{"id":26251,"date":"2025-04-17T10:49:39","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T14:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/?p=26251"},"modified":"2025-04-17T10:49:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T14:49:39","slug":"did-you-file-your-taxes-by-debbie-norrell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/did-you-file-your-taxes-by-debbie-norrell\/","title":{"rendered":"Did You File Your Taxes? by Debbie Norrell"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Tuesday was April 15. If you are working and earning money, that was the date by which you were required to file your income taxes. I have actually run into people who do not file taxes, and that has always amazed me. Some people prefer working \u201cunder the table.\u201d That means someone is paying you cash for the work you do, but no taxes are taken out of your pay. Let\u2019s take a look at the consequences of working under the table.<\/p>\n

To \u201cpay someone under the table\u201d means that an employer pays an employee cash without making the deductions required by law. Federal, state, and local laws require employers to withhold income tax, Social Security taxes, and Medicare. Other deductions may be required as well, such as wage garnishments to pay past-due child support or other legitimate debts.<\/p>\n

This means the business is not deducting taxes from the employee\u2019s paycheck, and as such, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is unaware of the employee and their employment status. It also means that Social Security taxes, unemployment insurance, and workers\u2019 compensation insurance premiums are not being paid.<\/p>\n

There are many reasons employers give for paying their employees under the table. Some want to avoid the hassle and expense of running payroll every two weeks. Others claim they cannot afford payroll taxes and insurance. Regardless of the reason, paying someone under the table is illegal. Uh oh.<\/em><\/p>\n

Many employers believe they won\u2019t be caught, but the IRS collects roughly $4.5 billion in penalties each year for the non-payment of payroll taxes. The penalties for paying wages under the table can be far more expensive than simply paying what is owed. The IRS prosecutes these cases\u2014many of which result in prison sentences and severe financial penalties.<\/p>\n

Email the columnist at\u00a0debbienorrell@aol.com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Click Here to View All \u201cLifestyles with Debbie Norrell\u201d Articles<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Tuesday was April 15. If you are working and earning money, that was the date by which you were required to file your income taxes. I have actually run into people who do not file taxes, and that has always … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"xn-wppe-expiration":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-action":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-prefix":[],"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyles-with-debbie-norrell"],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 18:57:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26253,"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26251\/revisions\/26253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}