Why Americans Don’t Cheat on Their Taxes
Atlantic,
by
Rene Chun
Original Article
Posted By: MissMolly,
4/1/2019 5:51:56 AM
If such a thing as American exceptionalism remains, maybe it can be found in this: Despite deep IRS budget cuts, an average audit rate that has plunged in recent years to just 0.6 percent, and a president who has bragged that dodging federal taxes is “smart,” most Americans still pay their income taxes every year. Even more remarkable, most of us feel obliged to pay. To quote the findings of a 2017 IRS survey: “The majority of Americans (88%) say it is not at all acceptable to cheat on taxes; this ethical attitude is not changing over time.”
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Safari Man 4/1/2019 6:01:35 AM (No. 19609)
Unless you traffic in cash, every transaction is monitored so closely and recorded for review by computer programs that you really cannot cheat. The government already knows how much you owe by virtue of their reporting requirements.
And "I don’t want to pay money to a government that is misbehaving" sums it up for me. The way they spend my money is evil. But I still pay every penny they want. Big Brother is watching and I am no fool.
29 people like this.
Who wants a visit from the Jack booted thugs of the IRS? They can confiscate your property, your wages, your life savings, and the ability to get it back is hindered by the same Government.
33 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
cThree 4/1/2019 8:22:21 AM (No. 19608)
This is a dishonest article.
"Dodging" is a carefully ambiguous word, meant to lie halfway between the truth, using tax laws to minimize one´s taxes, and the lie, that Trump evaded taxes an bragged about it. But "tax dodger," "dodgy," or "Roger the Dodger" all have negative connotations, and the writer knows it.
Rene Chun´s implication is clear, and false.
Then again, it´s the Atlantic, so anti-Trump is its default posture. You pretty much know what you´re going to get, and Ms Chun knows what to write.
32 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
trackman999 4/1/2019 8:31:05 AM (No. 19600)
That must mean that Al Sharpton , Charlie Rangel and Clintons ( their foundation) are not Americans. ALL are tax cheats.
33 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
anonymous 4/1/2019 8:41:46 AM (No. 19596)
Paying taxes is a form of socialism. Socialism is thus entrenched through the taxation system. It´s unavoidable. Many people see paying taxes as a necessary evil.
15 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
anniebc 4/1/2019 9:08:15 AM (No. 19603)
For the most part, we don´t pay our taxes; income taxes are taken from us before we see a paycheck. We´re taxed otherwise on almost every transaction. When we check out at the grocery store, the clerk doesn´t ask if we want to pay the tax on the goods we´ve purchased. To purchase the goods, we have to pay the tax. A 10 percent sale barely covers the tax, so I laugh at them and keep it moving. Taxed here, taxed there, doggone if we ain´t taxed everywhere. Why is that ethics is always demanded on the taxpayer side, but not the taxer´s? What rightfully belongs to Caesar?
23 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
FunOne 4/1/2019 9:09:14 AM (No. 19597)
Do you think Al Sharpton will ever settle up?
Proof that there is IRS enforcement, and in some instances there is not.
18 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
stablemoney 4/1/2019 9:29:24 AM (No. 19602)
Americans don´t cheat because they get w-2´s, taxes are withheld at work, 1099´s, and k-1´s. Other people report all your income to the IRS for you. Some Americans and others do file returns for refunds for people that are not them, which is fraud.
14 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Delilah 4/1/2019 9:43:40 AM (No. 19598)
Back in the 70s I worked with a guy who added a dependent every year to his return until he had a dozen. The IRS caught on and caught him. He only had 2 children.
9 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
philsner 4/1/2019 9:54:03 AM (No. 19601)
Good grief. The leftist measure of "American Exceptionalism" is not cheating on the out of control government´s confiscatory taxes.
Liberals are truly warped.
13 people like this.
He never bragged that he "dodged" federal taxes, he implied that it is smart to take advantage of all existing tax laws. And that is smart!
17 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
MickinPhoenix 4/1/2019 11:20:36 AM (No. 19607)
I don´t cheat on my taxes but I take a great effort to find ways to reduce my taxes by forcing myself to plod through all those attachments in the tax code. A few years back I received a letter from the Feds that I OWED THEM $ 10,300 and they gave me 30 days to pay or they would be TAKING IT. I save every Tax refund every year and went back to see what happened. I had made a mistake on computing SocSec my wife and had received of about $ 1,000. I called the IRS and actually was able to speak to a HUMAM. When they ran across this 3 years later they redid the math and came up with a number of $79,000 instead of around $,20,000. A MISTAKE on their part actually but they just went ahead and were going after me. I had them get a supervisor to recheck this and GUESS WHAT, they made a MISTAKE. They said all is OK and you will receive an offical letter within a week which it did. THAT LETTER will remain in my files FOREVER......Mick
9 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
coldborezero 4/1/2019 11:41:38 AM (No. 19599)
If a mugger robs you and takes your wallet, your phone, and your watch; but you don´t tell him about the two one-hundred dollar bills hidden in your shoe, are you "cheating" the thief?
Point: there is no such thing as cheating on confiscatory taxes stolen by an illegitimate government. Most taxes levied on American citizens violate our Constitution.
5 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Strike3 4/1/2019 11:46:03 AM (No. 19606)
It´s not the employees at the IRS, it´s their computer systems that track you down to the last penny. I sincerely doubt that most of them know taxes beyond the clerical level.
A few years ago the computer caught a bank interest payment to me that was under $20 and I promptly received a bill. The government is incompetent in most areas to the tune of millions but don´t dare fail to report that bank interest or the 95 cents that you receive in royalties for your Kindle book.
11 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
qr4j 4/1/2019 12:01:55 PM (No. 19604)
Dodging Federal taxes? It depends on what one means by that. If it means paying only what one is legally required to pay, then I´m okay with "dodging." And that´s what Mr. Trump means, too, Atlantic.
14 people like this.
Why should I pay my taxes when Lois Lerner sits in cushy retirement in suburban Maryland?
5 people like this.
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