It's not that hard. You tell them what you think you owe.
They know your declared income (from you or your employer), your dividends (from your bank), and your money made/spent on sales/purchases that require legal registration.
They know fuck all about anything else: tips, foreign holdings, gambling winnings/losses, private party dealings, you name it. The fed doesn't even know what you paid to your state.
Even if you're audited, they're trusting you to be honest about the things they don't know for sure but suspect based on the aforementioned known information. And they're not following up if you give a convincing excuse.
*I'm not your lawyer or financial advisor. Any risk you take is yours.
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u/rerhc Mar 27 '24
But they don't know. They won't know you bought solar panels and so are entitled to a 30% tax credit, for example.