In 1769 when Benjamin Franklin confirmed the newly delivered constitution he wrote a letter about it in which he stated that ‘nothing in this world can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,’ and he was absolutely right. If you are in business or just about to start a business then one of the most important relationships which you have to build and maintain, is a positive one with the IRS. Above all of your contacts, your friends and family, it is the IRS who should have your full attention when you go about your business. Much talk has been made recently about the 226j letter that they are sending out to businesses who haven’t complied with the Affordable Care Act but in truth this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you aren’t already, here is why you need to fear the IRS.
Penalties For Details
Let’s get it out there now, the Inland Revenue Service have the power to fine you, to bankrupt you and in some cases, to jail you. Now you may think that this will not happen to you because you run a tight ship but the IRS will be waiting to pick up on even the smallest detail which you may have misspelled or misprinted. Sure these fines won’t exactly bankrupt you but they are an indication of what they can do if you really do fall foul of the law.
Facts and Figures
The IRS will not care that you posted a return late because of a business emergency, they also won’t care about the reasons why you missed some details. The IRS operate in a robotic fashion and whilst they will of course give you the chance to rectify your mistake or your failure to file a return, they will usually slap you with a penalty simply because they can.
Game Over
There are a huge number of businesses who thought that they could play fast and loose with the Inland Revenue Service, and as you can expect, they came of worse for wear. Unfortunately however in many cases the damage was so large that the business had to fold. This is not a shock tactic to instill the fear of God, or in this case the IRS, into you, it is simply what has happened to many businesses in the past, and if you do not take care and fall in line with their requirements, you could find yourself in a hole that you cannot get out of.
If you do what the law tells you to then you will have absolutely no issues with the IRS, they will leave you alone and you can keep yourself out of their business, the best relationship that you can hope to make between you and them.
Don’t take risks and never think that they will not find out. For more finance and investment tips from Feed Yes, click here.