The thought of facing an IRS audit can feel like a never-ending nightmare. It can be fraught with uncertainty, fear, and even grief. It may seem like a stretch to compare dealing with the IRS to other types of grief.
Yet for many, the negative emotions the IRS provokes are strong and debilitating. This is understandable given the high stakes involved, including the possibility of jail time. With the U.S. government’s recent push to expose and penalize every hidden offshore account, IRS-induced grief is becoming even more common.
The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Swiss-American Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote about it in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying. That’s why the five stages of grief are sometimes called the Kübler-Ross model. Dr. Kubler-Ross probably didn’t have tax problems in mind when she came up with the five stages, but her model fits surprisingly well.
Consider this progression for a common offshore account problem: