IRS Instructions as Clear as Mud, Even to the IRS
Tax time is just around the corner and that means it will be time once again to comb through all the jargon that is IRS tax forms. Many taxpayers have long bemoaned tax forms and instructions as just plain confusing and in some cases, downright sinister. However, even though filing taxes on your own accord can be a risky proposition, as long as you stick to the code and follow the IRS’s instructions carefully and exactly, you should be OK, right? Well, not necessarily.
What? How could that possibly be true? The fact is tax instructions don’t actually fall under the tax law. So, in reality, you could even follow the instructions on a tax form with exactness and still end up with an error. Of course, the IRS would understand if that happened to you, right? Well, not exactly. Many taxpayers have used this argument to no avail. In most instances, the courts side with the IRS and rarely hold the agency to what is written in its forms and instructions.
That’s because, unfortunately, according to legal precedence, the only things that hold up in court as tax law are regulations, official statutes and judicial decisions. That means even if you fill out your tax forms incorrectly and it’s the IRS’s fault, you will still be held accountable for those mistakes. It doesn’t seem fair that the IRS is ultimately not responsible to write correct instructions, but nevertheless when it comes to the IRS there isn’t too much that does seem fair.
8 Ways to Save on Car Insurance
8 Ways to Save on Car Insurance By Michael Broach Now that the days of cheap gas are over, people are constantly looking for ways to save a few bucks on their car. Most people will look for ways to make their car more fuel efficient, but another way to save is to lower your…
Ten Things the Average Person Does Not Know About Annuities
Ten Things the Average Person Does Not Know About Annuities By Robert D. Cavanaugh, Clu Deferred annuities possess characteristics found nowhere else. They play an important part in seniors’ portfolios. Seniors hold billions of dollars in deferred annuities. However, my experience is that the average person knows little about the unique advantages of deferred annuities,…
Wealthy Be Aware of Shady Financial Advisors
Wealthy Be Aware of Shady Financial Advisors Despite all the benefits and perks that come with being wealthy, there are also many pitfalls that many wealthy individuals can get caught up in, especially when those wealthy individuals are thrust into their wealth very suddenly, like a professional athlete or entertainer. Many of these wealthy people…
Tax Strategies That The Wealthy Use to Save
Tax Strategies That The Wealthy Use to Save We all want to save money on our taxes, especially ultra-wealthy taxpayers who are hit the hardest by the nation’s highest tax strategies of the wealthy percentages. We know that the country’s richest 1 percent pays nearly a quarter, 24 percent, of all federal income taxes collected…