Tiffany Raiford
Positivity determines happiness, so we are trying something new around here; we are going to view things from a more positive perspective. The news is filled with terrible news and horrible crimes, bad people are everywhere and even our kids are beginning to ask uncomfortable questions about the world. We don’t want to live in denial, but we don’t want to live in depression, either. So, we are going to discuss taxes. Sure, they don’t sound like much fun, but they can be! Especially if you really want to get audited! If you are just dying to prove your personal finance and income to the IRS, you should definitely make sure your 2015 income tax return has each of the following.
Be Extremely Profitable or Extremely Poor
If you are super rich or super poor, the IRS might come after you. Another big red flag is if you claim the Earned Income Credit, which is something that you get if you make less than a certain amount of money and the government pays you for it.
Errors, Errors, Errors
Sure, we all make mistakes. I once made a mistake on my 2010 income tax return that the IRS caught a year ago. I left out a zero from one my 1099s and ended up writing the government a big, fat check for over $2k that month. Super fun! Whether you accidentally spell your name wrong or mistake a few numbers here and there, you are increasing your chances of an audit.
Be Your Own Boss
If you are like me, you’re your own boss. It’s a lot of fun to be your own boss, unless your boss is a jerk. It happens; we all have off days. If you want the IRS to come calling, go ahead and quit your day job to become your own boss. Those who file a Schedule C are far more likely to be audited than those who don’t.
Be Very Generous
One thing that my husband and I like to do is be generous with our money. We adopt classes at our kids’ schools, we give a lot to our church, we donate a lot to charities that mean a lot to us. But that’s not good. Most people donate around 3% of their income and that’s about right. We donate more than that, and it looks bad for us since it seems to be a little over-stated. It’s not, but that’s what the IRS likes to think of the generous and giving (they’d rather we be more generous by paying taxes on that money than giving it to charity….after all, there are plenty of people with no job just waiting to cash that refund check and the IRS would prefer we pay for those!).
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