12% of Americans think it's ok to cheat on taxes - Number is up 50% since Bush took office.
More Americans consider cheating on taxes
Updated: 4/14/2004 8:21 PM
By: Tammy Palmer, News 10 Now Web Staff
Art Stipanovic has a family member file his taxes every year and as far as he knows, they've always been accurate.
"He's always done it for me and he is a really honest guy and when I suggest that maybe we look at this deduction or that deduction...usually he says ‘No.’"
Turns out, most Americans claim they are honest with tax returns, but the number of people who cheat here and there is going up.
The deadline to file taxes is here, and this year, Line 56 asks Americans to pay taxes on items they bought over the Internet or through out-of-state catalogs. This new demand comes at a time when more Americans may be looking for ways to cheat on taxes.
In fact, the IRS Oversight Board paid for a survey of more than one thousand taxpayers, and they found that 12% of Americans think it is okay to cheat on taxes. That number is up 50% compared to a survey in 1999. Back then, 81% of Americans felt everyone should pay their fair share. That number is down to 68% in the latest survey.
Now, everyone News 10 Now spoke with said they had not ever cheated on their taxes. But, they could perhaps understand why some Americans would be tempted to.
"I heard a thing on the way in this morning about large companies paying zero taxes for the last eight years and regular people like us are paying more taxes. So, that is what people think, it is unfair,” said taxpayer Chuck Carpenter.
"I think it is just an underhanded vote of no confidence in the government. I think people like our government in one respect and what it gives us and how it protects us and how it institutes our constitution. But, on the other hand, the government is obscenely wasteful,” added Guy Baldassarre.
News 10 Now asked Jenny Mcaffery of H&R Block how many tax returns she has filed in your lifetime.
“Well, since I've been doing it for twenty years and say, around five hundred a year, that is thousands of returns.”
When asked if anyone has ever asked her to actually help them cheat, she said:
“Once or twice, and I've shown them the door pretty promptly."
McCaffery says she has actually shown some clients how filing honesty can get them a bigger earned income credit.
For taxpayers like Art, filing honestly is just the fair thing to do for his fellow Americans.
"I guess I am of the opinion that if everyone paid their fair share....tax rates overall could become lower."
Art is still in the majority. But, the IRS Oversight Board's study found 5% of Americans believe taxpayers should cheat as much as possible.
The IRS Oversight Board's survey also found that 37% of Americans filed taxes honestly because they are afraid of being audited. |
