According to the outcome of the 2009 IRS Oversight Board survey about taxpayer attitudes, a higher percentage of people consider cheating Uncle Sam to be okay. To be accurate, they believe its okay to cheat just a little. It was also confirmed that a small number of people cheat compared to those who don’t. Of the respondents, only 13% were okay with misleading filing. The bottom line is 4% more people are currently cheating compared to 2008.
There is little doubt that a tough economy contributes to taxpayers trimming their taxes as much as they can. Finding tax relief legitimately is acceptable as opposed to tax avoidance. The harder it is to survive in a difficult economy the more tempted people are to cheat. This can happen to even the most well intentioned taxpayer. Often, this happens because of the complicated procedures that exist. There are laws that do allow tax relief. However, many of these laws are not only complicated but they also take up a lot of time. (Examples of such tax relief procedures are Schedules L and also Homebuyer Credit.) Such complications not only lead to the unpopularity of lawmakers but to taxpayers giving up and taking the easier and quicker option i.e. cheating. User-friendly procedures could help to lower instances of cheating.
To cut a long tax story short, 9% of survey participants were happy with cheating ‘a little here and there’ while 4% were blatantly supportive of cheating ‘as much as possible’ when filing tax returns. Uncle Sam should be pleased to know that 84% of survey participants expressed that it is ‘not at all okay’ to be a tax cheat. In a harsh financial climate this speaks volumes about the positive attitude of taxpayers experiencing difficulty coming up with the means to pay their taxes.
