11 Apr Thinking of Lying On Your Tax Returns? Think Again
If you haven’t figured it out yet, tax season is here. In fact, it is drawing to a close. Tax returns are due by April 17th. If you haven’t filed your taxes yet, you better hurry. The last thing you want to do is mess up your taxes and wind up in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Luckily, most people are able to file their taxes without incident.
One thing that will definitely get you noticed in a bad way, is lying on your taxes. Doing this is called tax fraud and it is very illegal. People can lie on their tax returns in several different ways, but the reason is usually always the same. People lie on their returns in order to get more money out of the government.
Tax fraud is defined as “an individual or business willfully and intentionally falsifying information on tax returns in order to limit how much they may owe, or increase how much they may receive.”
Naturally, the government does not like it when a person commits tax fraud and essentially takes money from them. This fact leads to very serious consequences when a person is eventually caught for tax fraud. Getting caught for tax fraud can earn a person, at minimum, 5 years in jail and fines around $500,000 plus any additional fees that may be tacked on.
Lying on your tax returns to earn a few extra bucks may seem like a good idea, but it isn’t worth it. You will end up paying far more than you received when you are charged with tax fraud. Of course, as the deadline to file approaches, you may want to focus more on getting your taxes done on time. You have less than a month left to file!