Ryan VaughnCOO of Incite Tax & Accounting. Ask me anything about your taxes.

Reacting to Bad Tax Advice Part 1

13 Mar 2026 · 1 min

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In this short dialogue, Speaker A promotes the idea of not paying federal taxes, claiming the tax system is a scam and encouraging listeners to stop quarterly tax payments if self‑employed or to write “exempt” on a new W‑4 for employees. Speaker B counters this advice, emphasizing that paying taxes is a legal requirement, warning that the IRS can impose severe penalties, including fines, liens, and a $5,000 penalty for false statements, and urging viewers not to risk losing their homes based on misinformation from social media. The exchange sets up a contrast between reckless tax‑avoidance claims and the legal realities of tax compliance.

I'm not paying federal taxes, and there's a lot of people just like me because we've realized the system's a scam.
Look, we're the first people to say the IRS sucks, but paying taxes is the law, and choosing to not pay taxes is a one-way ticket to a really bad time. The IRS will slap you with penalties, and they can even put a lien on your house. So please don't lose your house over what you heard on social media.
If you're self-employed, it's pretty simple. Just stop paying your quarterly taxes. If you're not self-employed and you work for a company, you're going to need to fill out a new W-4. Then you're going to come down to the bottom here to Section 4C. You're going to write exempt.
Writing exempt when you're not is the definition of a false statement. That's an automatic $5,000 penalty on top of what you already owe. Stop taking tax advice from influencers who have never signed a tax return. Instead, trust the professionals who actually share the liability with you and follow for more real tax-saving strategies.