[CAUT] Taxes (was: PTG dues)

[Israel Stein]

On Wednesday, January 09, 2008  Carl Root wrote:
 
> A posted list of "red flags" would be interesting, actually, if you  
> have the time.

I'll probably me messing around with my taxes this coming Sunday, so I'll see what I can find in the Turbo Tax for this year. 

>This raises the question of whether on not you should take a  
>legitimate deduction, knowing that it could flag your return.   
>Sometimes it makes sense to hold it, then bring it out if you're  
>audited to make sure that they're the ones who owe you money.  Trying  
>to nickel and dime uncle sam every year, an attitude that is all too  
>common, never made much sense to me, for a variety of reasons.

Good point, Carl. This is something that good, conscientious tax professionals will point out to their clients - balancing the risk of inviting an audit against the few extra dollars in tax savings that you might gain. Sometimes the time lost to a possible audit just isn't worth it. 

Israel Stein