Do not make the mistake of thinking that because my conclusion is the same as another person's that my reasoning is the same
Crackdown on Tax Cheats Not Working, Panel Says
By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON
On Tuesday the Senate Finance Committee will hold hearings on tax shelters that, committee aides said, will feature testimony that tax cheating continues unabated and that the numerous crackdowns announced over the past two years by the Internal Revenue Service have had almost no impact.
The committee's leaders, Senators Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, and Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, have been frustrated by their inability to get Congress to finance a serious assault on tax cheats, aides said yesterday. This hearing, which will feature a witness hidden behind a screen with his voice altered, is intended, in part, as a well-aimed kick in that direction.
In the aftermath of corporate scandals that emerged two years ago, Congress enacted changes and increased by a third the Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement budget, but it did not pass any laws to attack abusive tax shelters or finance a serious hunt for tax cheats.
A consultant's report, prepared for the I.R.S., but kept secret by the agency until now, is expected to show that corporate tax cheating in 2000 cost the government $14 billion to $18 billion.
Posted by P6 at October 19, 2003 11:38 PM | Trackback URL: http://www.prometheus6.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2039There's a difference between a shelter and cheating. I think that people (and corporations as representatives of the shareholders -- people) have a right and a duty to pay as little taxes as possible. It is up to the legislature to set up a tax system that doesn't allow what shouldn't be. On the other hand, cheaters (people who actually break the tax laws) need to be pursued.
And what the hell is an "abusive tax shelter"? Is that a corporation that gets drunk and beats the shit out of its wife?
If I owned stock in a company and found out that they were shovelling money out the door to the state to "be a good citizen" I would be livid.