Wanna mess with the IRS?

You know all those tax forms you fill out when you start a new job? Like the one called W-4? You know what that's for, right? That's where you instruct your new employer just how much of your paycheck you'd like them to send to the IRS each pay period.

Well, did you know you can fill out a new one at any time and your employer will adjust that amount? The system is set up like that in case you ever have any changes. Maybe you had a baby and you need to change your number of dependents. Maybe a child grows up and starts to claim himself as a dependent.

Whatever the case, the amount you have withheld isn't written in stone. Some people like the feeling of getting a big refund so they set it up to have a little extra withheld each week. That's kind of stupid because it's like loaning your money to the feds, interest free. But hey, it takes all kinds to make the world go 'round. Do whatever floats your boat. Personally, I try to set it so they take just the right amount so that when I do my taxes at the end of the year, I don't get a refund.

Anyway, that same system actually allows you to reduce your withholding to zero. You could set your dependents so high, they don't take anything out. Now you'd still have to set that money aside to be able to pay your taxes when they're actually due on April 15^th but imagine what that would do to the federal government if everyone did that.

You see, they spend that money as soon as they get it. How shocked would they be if they didn't get any for an entire year?