Add Some Excitement to Your Life with an Audit
Are you bored? Feel like every day is the same old routine? Are you longing for a new and exciting challenge in your life? If so, you’ve come to the right place. There’s no excitement quite like an audit from the IRS, and today we’ll tell you how to get yourself (and business) on the top of the list for one of those in 5 easy steps.
1. Round up… way up
If you want the attention of the IRS, start by rounding your numbers up. Way up. Forget rounding to the nearest dollar. Round to the nearest $50, or $100. Listing $1500 for a new laptop expense is more likely to draw attention than the $1429 that the laptop actually cost.
2. “Forget” to list some of your income
Receive a 1099 for some consulting work, interest income, or commission? Leave it off. The IRS has already received this information by the payer. They already know you made the money. Why should you send them what they already have?
3. Claim everything as a business expense
Every restaurant trip, all utility bills for your “home office,” heck, even Christmas gifts for family members. That $1,500 you spent on Amazon in December doesn’t hurt so much when you claim it as a business expense for, shall we say, client appreciation gifts.
4. Claim deductions out of line with your income
Claiming mortgage interest on a celebrity-sized mansion or a 5-figure charitable donation on your $45K annual salary should draw some attention.
5. File your taxes on paper
If you file your taxes on paper you probably won’t even have to try to make any math errors. The error rate for paper returns is 21%, but for electronic returns is less than 1% (we know that sounds made up but it’s not). Sure, sometimes the IRS will correct math errors on their own without triggering an audit. But you’ll never know unless you try (or hardly try).
Bottom Line
While there’s no guarantee you’ll get the excitement of an audit, these tactics are great ways to get you red-flagged – oops, we mean noticed – by the IRS. Let the good times roll! For more humorous tax tips (is that an oxymoron?) check out our blog post on COVID-19 tax deductions for your business.
