Agree or Disagree: Find examples of individuals who underreported or falsely reported information to reduce their taxes.

Another topic we covered was tax avoidance vs tax evasion. We hear a lot about both in the media today. People claim that the rich are not paying their fair share in taxes because the system is set up to benefit them with all the loopholes and tax avoidances available to them by the IRC. Then we are seeing a slew of celebrities being brought to trial for tax evasion. While tax avoidance is perfectly legal, an actual benefit offered by the IRS to help lessen the tax liability and keep more of your income, tax evasion is fraudulent behavior by willfully failing to accurately present financial standing to underreport and underpay on income taxes. In January $2023,$ the case brought against Jason Cory, of Jacksonville, FL by the IRS claimed that he did not properly avoid paying taxes, but rather flat out evaded them. Cory made more than $$1\mathrm{.}5$ million worth of deposits into his shell company, Gambit Matrix LLC$,$ under the false pretense that the payments from his employer were for services rendered. He did not claim the income for his shell company and evaded more than $$600,000$ worth of taxes. Unfortunately, Cory had himself in a pickle, since the money being deposited into his shell company was being embezzled from his employer by creating a false W$-9$ and fake owners to hide his involvement. He was using this money to fund his lavish lifestyle. Cory should have reported the income properly on his federal taxes to avoid the evasion charges, but the web of deception was too intense for him to get out of it clean.

The proper way to HONESTLY avoid paying taxes is to have a good tax planning approach. Taxpayers can legally avoid paying taxes with the help of the IRS tax codes. Properly filling out the W$-4$ to withhold enough money to lessen the taxes due at filing, recognizing applicable deductions and credits available, choosing whether to take the standard deduction $($not always the best option$)$ or itemize $($can really benefit if good records are kept and willing to take the time to work it all out$),$ become familiar with the different tax brackets and the tax rate they require $($are there ways to shelter income and move to a lesser bracket with lower tax rates$),$ are just a few ways hardworking and honest taxpayers can lessen their tax liability. Unfortunately, the complexity of the current and ever$-$changing tax laws makes it appear harder than it needs to be on the average tax filer. This ends up potentially leaving money on the table for the average joe rather than in their pockets. However, rolling up the sleeves, putting in a little work on the front end, and learning about tax planning can help the taxpayer understand their financial standing better and make informed decisions. By analyzing personal financial situations and its effect on federal incomed taxes can help the taxpayer legally avoid taxes as much as possible.