michelle7212001: Why do taxpayers try to scam the government?
I prepare taxes for a p/t job and I just wanted to know if anyone has an opinion on why people try to scam the government for more $ . They will ALMOST ALWAYS find out about it eventually and then the taxpayer can get into a ton of trouble. We have even had people come into our office, we have told them that they can not do what they are trying to do but then they go somewhere else and do it anyway. It boggles my mind.
Answers and Views:
Answer by hsearchp
It is pretty obvious. People want to keep what they make without the government illegally taking it away.
Answer by bob67cam
they scam us so we scam back….1 of the many horrible things about government getting too big is we cant control them eventually 😉
Answer by susancpa
Nobody likes to have money taken away from them, but far from what hsearchp is saying, they are not illegally taking it. If we did not pay taxes the roads, schools, police, everything governmental would be awful. Without the taxes we wouldn’t have a military. Sorry sore spot. Anyways, I don’t know why people try to get away with cheating. I can only assume they figure they’ll never be caught.
Answer by iahp_mom
I heartily agree with the first 2 posters. The gov. takes so much of our hard earned money that it feels like theft. It’s natural to want to keep more of it for ourselves. WE are the ones who worked for it afterall.
Answer by v b
It depends on your clientele.
My family and friends generally start a tax conversation with “what’s wrong with this picture”–when they want to talk about a questionable tax deal. They’ve heard about it, but they figure it’s a scam and want to know for sure.
As for they went elsewhere after being told that they can’t do it, well, you know what they’ll do….having been told by you exactly why they can’t claim the item, they will lie and tell the next preparer that they are eligible.
Eg, that the ineligible kid they want to claim for EIC is suddenly “now” their nephew and arrived 2 years ago, not last July…this problem is so rampant that if I ever take in one of my nephews I’ll have copies of the birth certificates ready to send to the IRS as proof since the IRS will request it.
And, to you other posters, the bulk of the scams are people trying to claim EIC. This is *not* the government taking too much in income tax, this is someone fraudulently asking for free money!
Answer by Heather M
I work for a tax firm also, but full time and for the past 6 yrs. I have seen where other people file a taxpayers children illegally, and the taxpayer either suffers, or has to go through a long process of proving to the IRS that they are the ones who actually cared for their dependants. People are money hungry, and don’t care. That is the bottom line. They think they can scam and not get caught, just because they want the money and don’t care. If they do get caught, most of them are sorry, but some still don’t care. The enjoyed it while they could and now they have to pay the piper. In due diligence, it is our responsibility as a tax preparer to make sure that we get all the correct information, but sometimes you have people that will lie through their teeth and tell you that your clothes are on fire, and make you believe it. You have to be careful. It is sometimes hard to pick out these types, but as you continue your career in the tax profession, you can start to easily pick out these scammers.
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