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by rufus_foreman 1595 days ago
How would the IRS know?

Are they keeping track of whether I got married or divorced, or had a kid, or a death in the family, or a disability? Of whether I bought or sold a house, took out a HELOC, or started a home office, or installed solar panels?

Are they keeping track of whether I sold something for $5 on eBay, or of how much my sales tax was for groceries, even when I pay in cash? Do they have a file keeping track of my charitable contributions? If I'm a teacher who uses their own money to pay for classroom supplies, the IRS already knows this? They know whether the kids are at day care when I'm working? They know how much I spent on medical costs during the year? Whether I took a college class?

To the extent the IRS knows, I would consider that a bad thing.