Riiiight. ;)

I just choose not to be so cynical about it. Just because Daschle is a Senator doesn't mean he has the code memorized inside and out. The real problem with tax evasion is at much higher levels than Daschle. Major corporations get away with paying essentially no taxes...and they do it intentionally. Oh my GOD! Daschle forgot to claim a car service....the few thousand the government is owed from that pales in comparison to the millions evaded by corporations!

True, but then again we tax our business within an inch of their lives. It's not surprising that they would seek loopholes or opt out of paying when possible.

I'm afraid I have people like this in my family. They will take tax avoidance to the legal limit and then move into tax evasion if necessary. When you're talking about millions of dollars, it's worth keeping the money a little extra longer to make even more money on it. The penalties (if you have to pay) don't outweigh the benefits.

Actually, if you look at corporate taxes world wide, the US has one of the lowest rates. Many of the corporations pay NO taxes. Actually using all of the deductions that you are allowed is legal and expected. I'm not saying that there aren't a lot of people who push the limits, but this will never be remedied until we simplify the tax code. There are a lot of vague statutes of which people take advantage! I pay my taxes and actually take a lot fewer deductions than my accountant tries to push. I just don't feel comfortable fudging...there is much permissible fudging in tax preparation!

:confused: We're among the top five in terms of high corporate tax rates worldwide. Last year, I believe we were even in the top three!

Corporations aside, I know a few people that didn't even pay taxes for a few years. At least one has been NAILED by the IRS.

I think it's more common than people who pay every year might think.

See, I have no problem with people finding "loopholes." If there are loopholes in the tax code, which there are, more power to the people who can take advantage of them.

I'm no expert on the subject; I've only taken one federal income tax class in law school (albeit with a guy who's a world-renowned expert on taxation), but my view is that I'm willing to cut more slack to the less sophisticated tax payer, or the individual with less income. People with more income can afford to hire more intelligent accountants, and don't really have an excuse for using sketchy tax people or pleading ignorance.

That said; the tax code is a HUGE and complicated piece of information, which is probably part of the problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_around_the_world

I guess we'd have to do more research to be sure how we fit in. Our range is pretty wide, but if you take the top figure with no deductions, we are pretty high. With deductions, however, not so much! I'd be interested to see whether other countries have a flat tax or accept deductions. The info I've read in the past indicated that US taxes were pretty low. I'll have to revise my statement until I can get more info.

As of today, it turns out he didn't claim plane rides to the Bahamas and some other resort place provided by a non-profit that weren't used for non-profit business too. WOOPS!

Here in Texas, we get alot of politicians who get "outed" for not paying social security or employer taxes to maids/gardeners etc. They also get outed for the fact that the maids/gardners are illegal aliens. WOOPS!

In my opinion, if you are going to run for public office, you damn well better have your house in order before you are vetted. I am amazed sometimes at the excuses that come from people who claim ignorance! As far as knowing tax policy - As someone said above - these people hire CPA's to do their taxes, and I doubt very seriously that they are using newbies straight out of business school at HR Block.

What you are describing is different from my experience. I'm definitely paying a penalty for an "oops" evasion.

That's how I see it too. Sometimes I understand things seeming like they might be in a gray area, but these folks are in a position to seek professional advice.

And I'll admit it, if you're a politician who basically supports bigger government and more spending, I fully expect you to pony up everything you possibly could it support of the programs you are compelling other Americans to pay for. No loopholes for you.

I agree completely on this point; if you are one of the people who equate patriotism with paying taxes, and who are looking for taxes to be raised, I have a bit of an issue with your taking advantage of the loopholes, or even accepting any sort of refund.

Well, I'm being totally and completely nailed on my state income taxes this year because of changes in the law this year from last. I inherited some stuff from my mom's estate and some of it was liquidated this year, some of it last year. Last year, for the state, I didn't have to pay income tax on it. This year, I do. I didn't know the tax laws had changed until I did a rough estimate of my taxes a couple weeks ago using Tax Cut. I totally would have had state taxes withheld at the time if I'd known the law was going to change. At the time that I liquidated it, the law hadn't been changed yet. Sure, it stinks having to suddenly come up with $3500 in the next 3 months, but I wouldn't evade taxes by not reporting it. I'm going to owe the state additional penalties for not having more withheld through out the year too, even though I'll be paying it all on time by April 15th. They will bill me for that later. I do wish I'd known about the changes so I could have planned better, but I won't cheat on my taxes. In fact, my ex-husband (an accountant!) tried to lie about some of charitable deductions when we were married and I refused to sign it until he made it right. I'm not taking any chances. I deduct my mortgage interest and charitable deductions as allowed. I don't consider those "loopholes". I did know that Federal was going tax me on everything that was liquidated and planned for that and am even getting a refund from them. It will help pay off the state... It is a little shocking when you realize that you paid more in taxes in one year than your usual taxable income for a typical year!

Paying throughout the year just doesn't make sense to me. Why won't the IRS let us pay once and keep our money during the year? :mad: Heck, they'd get even MORE money from a lot of people if they did that.

For a lot of people, their taxes are so complicated that it takes paying a professional to sort them out and even have a hope of doing them properly. And the professional is relying on their clients giving them the full and accurate information that they need to be able to do so. Many people resist paying for this service in the first place until they are already in trouble. Others do not reveal all they should to their accountants, often through misunderstandings (when you have multiple business partnerships, investments, properties, etc., and mountains of paperwork on all of it, is that really surprising?).

I would imagine that if a random sample of Americans were audited, just to see, the vast majority would have some problem wrong with their taxes - the tax code is ridiculously complicated.