Survey says: Tax cheating unacceptable
An annual survey of taxpayers finds that the vast majority — nearly nine out of 10 — believe that no amount of cheating on one’s income taxes is acceptable. Interestingly, the survey respondents have grown less tolerant of cheating over the past several years.
In 2003, 12 percent of respondents thought it was OK to cheat “a little here and there,” while 5 percent thought it acceptable to cheat “as much as possible.” In the most recent poll, those numbers fell to 6 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
In that same period, the percentage of people opposed to any cheating whatsoever grew to 89 percent from 81 percent. The survey of 1,000 people was conducted by the IRS Oversight Board. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
The vast majority of Americans, 81 percent, say that their personal integrity has a “great deal of influence” on whether they report and pay their taxes honestly – far more than their fear of an audit (36 percent) or information reporting to the IRS by third parties (40 percent).
In addition, most Americans support the IRS’ efforts to make sure that all taxpayers honestly pay what they owe. More than 90 percent of those surveyed feel it is either “very important” or “somewhat important” that the IRS ensures that those across the economic spectrum pay their taxes—corporations (98 percent), high-income taxpayers (96 percent), small businesses (95 percent), and low-income taxpayers (91 percent).
Don Mecoy
Business Week
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment