What do I mean by this? Well, you simply must have a certain "mental attitude" toward this whole idea of paying taxes. I’ll get right to the point -- you must have an attitude about taxes that says, "Enough is enough. I’m paying way too much tax and I don’t like it! And it’s about time I did something about it -- TODAY!"
After reading those numbers above -- paying 32% of your income to the government -- how do you feel? Doesn’t that just make you furious? If so, great, then you are on your way to solving this problem. (The old saying is true -- "You can’t solve a problem until you admit you have one!")
If you saw those numbers above and said, "Big deal. So I work until April 27 for the government. So what? So does everybody else in this country" -- well, I’m sorry, but you might as well just throw this report in the trash and forget about it. You will continue to pay way too much tax because you really don’t care about it.
To reduce your taxes, you must have a passion for paying less tax. You must get angry about it. Get pissed off about it. Right now, or before the day is over, go get last year’s personal income tax return (Form 1040) and look at how much tax you paid for last year.
Now, when you have Form 1040 in front of you, do you realize where the most important number is on this form?NO, it’s not Line 67 -- which tells you how much of a refund you got (if any!).
NO, it’s not Line 70 -- which tells you how much you still owed, the balance due with the return.
The most important number on Form 1040 is Line 58. Read it. It says: This is your TOTAL TAX. That is how much federal income tax you paid for all of last year. When it comes to reducing your taxes, it doesn’t matter whether you got a refund or whether you had a balance due.
What matters is -- what was your total tax liability for the year. That’s the "magic number" that should just make your blood boil and your heart beat so fast that you can hardly stand it.
Now that I’ve got you all "riled up" about paying so much tax, let’s move on to Step #3.