I converted a couple W4 jobs to 1099 and have stopped paying quarterly.
For the remaining W4 jobs I set a stupidly high allowance so that it reduced withholdings super low (I was wary of claiming EXEMPT because I didn't meet the koala-fications, but I feel like I could argue high allowance was a typo or miscalc).
I'm paying thousands less per month in federal taxes now. After a couple years of this and filing I obviously owe quite a bit, but they put me on a payment plan and at this rate it'll take over 10 years to pay back assuming I don't keep adding to the balance each year.
If/when they forcibly try to come for it, I'll hopefully delay, deny, dispose. That is even if they exist AND I'm still in the US by then.
Not historically, no. Were my taxes always used properly? Probably not, but I believed in the overall system generically.
But since Trump's second term I've cut back significantly on Federal taxes I pay (I still pay State). I've converted some FTE-related income to 1099 and ceased paying quarterly and I've claimed 10+ allowances on W4 income to reduce taxes withheld.
I'm on a payment plan of $250/mo with the IRS and they most recently told me to just keep paying monthly as best I can.
Thing is, I owe far, far, far more than 100x that. So I guess they'll just never get all their money. I don't care.
I don't even think it'll help Tesla. Nobody I know, myself included, ever plan to give Tesla business ever again and we've all sold our Tesla's within the last 5 months.
Especially since funneling arms to Ukraine is good for the (capitalist) economy that he desperately needs to bolster.