[vkou]

False. This is complete nonsense.

If you owe $100 in taxes, the government will ask you nicely to pay it.

Then, when you refuse to pay it, they will mark it up with a bit of interest, and ask you nicely to pay it.

Then, when you refuse to pay it, they'll deduct it out of your next year's tax return, and call it even.

Then, if you didn't have a tax return, they'll put a mark on your social security account, and will pay themselves out of your social security cheque.

Then, if you didn't have a tax return, or social security, they'll put a lien on your house, so if you refuse to pay it, they will get paid when you sell your house.

Then, if you still haven't paid your taxes, and don't have a tax return, or social security, or a house, they will complain to a credit agency, and ding your credit rating.

Then, if you still haven't paid your taxes, don't have a tax return, or social security, or a house, or care about your credit, and you are not going to suffer economic hardship because of it, they may take money out of your bank account, or your car, or your property, sell it, and give the remainder to you.

Then, if all those means are exhausted, and you have been particularly belligerent about this process, and owe a lot of taxes, you might be looking at jail time. (At this point, have you considered just paying your debts? Or, perhaps, declaring bankruptcy?)

They will give you many, many, many chance to pay what you owe. The steps that they will take to collect are both reasonable, and proportionate.

Please don't spread nonsense about armed goons at gunpoint stealing 'your' money. That would be civil forfeiture, courtesy of your local police department, not the IRS.

[protomyth]

Actually, what you wrote there has some false parts. They send a certified letter and will put a lien on you bank account for the amount if you don't respond fast enough[1]. They add interest immediately, there is no grace period. You can arrange monthly payments (they are required to let you do this the first time). They will deduct the money you owe from the next year's return.

1) Fast enough can get a little weird. Had to loan a friend money because of a mistake and he didn't even get the letter before the lien happened. Saw him pull up his bank account on a Monday morning after his card was rejected at breakfast. He came in the next day with the certified letter and listened to him call the IRS about the problem with his return. They did get new computers a couple years ago, and it was not a good thing since it seemed they might have sent the first letter to a prior address. They were sorry, but too bad.

[MichaelBurge]

The context is someone arguing that you shouldn't worry about the federal government wasting $32 million, because it's chump change for them. My point is the polite requests they make are ultimately backed up by these SWAT teams, and that you shouldn't take taxation lightly as a result. Obviously very few cases require them to deploy a SWAT team, since most people would rationally choose to pay the $100.

I'm not saying taxation is bad or that they'll jump on you at the first sign of disobedience, just that the commenter's callous attitude towards spending tax money is bad. It's a very entitled mindset that no government official should have.