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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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 ANALYSIS 
5

What If I Don't Feel Like Filing?

Christopher Beam explores the potential evader's options

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(Newser) – With millions of Americans enduring long lines at the post office today to file their tax returns, Christopher Beam of Slate can’t help wonder: What would happen if you simply didn’t file? The answer is probably not much—7 million Americans declined to file last year, and only 158,000 of them were investigated—although certain factors increase your chances of being an IRS target.

Self-employed or unemployed individuals have the best chances of flying under the radar, because there's no chance of a discrepancy between a business’ employee income filings and the employee’s tax return. If you’re going to evade, it’s best to go whole hog—it’s better never to file than to run up a red flag by paying for a few years and stopping. Keep in mind that there’s no statute of limitations on civil penalties for tax evasion. And don’t try it at all if you’re famous. Just ask Wesley Snipes.

Illinois Department of Revenue assistant Heather Charlton processes Illinois 1040 forms at the Illinois Department of Revenue in Springfield, Ill., Monday April 16, 2007.
Illinois Department of Revenue assistant Heather Charlton processes Illinois 1040 forms at the Illinois Department of Revenue in Springfield, Ill., Monday April 16, 2007.   (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
These handout images provided to The Associated Press by the White House shows President and Mrs. Bush's 2007 federal income tax forms.
These handout images provided to The Associated Press by the White House shows President and Mrs. Bush's 2007 federal income tax forms.   (AP Photo)
The 1040 tax form.
The 1040 tax form.   (IRS)
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5 comments
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northeast
Apr 15, 09 3:21 PM CDT
....and one of these people now heads the IRS. Reply
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Robert_Dada
Apr 15, 09 3:23 PM CDT
US Population - shut up and pay your taxes Reply
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TerrifiedCitizen
Apr 15, 09 3:55 PM CDT
It's so nice of Slate to outline the proper way to evade taxes... Reply
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JonmarkP
Apr 15, 09 6:31 PM CDT
Where were all these "Freedom" people when Cheney was diverting trillions of our tax dollars into his own pockets and the pockets of his friends? War profiteers and corporate welfare are the tax problem here, not funding our common needs. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
Rob
Apr 16, 09 5:53 AM CDT
Yes Cheney is crooked. But I think it would behoove you as a voting citizen to learn the definition of words like "trillion" so that you can understand the scope of what’s happening now. "Trillions" is an Obama word and not a Bush word. We went from "hundreds of billions" to "trillions" and you will not notice the difference if you don't educate yourself on scale.
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