This subject is a tough one so I am going to confront it… It’s the Fear Factor of Taxes.
Most fears that we experience as human beings tend to be irrational by nature. As a child I had a deeply imaginative brain and I would actually be very scared at night, thinking about all the things crawling around, crazy psychopaths on murderous rampages and it goes on and on. In the daytime I was unstoppable, brave girl but at night I was scared. Now as I grew up I am happy to say I no longer worry about those types of things and an alarm system has helped deal with the anxiety of the unknown.
I know now that that being afraid of the dark was an irrational thought. The fear isn’t really of the dark it’s what would happen in the dark. It’s the thoughts that happen inside your head while it’s dark that creates all the fear.
So how do I equate fear of the dark to the fear of taxes? It’s the same concept really. It’s the thought of the unknown that is most scary. How much will it be is usually the scary unknown or what do I bring in to my tax preparer? What is it going to cost me or will I look stupid? We all self-protect to some point or another so it is completely normal to think these thoughts. Just as a person is afraid of the dark you have to open the closet door or look under the bed so that the irrational thoughts will stop and sanity will prevail.
Here is how to stop the fear factor of taxes:
Information is power! Google it! It’s become a household name and I tell my kids all the time to look it up if they don’t know the answer. We live in the information age and you have a world of knowledge at your fingertips. You will find different opinions, different options and different ideas but by knowing all the key points you will be a very educated person when it comes to finding the right tax professional that will help alleviate your fears.
If you’re scared of going to a tax preparer, find out all there is to know on that subject. If you just don’t know what you don’t know, find a CPA who will do a free consult and will work to educate you on the process.
If you are scared of the “how much question” be upfront and ask. Your CPA should be upfront with the cost so that you can associate value to the benefits you will receive.
If you know you made some big mistakes throughout the year then put it out there and deal with it head on so that you can be informed and educated. The worst thing you can do is cover up or lie because you are embarrassed or ashamed. We figure out the consequences and move on without judgment.
If you just don’t want to know how much you owe the IRS and you want to avoid it just know that fear will cost you! The longer you put off filing the more expensive it gets! Deal with it now so you can live a fearless life.
Dealing with the fear of taxes can be solved by opening the door and allowing some education to come into your life. Education can come from a CPA or by doing some self-study which I highly recommend. Those most successful are the people who are willing to invest in conquering the tax fear and usually go on to tackle new fears like paying off debt, investing and college financing.
We work with customers who come in sweating and unsure and watch them leave relieved. That’s part of our job as a CPA firm. If you need help tackling the tax fear factor let us know, we will walk you through it in a free tax consult!
