this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2026
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Trippin' Through Time
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Now now, let's not pretend that you'll go straight to jail.
First they audit you for two years, combing through every single thing while causing constant stress, and then you go to jail.
Because you didn't keep that receipt from the Amish store where you got snacks on a road trip.
Let's not pretend that jail is common at all except in cases of blatant fraud.
The American right wing has been screaming about taxes being theft for so long that most actually believe it, but my experience with the IRS is that while an audit is stressful, the IRS will actively work with you. Provided you're honest with them.
They will work out payment plans that are usually less than you actually owe, plans that will not ruin you.
As a kid you're kind of told to fear the IRS and trust cops. The opposite is the truth.
Also, if you're a drug dealer or not in the country legally, they have special ways for you to pay taxes that are not reported to any other government agency.
But there's a massive industry built around making the average American fear and hate the IRS, mostly based on lies and rich people fraud.
Yeah that's one of the plotlines in Everything Everywhere All at Once
Yeah, can't you plea the 5th for the occupation field on your tax forms?
The "occupation" field is only used by the IRS for statistical purposes. You could put "nerf herder" in there and it wouldn't really matter.
Sir/Ma'am/Enby, this is a shitpost.
Damn it, there Amish that's a charitable tax right off!
You gotta itemize to do that. Hope you kept every receipt that's now faded to near-illegibility, or it's the Standard Deduction for you!