Personal experience: I didn’t pay taxes for 10 years, and this is how it ended

An American has not paid taxes for 10 years. He said Slate, how he stopped filing taxes, how his problems grew and why he decided to confess everything.

Photo: iStock.com/William_Potter

Jim, a healthcare worker, has not filed a return for ten years. He filed it in 2020, but only to receive coronavirus payments. Jim is now approaching 40 and has not paid taxes since he was 30.

The path of a tax evader

Jim lived in California, where his expenses were very high. He worked odd jobs: in call centers, the catering industry, the hotel business, bars and other places. But most importantly, he was an alcoholic for a long time. Jim had bills to pay, and the rest of the money went to alcohol. It was a vicious circle, the man says. What exactly will happen if you don’t pay taxes in the USA, read our article.

On the subject: 'Inverted taxes': in the US, the poor pay more to the country than the rich

“The IRS would demand money from me that I didn’t have because I had already spent it,” he said. “I wouldn’t advise anyone to get into this situation.”
From the very first time Jim didn't file his taxes, he knew he'd be in trouble someday. Read about eight tax return mistakes that will cost you money in our material.

“Simply put, I needed money. I was at a point in my life where I didn't really care about the potential consequences. Now I live a middle class lifestyle. But when I first didn’t pay my taxes, I was making $30 a year,” the medical professional explained. “And when I looked at these billionaires—Bill Gates, Elon Musk—who were getting all these tax breaks while I was struggling, it was easy for me to justify my own wrongdoing. And these people received huge benefits.”

Jim's Tax Tricks

For a time, Jim filed to support nine dependents so that his income would not be taxed each month. He learned this many years ago from a friend.”

“I just lived the last decade as if I was supporting a giant family without ever filing a return with the IRS,” he said. “And you know, I basically got away with it.”

The only time he received a call from the IRS was after he applied for pandemic benefits. The IRS agent told Jim that he owed approximately $700. He promised to pay everything.

“That's the whole conversation. They didn't say, "Hey, we realized you haven't paid your taxes for years." It was strange. I thought to myself, man, I’m pretty sure I owe you a lot more,” Jim admitted.

Since then, the IRS called him several more times, but he recognized the number and did not answer. Eventually the calls stopped.

“It turns out that all you have to do to stop paying taxes is stop paying taxes,” the health professional explained.

New life

The irony is that Jim now works for the government. Officials ran a background check on him and he was forced to admit that he had not paid taxes. To his surprise, he was still accepted into the team. The hiring manager told Jim he needed to sort out his finances.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple — read it all on ForumDaily New York.

“I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll get right into it,’ and we haven’t talked about it since,” Jim recalled.

But this, according to the defaulter, was still a wake-up call. Jim went to rehab a few years ago, is sober and really doesn't want to lose his new job.

“I decided it was time to finally take responsibility for my actions,” he said.

In 2024, Jim began to catch up. He filed his tax return.

“I really don’t know what could happen to me and how the government will react. I only received one message from the service. It said that she was taking the $70 that I was supposed to receive according to my documents in 2023. This money will go towards covering what I owe. The amount of the bill is still a mystery to me, but I doubt that anything good will come of it. However, one thing is for sure: now that I’m officially in the system, I’m sure I’ll hear from them soon,” Jim noted.

He wanted to turn to professionals for help. But the company announced the price of their services - $8000.

“If I had $8000, I would just go do my taxes!” - admitted the medical worker.

Jim hopes the IRS will be sympathetic. He expects to get some kind of installment plan and leave everything behind.

“Every April I thought that this could be the moment when everything would fall apart. Sometimes I would even put my forms into TurboTax and look at the “Submit” button. I knew that if I submitted my documents, there would be no turning back,” Jim emphasized. “At these moments I thought about prison, and then all these feelings subsided. Do you know what seems priceless to me now? Be free from stress and worry for the rest of your life.”

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