ahem, ahem) :shrug:

[smalll]

38. Non-latte liberal, non-tax cheat here. Like most Americans:

I've never hired a (typically un-documented illegal) nanny. I've never "forgot" about 80K-plus in consulting fees. I've never had to reconsider the fact that I'm chauffeured everywhere (which I'm not) and so yes, I've never fudged on my taxes. Made a mistake? Possibly. Added up the cents or the single dollars incorrectly? Posssibly. But like most Americans, that's about it.

[mwooldri]

40. Mistake in FILING or PAYING for taxes?

So far for filing taxes, we're good.

Paying them is another matter. We screwed ourselves badly this year... had some significant self employment income plus way off witholdings on our regular day jobs. Regrettably, I don't have a spare $2,300 right now to pay the IRS. The gameplan here is to file, to pay what we can up and until April 15th and with the tax return file a request for an installment plan so we can at least live OK.

Mark.

[cherish44]

41. I've always filed taxes legally and honestly

As far as mistakes go...they happen. I ended up owing more than $2,000 last year and my income was barely above federal poverty levels. (Newly divorced ) If the IRS comes gunning for this single mom I can at least say I paid in more than some jerks making a lot more money than me...

[Raine]

42. I'm not angling for a spot in Obama's administration

either. :evilgrin: