The following is an excerpt from the article “Taxing Consequences“, by Sam Braunstein and Carol F. Burger. It was published in the ABA Journal, November 2006.
Perhaps the best explanation of tax delinquency is human nature.
Put yourself in the place of a taxpayer facing an all-too-common dilemma, and fastforward to, say, April 10. You (Mr. or Ms. Taxpayer) are broke. You realize the deadline
for filing your income tax return is fast approaching, but you also know your withholding won’t cover the amount of tax you owe. You have a sneaking suspicion that
ignoring the deadline isn’t such a great idea, but you wishfully reason that if you just let it pass, somehow your problems will solve themselves.Accounting for human nature, it’s no surprise that many individuals employ an avoidance strategy to deal with their tax problems. But it’s not much of a solution.