For most Americans paying taxes has become an annual ritual fraught with stress and anxiety. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Many folks see the approaching deadline of April 15th with equal parts dread and frustration. The common worry is that we won’t get the returns ready and will be forced to file an extension which means more forms. Then there is the frustration of sending our hard earned money in the forms of taxes to a government that appears to be wasting that money.
We all need to accept that every working person in the country is in the same boat: nobody is happy paying taxes and nobody is 100 percent happy with how the government spends that tax revenue. Moving beyond that commonality, we can make paying taxes less burdensome by adopting some simple principles. Filing out the return early is great approach. Those same few hours you spend watching reruns of a television program in January can be used to get your return ready. Aren’t we really talking about a few hours at the most? Is that really such a burden? It doesn’t have to be if you can dedicate a specific amount of time with no distractions. Imagine dedicating one Saturday afternoon from 12 to 5 to tax returns. Put the date on your calendar. By dinner time on that Saturday your tax returns could be signed, sealed and delivered.
If you are in the unavoidable position of owing the government money, but don’t have the payment you can relax. Believe it or not the IRS is willing to work with you to pay off your taxes. There will be some additional penalties and interest, but working out an installment agreement can be a lot less painful then writing a check for a lump sum. Use the vast amount of research available to come up with your best options.
