Like, if its collapsed, do I file? Do I even have to?
I am most certainly going to pay my state tax, but then what? What about stuff like my social security funds?
(I am asking for others because we’re at that point now I suppose)
Yes even if you are dead you have to file taxes
Im not sure what you mean by we are at this point. The government will be collapsed to that level when it lacks the beuracracy and then you would not be getting the witholding done on your paycheck because there would be no system to do so. Alternatively if the government loses the capability of enforcing it that would let you get away with it. If the withholding is going on and if your not relatively rich, then odds are doing your taxes results in a refund.
You are assuming you will still have a job, or that US dollars will still have value.
Always file. If the IRS collapses you paperwork means nothing. If it survives a collapse, having not filled will bite you in the ass.
IRS has plans listed for an apocalyptic event (basically they need to continue tax collection within 48 hours), but they do work for the government. Without the government; you wouldn’t need to pay taxes; but it would be the least of your concerns.
You cannot escape the tax person.
They will come to you, either in suits, or in military uniforms. And they will collect what you legally owe to them.
(If the civillian government falls, the military will just take over and rule under martial law)
They won’t. This whole thing is undermining the IRS. They don’t have the manpower they won’t have the budget. Tax cuts for the rich also equals cuts to go after them. It’s a free for all now
They can’t go over the people with a 300 page tax return that uses past paper losses to cover any actual income. They already automated enforcement of w2 based income.
They don’t have the manpower to go after everyone, but you never need to.
You make an example out of 1.000 people nation wide, and most people wouldn’t dare to not pay.
if you think it’s all likely to fall apart soon, file asap if you’re expecting to get money back, but put it off as long as possible if you’re gonna have to pay them more. if the government is going down, might as well get your piece of it while you can.
To be fair, if you’re a W-2 employee, they already have your money from withholding. So it’s not like you’re taking dollars from the irs by not filing your return, it just means you don’t get your rebate.
On that note… it might make sense to set a really low withholding this year.
…and the next.
I think you are only allow to reduce withholding if you did not owe them money when you did your most recent filing.
Try to set it so nobody owes anybody much. If you fall too short on withholding you can end up paying interest on the difference.
And to add, you can file a year later for the rebate. I think it’s four previous years? Someone correct me if I’m wrong though.
5 years.
Ty
I just sent them a fucking check. Wonder if I should stop them
Rest assured, you will be paying taxes to somebody until the day you die.
Not if you’re a billionaire with an electric car company.
Musk may have paid little or no federal income taxes since at least 2014—despite his ballooning fortune—so the one-time payment of $8.3 billion (or even $11 billion) in essence covers multiple years. According to ProPublica’s analysis of IRS records, Musk paid no federal income taxes in 2018. Between 2014 and 2018 his wealth grew by $13.9 billion, yet he paid just $455 million in federal income taxes, a rate of only 3.27%.
Yep, that is how capital gains works for everyone, including you and me. You pay taxes on them when you sell, when you have income.
You and me cant use those unseen capital gains as collateral to buy a propaganda machine.
Put a percentage of every paycheck into an index fund (ex: VTI) and sit on them for a few years. You too will have capital gains.
Average returns on index funds are 6%-8%/yr, compounding. They are a solid long-term investment.
What with? My emerald mine money?
A bit silly to go for VTI over VT, the US is in decline and international is accelerating.
Tesla has sold quite a lot, yet paid almost nothing in taxes. So obviously it doesn’t work that way for “everyone”.
https://itep.org/tesla-reported-zero-federal-income-tax-in-2024/
Tesla is not Musk, yes companies are taxed differently than individuals. Notably by profit, not income.
Musk paid $11b in capital gains tax when he sold, that is how capital gains taxes work for everyone. Same as you and me.
If the government collapses, you’re gunna have much worse things to worry about than taxes.
World peace?
Do people really think the US state and its monopoly on violence is going to collapse in the foreseeable future?
The US has been run by oligarchs since its formation as a bourgeois state after its bourgeois revolution (previously). That this is more nakedly obvious this week than last doesn’t really change that fact.
Actually yes, there are more oligarchs than the idiots in charge right now, and it’s going to come to a head at some point. Each one has their feifdom and they won’t go quietly.
More to the point, it’s going to reach the point of mass protest again, and moron is going to call in the military. After which everything is on the table. No one in power will be safe in anything but armored transport and guarded villages, which won’t last long. At that point the US and it’s global hegemony will be broken. There won’t be the resources to project military power beyond our borders and a few subject states, because it will cost so much to keep security at home, and productivity will tank hard.
No one can beat the US military except the US itself, and it’s being forced to do just that.
The US military is shrinking and getting more inept every year with lowered physical and aptitude standards. So at least there’s that.
Every nation in the world is a capitalist oligarchy if you haven’t noticed. Every state is evil.
The only way to fix it, is to abolish statism worldwide.
No, not every nation is Capialist. That’s a misunderstanding of what Capitalism is or a redefinition of it to the point of uselessness as it becomes over-applied.
I’ve noticed that they are not all capitalist oligarchies, actually, though most currently are.
We would also like to ultimately abolish the state, though you and I might not mean precisely the same thing by “state.”
And pay with what? Would the dollar still even exist?
@doomsdayrs Since Trump is trying to kill the income tax by reassigning all IRS agents to the border, my guess is that - when the U.S. government collapses under the weight of sheer stupidity - you won’t have to file on time.
But after the chaos settles down, it will depend on who ends up in control.
After the chaos settles down a whole lot of people are going to be dead. Taxes are the last thing to worry about in this scenario.
You will end up paying the share of taxes to your state government that you currently do to the federal government. If the federal government collapses, all 50 states are now de facto independent. Those states can now start forming a new country or new collection of countries as they will.
They will weaponize the IRS against poor people and ignore the people committing big time tax fraud. Do with that information what you will.
I would love for the IRS go rogue and take out the mob boss at the top like the good old times.
