Tax evasion is something you shouldn’t think about doing.

Tax evasion is something you shouldn’t think about doing.

I was young-19 when I had a job that paid me as an independent contractor. At the time I had no idea what that meant (they do not withhold taxes from your paycheck, you must pull it out yourself). When I filed my taxes I suddenly owed $5,000, which I didn’t have. As an irresponsible 19 year old I ignored the IRS letters asking for repayment.

I then went back to college and was even more broke. The IRS sent letters saying they were going to put a lien on my property. I shrugged it off because I didn’t own anything. I continued to file my taxes but I didn’t pay what was owed.

This all eventually began to weigh on my conscience, I thought maybe I could do an Offer in Compromise. Despite all the commercials from tax lawyers telling you how they can reduce your tax debt, it’s just not the truth. For the IRS to agree to an Offer in Compromise you basically need to prove you will never be able to pay off the tax. For example you are now disabled and you can’t work or you are retired. None of these excuses work for perfectly healthy young adults.

Finally I began to grow up. As soon as I landed a job I called them up and agreed to an Installment Plan. I later found out that even this route is flawed. Even if you are in repayment you can still have penalties added. I owed taxes for 3 different years, the oldest year had turned into a lien. Half way through repayment I called to confirm that the lien was released, they said it was but while I was repaying another lien was added. So even if you are in good standing and paying the money they can continue to add penalties until the entire amount is paid.

So in hindsight the best thing I could have done was to just bite the bullet and start paying asap. I now have perfect credit except for the liens, yes they do put those on your credit report and they are not removed until 9 years after they are settled. I am now 30 and just married, we would like to buy a house but lenders are not interested in lending money to someone with liens on their credit.

So please, PAY YOUR TAXES! I hope my story can help someone avoid what I put myself through.