1040 targets! I love it! Great idea! Might be worth considering other government forms from other agencies...a 4473 comes to mind.
Now that this year's "tax season" has passed, perhaps it's time to explore taxes. To disengage totally or to withdraw to some distance from the tax system does require premeditation.
If you are an emplyeee, taxes are automatically withheld from your paycheck. There are ways that you can minimize this amount by redoing the information that you provide on your W-4 forms. The W-4 forms are the basis of the W-2 forms.
Amazingly, you will discover that Federal Income Tax Withholding is, in many cases, an amount that is less than the Social Security withholding.
On top of the soc sec withholding for many people there is also a State Income Tax withholding and a Local and/or a county/city tax withholding. These last three, soc sec, state and local, are in total more than the amount withheld for federal taxes.
In short, as long as you remain an employee the hard truth is that you will NOT have much of an opportunity to avoid taxes. Whether you file or not is another matter.
Filing a tax return is really unnecessary unless you want a refund of a portion of the money stolen for income tax. The process pretty much goes as follows:
You work for your employer for a wage or salary
Your employer totals up your pay.
From the amount of pay the employer looks at the info you provided on your form W-4 and compares that info to the Withholding tables provided by the IRS. Those tables tell the employer how much money should be stolen (withheld) from you. Money which is then deposited in a special bank account.
At the end of every quarter (3 calendar months starting generally in January) your employer must file a 941(?) Report indicating how much money was deposited in the special bank account which tells the federal government to which individual taxpayers this money is credited.
This is done throughout the year.
At the end of the year the employer must provide you with a form W-2 indicating all the money stolen (withheld) from your pay over the course of the year and to which government agencies those moneys were sent.
In short, the federal income tax, soc sec tax, state and local taxes have already been paid and in most cases already spent.
Now you must file a return with the various governments to see if they have stolen enough. If they have stolen too much you are entitled to a return of the overage. If they haven't stolen enough then must make up the difference. Filing also ensures your compliance and marks your place in the flock. Failure to file means that you are self-willed. Not a team player. Not in compliance. You will be targeted for a full sheep dip and complete shearing. The governments still have all the money taken from you but you are not saying thank you. This is bad and the government will seek to correct your willfulness. Failure to file does NOT deny the government any funds. It just upsets them no end that you are being defiant.
Self-employed employers have it much worse than you. They get to pay even more taxes than the employee. They get to do much more paperwork than you do. They get to file quarterly. They also get to write an actual check to the government which makes a real big hole in their bank account. Yes, employers do get to deduct business expenses like paper clips, computers and even your wages and the costs of your benefits like health insurance. However, this means that there must be enough business to pay for all this stuff first because they can't deduct costs unless and until those costs have already been paid. This also makes a big hole in the employers bank account. If there's not enough business then this means fewer emplyees, fewer benefits, lower wages and fewer taxes being paid. The government doesn't like this but it is more than willing to steal all money available to be stolen. The success of the business is not the concern of the government. The government's only interest is the money it can steal.
Corporate employers are a different kind of beast. The owners are the stockholders. The Chairman of the Board, the CEO, CFO, COO and all the vice-presidents, directors, managers and anyone else with a white collar are NOT the owners UNLESS they own some of the stock of the company. They are merely agents. They are the servants of the corporation. They too, are employees just like you. The government looks at a corporation like it's a person. The government taxes the corporation just like a it's a person. The government taxes the corporation twice because it also taxes ALL of the shareholders for any profits they received from the corporation. This is called double-dipping. Governments like corporations because they can tax them twice. However, there are other characteristics of the government/corporate relationship that make governments do wierd things. We won't take the time to explore those wierd things here because there are way too many and they are way too wierd. Yes, even more wierd than calling theft legal by renaming it taxation.
To avoid taxation you must do things that the government, for it's convenience and purposes, calls illegal, criminal and immoral. They really want you to feel bad for not letting them steal your money. So bad in fact, that they are more than willing to put the hurt on you themselves. Yes, even up to the point of putting the muzzle of a firearm in your face. This is indeed risky business. It is very dangerous.
The easiest way to avoid taxes is to simply not work. No income = no income taxes. Simple indeed but, not very effective. Where I come from if you don't work, you don't eat. Not a very healthy choice and it doesn't add to the pleasure of life. Of course, one could always go on welfare. Used to be you could live rather well off of welfare doles. That's not true today. Welfare has been mangled to the point where one receives very little support and only for a limited time. It's good for a personal sabbatical but not much else.
There is one benefit of welfare that shouldn't be overlooked though and that is that it's a gateway to tax avoidance. Moral and ethical considerations aside, welfare is a great first stepping stone or jumping off point for tax avoidance. It's a way to drop through the cracks in system and disappear from sight. Once through the system a person can seek to live in any way one can manage without re-appearing in the system. You can also become a ghost. Change identities and become anyone you want...except yourself. Maybe practical for some but not for everyone.
If you choose to remain yourself, that is to keep your real identity, your options are very limited. Working only for cash, never, ever divulging your soc sec number. You can't accept any checks no matter how good or how big they may be. You must avoid stops by cops at all costs. When all is said and done you severely limit your own freedom.
Another alternative is to work out a tolerable compromise. Take on a part-time job which keeps you in the tax system and let the government steal the fruits of your labor. During the time when you're not working for your employer(s) you can stay busy making real income (cash) by working the underground economy. Grey and Black markets never die. They never go away. Some are very much out in the open. Ebay is a good example. Flea markets, swap meets, garage sales, collectibles and antiques shows, in fact most any service or products can be taken to the grey and black markets and sold for cash. Starving artists? Don't believe it. Ever wonder about the war on cash? It's to kill these grey and black markets. For the perceptive it's also a good reason to work on developing skills in barter and networking markets. It's also another good reason to start looking into alternative currencies. No one can eat dollars or Euros or gold or silver. Neither can you eat lumber or concrete or steel. Yet these are the things that people need, want, use and have to trade. How do you turn a concrete block into a loaf of bread? Is it a direct exchange? Can you accept a pallet of concrete blocks and turn those into a month's supply of food? Could you do it in less than 10 exchanges? Can you turn 500# of A2 tool steel into silver or gold? Can you do it in less than 10 exchanges? Are you currently turning your dollars into silver and gold or other easily exchangable goods? If not, why not?
There's lots of ways to exploit the current systems for your benefit. There are lots of ways to drop below radar right now. And now is a good time. Being from an agricultural background and area I am well acquainted with the old saying, "Make hay while the sun shines". Today the sun shines though somewhat dimly. Now is a good time to develop bartering skills and to learn to network markets. No one knows what the economy is going to do. Whatever it is going to do will not be good. despite all the propaganda the fed and the central government cannot endlessly defy basic economic rules without penalty. ALL fiat currencies throughout ALL of history have failed. the dollar will be no exception. Neither will the Euro, the yen, the yuan or any other fiat currency. Another fact is that over-reaching governments ALWAYS fail. The US government will not be an exception. People cannot eat dollars. people cannot wear dollars. People cannot build dollar huts to live in. People need food. People need material for clothing. people need building supplies to build shelter to live in. Dollars or other currencies, stocks, bonds, derviatives, puts, calls and other financial instruments are not the materials needed. Yes, for now they can be used to obtain the materials needed. When they lose their value (and they WILL lose their value) they won't even be suitable for use as toilet paper. What then? Now is the time to make hay while the sun shines. Learn the ropes and if you can, stockpile useful goods for trading.
Another alternative to taxation is becoming another Larken Rose or Irwin Schiff. Open resistance is risky as these men have demonstrated. You could also just refuse to comply. That too, also has risks.
Of course, you could just accept the system and be compliant with the law.
Whatever you decide to do, at least for the moment there is a choice and you have the flexibility to choose whatever will work best with your situation, beliefs and abilities to act. However, like the TV commercials...Act Now! This is a limited time offer!
Alton
Author
Topic: Paying Taxes (Read 51964 times)