Studies show that most of us live our entire adult life based upon the things we learned and especially experienced while we were young. Whether it is our eating habits, exercise or how we relate to others, most of our adult behavior stems from our experience and teachings as a child.
Anytime we want to make a successful change in our lives, we have to start by changing our mindset. Especially when it comes to taxes!
Here is Why You Must Change Your Mindset First Most people have the following mindset about taxes:
Taxes are scary I dread dealing with my taxes Thank goodness I only have to deal with my taxes once a year Taxes are a necessary evil There is no way I will ever understand my taxes All my hard earned money goes to pay my taxes
These are things we hear on a regular basis from the media, family, friends and colleagues. But what surprises many about this mindset is that it can lead to OVERPAYING your taxes!
Are Your Overpaying Your Taxes? Studies are issued by the US government every few years on the US tax system. These studies are usually focused on estimating the amount of federal tax that is either under-collected or not collected at all. But, these studies often reveal how many taxpayers OVERPAY their taxes unknowingly!
Here are some of the statistics I have found most interesting in recent years:
Up to 2 million people overpaid their taxes by more than $1 billion in a single year Over 2,000 small businesses overpaid their taxes by more than $11,000 in a single year
The number one reason given for the erroneous overpayment of taxes was the complexity of the tax code. This plays right into molding the mindset that taxes are just too complicated to even try to understand.
Create a New Mindset to Reduce Your Taxes
One of my goals in life is to teach a new mindset about taxes. One that looks like this:
Taxes don’t have to be scary I don’t mind dealing with my taxes because I know the time I spend is absolutely saving me money Tax planning is something I do all year round Taxes help me stay in touch with the performance of my business and investments I know exactly what I need to do to legally reduce my taxes My tax savings can supercharge my wealth building
This new mindset is not the unattainable goal that many people often think it is. Yes, it does take a little bit of focused time and effort, particularly upfront. But, once you own this mindset, you have opened the door to the reality that you can legally and effectively reduce your taxes.
Remember, the tax code is written to favor businesses and investors!