death and taxes.

"....but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
benjamin franklin, 1789

with that stated, today is april 15th. tax day. the last day to file taxes. and i have not yet. i work for a non-profit that never took any taxes out of my check. so even with all the wisdom provided by mr. franklin, i simply assumed that i didn't have to file taxes. i'm so used to uncle sam taking money and then giving it back to me in may. so i concluded this year that i didn't have to do anything because no taxes had been taken out. and boy was i wrong. below are some of the penalties for not filing.

if you don't file you are subject to failure-to-file penalities which can be up to 5% of your income tax per month that you do not file.

and then there's interest. because there's always interest. interest is charged on both the penalties and the taxes not paid by the due date. the combination of penalties and interest could increase the amount that you have to pay up to 25%. as a matter of fact, it actually works out better for everyone if we don't file correctly or on time. universal healthcare here we come. no wait. i mean financial bailout here we come.

in addition...

most programs that disperse loans require tax returns so not filing would put you at a disadvantage if you were ever going to need money for school, a car, or a house, etc.
filing taxes is also a way in which the irs and the ssa keep track of your lifetime earnings. this information is used to determine eligibility for disability, social security, unemployment compensation, and medicaid. so if you're planning on working for a financial institution that has the potential to make your entire ira or pension plan disappear into thin air leaving you with nothing but your social security, this would be good to know. this is also beneficial if you are not planning on working at all.

ouch.

relax guys. we have until midnight tonight.