<< Well, they were more than "afraid." If I recall correctly, studies showed that some astonishing proportion of EITC claims were fraudulent - over a third, I believe. >>
Okay, but there are also huge numbers of wealthy people evading taxes, too, but Congress is starving the IRS of money for enforcement, modernization, reorganization, etc. I agree that fraud is bad, m'kay?, but there's something sick going on when a working stiff is many times more likely to be audited than a high-earning executive. For me, a possible solution would be to simplify the tax stucture - flatten the rates somewhat in exchange for almost no loopholes, along with a minimum tax so that billionaires like Steve Forbes would have to pay *something*. But the tax industry would hate that, as would Congress, which loves to dispense tax savings to favored constituents (or at least those who yell the loudest or bribe the most), even though that means moving a higher tax burden to someone less influential. Tom Beck "I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I didn't realize I'd also see the last." - Jerry Pournelle
