I’m not filing t*xes. How long can I get away with it?

[Miley cryrus]

I’ve been dancing as my only income for 8 months now. I haven’t filed t*xes the entire time. I make cash deposits every month for bills. How long can I keep this up before I’m noticed? And what would the consequences be? Could I claim the deposits as gifts? How do I even go about filing?
Please tell me any information you have. I hadn’t even thought about t*xes until I read a thread on here and I remembered about them.

[laurielegs]

No you can't claim as gifts. You owe taxes on everything you deposited plus now that you are late you will owe penalties too. You can file a late return.

[eagle2]

I’ve been dancing as my only income for 8 months now. I haven’t filed t*xes the entire time. I make cash deposits every month for bills. How long can I keep this up before I’m noticed? And what would the consequences be? Could I claim the deposits as gifts? How do I even go about filing?
Please tell me any information you have. I hadn’t even thought about t*xes until I read a thread on here and I remembered about them.

Did you earn any income in 2020? You should talk with a tax professional.

[Miley cryrus]

Yes, I had a normal job prior to covid, received unemployment during lockdown, and had a seasonal job until beginning of January 2021.

[eagle2]

Did they withhold taxes at your seasonal job and from your unemployment payments?

[Selina M]

I worked with a 50 year old DJ who had literally NEVER filed taxes. That however is probably the thing, he had *never* done them and had never had a W2 job, so he kind of didn't even exist to the IRS.

Anyway OP, you do exist to them so yeah you should file. That said, they are very backed up and are taking years to even notice people who skip filing. But you can file any time you want, the sooner the better if you want to reduce failure-to-file and failure-to-pay interest and penalties.

If you have only been dancing this year, I would just start setting aside $$ for what you'll owe & file next April like normal for 2021. You get a grace period of not having to file quarterly taxes your first year as a contractor so you're completely fine.

[charlie61]

It's possible that you could get away with it, especially if you have a big financial cover (like if you're still a dependent on your parent's tax return, or if you're married and your spouse pays taxes on a household income). However, depositing money that you're using to pay bills will generally be a red flag... definitely a risk. I'd say that if it's possible, get a part-time vanilla job to pay your online bills, and then stop depositing dancer money completely (pay in cash whenever possible, buy a safe...) if you're determined to go that route.

I'm not giving you advice, and I'm not commenting on how i handled this for myself.

[Bahuba]

So how the IRS famously works is, they let you have a lot of rope. They go years with no action, then they appear. I had a good friend who worked for them as a lawyer. They almost never lose. They have a huge toolbox to gain compliance. One of my favorite restaurants in NYC (now closed) had lots of unreported cash tips apparently. The IRS showed up, did an "average check size" audit, and assessed penalties. One guy paid for 7 years. You've never lived til you've heard a French waiter rant about taxes. "Mais le tax, le tax!"

I'm not saying this will happen to you, and to be honest for a few months nothing will likely happen. But I would suggest you have a real plan for the long term.

[Zofia]

First, in your first year of self-employment you do not need to file quarterly estimates. However, the tax is still due. For the OP's situation dancing for eight months, I am assuming she started dancing in January of 2021. Thus, she is still safe and can file an estimate if she wants this year, or just file a schedule C with her 2021 tax return in April 2022 and pay the tax. So, no real problem yet. However, if you continue dancing into 2022, then quarterly estimates will be due. Once estimates are required, the spectre of tax evasion arises. That you really want to avoid. Failure to file returns, is the biggest red flag for the IRS and ultimately the U.S. Attorney's office.

My suggestion is to immediately hire a CPA or enrolled agent who has experience with taxes for entertainers and independent artists. Have that CPA or Enrolled Agent set up your tax filing process and set up your business accounting. That is, at a very minimum, a business bank account. Into that account, deposit your nightly take from dancing. Make that deposit after every shift you dance. Pay all your ordinary and necessary dancing expenses from the business account. Then, pay yourself from the account. Keep about 30% of your gross income as a reserve for taxes. Once you start filing estimates and paying estimated taxes, you can adjust the tax reserve as appropriate.

HTH
Z

[charlie61]

And it's not like the IRS necessarily shows up at your door one day. My understanding is that it would be a mailed audit, like you just now casually owe thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes. It takes them zero effort to send that out.

[CFMNH44]

What Zofia and Charlie61 said. You are not really in trouble. Yet. But do assume one third of what you make is for the taxman. The IRS has great algorithms for cost of living and can very accurately estimate how much it takes to live in certain areas, how much income from any business, from donut shops to strip clubs, hard to hide. You owe money, but as yet not penalty and interest. (Peeps that skirt the law for years, end up owing as much in P&I as the original tax bill. Get a SW friendly CPA, they also will be able to help you with deductions, expenses for your work. Plus you'll sleep better. Oh and set up a brokerage account / Roth IRA, much better than money under the mattress, and will help you when time to buy a house, etc.

[charlie61]

OP, if you ever want inspiration for paying taxes, think of cam girls. A lot of cammers are grinding out long shifts where the site is taking an enormous cut of every single sale, and then they're having to pay independent contractor taxes on top of that huge cut. Dancers have it relatively easy, IMO.

[xxxGothBarbie]

OP, if you ever want inspiration for paying taxes, think of cam girls. A lot of cammers are grinding out long shifts where the site is taking an enormous cut of every single sale, and then they're having to pay independent contractor taxes on top of that huge cut. Dancers have it relatively easy, IMO.

^ I'd equate that "cut" with how much these asshole clubs & mngrs are taking from dances these days. It's all the same. The grass is not greener for dancers. Everyone owes taxes.

[charlie61]

^ Idk girl, I've never worked at a club that took as much of my money as camming sites... not even close. As a dancer in a mid-tier, you can pretty easily make $500-900 in a few hours after stage fee and tipouts... my experience with camming is that it takes a lot more hours and effort to make that much (for 80% of cam models)...i think SM non-studio models only make 35% of what customers are paying, and then they're paying IC taxes on top of that? That's sickening. I know a lot of dancers turned to camming during covid, and they're itching to get back into the club for this reason alone.

I don't want to threadjack, sorry!

[WanderingWoman]

I was thinking of using camgirl CPA this year. Has anyone ever dealt with them here?

[saucytime]

Why don't you open an account with BitSafe ? They are based offshore and are private and only accessible to you? They provide a debit arid and full onlne banking services. THE KYC is done on your phone so fairly quick to get through the signup process. No credit checks, no tax, you are just an IBAN number on their system We use it at saucytime to pay our staff and it's the simplest and welcomes adult performers . This is not a promo just a recommendation. DM for VIP referral code.

[laurielegs]

Why don't you open an account with BitSafe ? They are based offshore and are private and only accessible to you? They provide a debit arid and full onlne banking services. THE KYC is done on your phone so fairly quick to get through the signup process. No credit checks, no tax, you are just an IBAN number on their system We use it at saucytime to pay our staff and it's the simplest and welcomes adult performers . This is not a promo just a recommendation. DM for VIP referral code.

That won't save you if the IRS investigates.

[saucytime]

the irs wont find it unless you use the debit card in the us. the money needs to be spent online in othert countries or ideally on holiday. but this is hypothetical because you should never break the law

[bananaqueen]

In my opinion, pretty much everything you put in the bank you should claim especially if this is your only job. If you plan for it to be your only job, then I’d pay the taxes to save you in the long run. They come after small fries all the time with huge bills. So do your future self a favour and pay it cause it’s a little amount compared to getting hit major one day especially if you were on unemployment or some government assistance. Also if you want to invest or save or buy a house or get a loan etc, they want to see your income. If you do another job, that’s a different story and you can keep cash as cash

[Cashmere Star]

Don't try to fuck with the IRS. They will get their money, no matter what. Al Capone went to prison not for all the illegal shit he did, but for tax evasion. They didn't care how he made money, they just want their share of it.

Since you already deposited the cash into the bank, there's a record of it. Even though the idea of not paying taxes at all sound nice, your life will be easier and you'll have more money in the long run if you deposit the money and just pay your taxes. You'll create a record of income so you can get approved to buy or rent places, and you can invest that money. Investing is how you make your money work for you instead of depreciating, even if a portion of your income gets taxes first. You can't do that with money under the mattress, and there's the anxiety of getting your home broken into or a house fire just destroying everything.

Even if you have a vanilla job to have a record of income, having extra recorded income means more money you can invest, or and build your proof of assets - which then also help you get approved for better loans because you have collateral. For example, you'll get approved for a better mortgage rate if you have proof of assets to back it up compared to if you had lower income and lower amount of recorded assets. This is actually also how the ultra-rich stay rich, because they get better interest rates than us and they just keep borrowing until they die.

Or at least deposit most of your earnings. Maybe a couple dollars here and there because you bought some groceries before hitting the bank isn't going to make a big difference, but putting a majority of it under wraps? You're just letting the cash sit there when it could be working for you.

[Violethollywood]

at least 5 years you can get away with it .

[eagle2]

Why don't you open an account with BitSafe ? They are based offshore and are private and only accessible to you? They provide a debit arid and full onlne banking services. THE KYC is done on your phone so fairly quick to get through the signup process. No credit checks, no tax, you are just an IBAN number on their system We use it at saucytime to pay our staff and it's the simplest and welcomes adult performers . This is not a promo just a recommendation. DM for VIP referral code.

The IRS can obtain a warrant to search your phone. Do you get a commission when someone opens an account with your VIP referral code? If you do, then this is a promo.