8 Common IRS Myths Americans Often Fall For

When you think of the IRS, do you picture a building full of accountants combing tax records to catch you in a mistake, then cackling as they dispatch a league of bounty hunters to kick down the door and drag you to tax jail?

Or, do you envision a series of drab offices filled with outdated technology from the 1960s, phones ringing off the hook nonstop, and a team so understaffed it cannot answer?

In all likelihood, the IRS is much less frightening than what you have been led to believe. Let's take a closer look as we try to prepare you financially by debunking a few lies about the IRS.

Have you always thought of an audit as an action-packed raid complete with handcuffs, a guarded van, and a squadron of bulky law enforcement officers? We almost hate to disappoint you, but the reality is that the IRS rarely makes house calls.

If your taxes are overdue, the worst thing you're likely to receive is a letter in the mail politely requesting that you make a payment at your earliest convenience. Even in the event of an audit, you'll probably get a letter requesting additional documentation.

A few people do end up with IRS revenue agents on their doorsteps. If that happens to you, we can guarantee your agent will be much more like Will Ferrell's frazzled everyman in "Stranger Than Fiction" and much less like Arnold Schwarzenegger's band of fighters in "Predator."

Pro tip: Having trouble paying your tax bill? Consider one of the many great ways to make extra income.

When you don't pay taxes on time, the IRS will notify you quietly through snail mail, not via a phone call.

Instead of escalating threats, you'll simply get an increasingly boring series of letters reminding you to pay your taxes, along with helpful, detailed instructions on how to do so.

However, that doesn't mean you can ignore these requests simply because they are polite. If you do not pay Uncle Sam, eventually the gloves may come off.

Yes, infamous gangster Al Capone was caught and imprisoned on charges of tax evasion. But as long as you're not one of the most notorious gangsters of the Roaring '20s, it's unlikely the IRS will send you to jail for unpaid taxes.

The risk of going to jail increases if you go beyond not paying your taxes and commit tax fraud or evasion. In 2024, there were 360 tax fraud convictions, with 66% of the offenders being sentenced to prison, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

First things first: The IRS likely isn't actually getting almost 90,000 new agents as has been stated in the past. The 87,000 number appears to come from a U.S Treasury Department estimate of how many employees must be hired to meet staffing needs as people retire from or otherwise leave the IRS.

President Donald Trump also claimed at one point that 88,000 IRS agents were being recruited to target waitresses and their tips. But the actual number of agents who will be hired remains unclear at this point, especially with recent hiring freezes and layoffs.

If you can't afford to pay your taxes, you don't need to go on the run from the law. The IRS has a variety of options to help you pay what you owe — none of which involve sending you to jail just because you don't have enough money for taxes.

For instance, if you can't pay your taxes by the tax deadline, you can request an extension of up to 180 days. If that isn't enough time for you, apply online for an individualized long-term payment plan that will work with your budget.

If neither of those solutions works for you, the IRS also accepts requests for payment compromises. The government will look at factors like your expenses, income, and ability to repay your debt. Then, the IRS will work with you to negotiate a lower amount you can pay without incurring financial hardship.

If you claim a disproportionate amount of deductions on your taxes, you might raise a few eyebrows at the IRS. But simply listing a deduction — including a home office deduction — won't automatically trigger a closer look at your taxes.

We assume you didn't make most of your money last year doing something illegal. But on the off-chance that you did, you're still expected to pay taxes on any income you earned illegally.

Did you steal someone's property? Unless you return it within the tax year, you owe taxes on the amount stolen. Did you profit from drug sales? Yep, you have to pay taxes on that income, too.

Not paying taxes on illegal income is exactly what landed Al Capone in jail.

The tax code doesn't explicitly state that only humans can be claimed as dependents on a tax return, but that's presumably because the writers of the code thought it was self-evident.

In case you're wondering, though: No, you cannot claim a pet as a dependent on your tax return. So, please don't try.

Yes, taxes are complicated, and filing can be scary. Making a mistake sometimes does have financial consequences.

But the IRS generally is not as frightening as it's been made out to be. Tax season will be here sooner than you know it, and remember that as long as you're reporting all your income, you will avoid key money mistakes that can get you in hot water with the feds.