Tax Strategies & Credits

The Ugly Truth About Lying on Your Taxes

The Ugly Truth About Lying on Your Taxes

Note: The tax filing and payment deadline for 2019 tax returns has been delayed from April 15, 2020 to July 15, 2020.

Let’s face it. Nobody likes the idea of handing over their hard-earned money to the government. No matter how much you know and appreciate about what taxes pay for, there are few people who want to shoulder that responsibility instead of keeping their income for themselves, and fewer still who don’t hope that completing their tax returns will result in a big tax refund. But what happens when those hopes aren’t realized and your refund either falls short of what you expected or – worse yet – you owe money? Should you manipulate the numbers to put (or keep) money in your pocket?

The truth is that doing so is not just wrong – it’s illegal and puts you at real risk for being found guilty of tax fraud. If your numbers don’t make sense to the IRS, you are likely to face an audit, and if the audit finds malfeasance you might have to pay fines and penalties or even spend time in jail. Here’s what you need to know about why lying on your taxes is a mistake.

The IRS Knows More Than You Think

The first thing that anybody considering fudging the numbers on their taxes needs to know is that the W-2 and 1099s that you receive also get sent to the IRS. If you change your numbers, they are immediately going to see that things don’t match up. If you are being paid “under the table” in cash and they have reason to suspect it, they can see how much money you’ve been spending and can determine if it is out of line with the income you’ve reported. Either of these possibilities is likely to result in you being the subject of an audit.

What happens in an IRS audit?

When the IRS detects irregularities in your tax return, they conduct a comprehensive review of all of your financial information, comparing it to the information that you’ve provided on your tax return to look for disparities.

Fewer than one in 100 taxpayers will be subjected to an audit, but that doesn’t mean that it’s something you want to make yourself vulnerable to. The process is frustrating and stressful. It can also be expensive and time consuming. You will need to defend yourself, presenting documents from years’ worth of financial transactions, and you may require the assistance of an attorney or accountant to assist you.

Depending upon the amount of money that your misrepresentations would have saved or gained you, you can quickly end up spending a good deal more, especially because an audit can go back as far as six years. 

What happens if your audit reveals fraud or evasion?

Being audited doesn’t always result in negative findings, but if it does and you’re shown to have committed fraud or tax evasion, you can find yourself looking at significant penalties, fines, and even the potential of jail time.

Findings of a failure to pay what you owe will automatically mean that the payment you should have made was late, and therefore you will be charged a late payment penalty. If the finding is that your failure to pay or short-payment was purposeful, then you face the potential of being charged with fraud or tax evasion, which can lead to fines and even jail time, no matter how little you may owe compared to other, wealthier tax evaders. 

Fines can go as high as $250,000, and jail time can be assessed by the courts. There are roughly 3,000 tax evaders who are found guilty of criminal tax fraud every year, and it all starts with an IRS tax audit. Jail times depend upon the severity and specifics of the crime, and though criminal charges are a minimal risk, the potential still exists.

Other consequences of lying on your taxes

Though the majority of the risk you face when you lie on your taxes comes directly from the IRS, there are other consequences that you need to be aware of. You may find it more difficult to purchase a home or get a personal loan, because applications for credit frequently include providing copies of your tax return. While lowering your income has the potential of reducing your tax liability, it has the converse effect of reducing the amount of money you appear able to pay for a loan. If you haven’t filed a tax return at all, one of the first impacts of that will be a hit on your credit rating.

The alternative path to paying less in taxes

As tempting as it may be to artificially lower your income to reduce your taxes, doing so clearly presents real risk. That does not mean that you are stuck paying high taxes. There are plenty of legitimate ways to reduce your tax liability and increase your tax refund, and a tax professional is the best source of information and guidance on how to do that.

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Steward Financial

Steward Financial

Jon Osborn is a tax preparer based in San Dimas, California. His company, Steward Financial Services, offers a broad range of tax preparation, accounting and business consulting for small businesses. He loves to work with clients who are looking for answers to complex tax and business planning issues. He has owned several small businesses and worked with over one hundred small business owners. He helps his individual and business tax clients find the best ways to spend their money in order to minimize IRS tax. Small businesses looking to grow, sell or just increase cash flow are one of Jon's specialties.

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