Who cheats on their taxes? Young, single men
The men in this poll don't look like good husband material: They think they're 'special' and would cheat in other situations, too.
This post is from Matt Brownell at MainStreet.
About 15% of Americans cheat on their taxes, and those that do are typically young single men.
That’s the finding of a survey conducted by the marketing firm DDB Communications, which asked approximately 6,400 Americans whether they intended to cheat on their taxes. Of the 15% who said yes, a substantial majority -- 64% -- were identified as single, male and under the age of 45.
So what compels these eligible bachelors to swindle Uncle Sam? On the face of it, money issues seem to be a common thread. Forty-two percent insisted they were “one missed paycheck away from disaster,” while just 29% of non-cheaters said the same of their financial situation.
Yet a closer look at the conspiring cheaters suggests that it’s not a simple case of economically-desperate people forced into tax malfeasance. There seems to be an undercurrent of narcissism at play here as well.
Forty-six percent of the cheaters said they were "overall better than most people" (compared with 27% in the non-cheating group), and 52% said they were "special and deserved to be treated that way" (compared with 42% for the non-cheating group). In other words, it seems that those intending to cheat on their taxes are partly motivated by the feeling that they’re entitled to pay less than their fair share.
And as you might expect, the tax cheats aren’t the most honest types to begin with.
Seventy-one percent said they would keep quiet when a cashier made an error in their favor (compared to just 3% of non-cheaters) and more than a third said they would shoplift or file a false insurance claim (compared to 3% and 2% of the non-cheater population, respectively).
So if you’re cheating on taxes, chances are you’re already cheating at life.
More from Main Street and MSN Money:
| Tags: | federal taxtaxes |
Its kind of hard to cheat on your taxes if you work for somebody and have a ss number. The tax software now is really good. If there was an error the IRS computers pick up on it right away.
The only real chance of cheating today is if you have your own cash business. Everything else leaves a paper trail.
It is just not worth it. The legal ---- storm that you would bring on yourself is stupid!
Yes Renee blame it on the evil corporations. You know, the ones that provide you with a job. Let's close them all down. No more cell phones, no more gas at the pump, no more car to drive, no more airline to fly on (GE makes those engines), no more morning Starbucks. Shut em all down I say. Or at least tax them to death so they can't survive.
Sleazy lawyers don't create loopholes, sleazy politicians that you elect do. Getting something back at tax time is a joke. It's your money if you get it back, not a gift. I would rather pay at tax time than give the government an interest free loan all year.
Maybe the young men are just more honest about tax cheating. Cheating on taxes is endemic with small business owners, they just consider it their just due and rationalize that it is not cheating. The wealthiest do not need to cheat as the government provides them a nifty list of handy tax breaks.
If you accept that young men are the most frequent tax cheats, they still will not represent a large proportion of the dollars. "Follow the money"
The only fair share is 0%.
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