Dog Bites Man

A Senate report says that tax cheating by the rich and super rich is "out of control."

What a surprise--after decades in which taxes have been derided and the IRS vilified at every turn, with Republican's frothing at the mouth to cut every kind of tax, even as the charge to our children and grandchildren--otherwise known as the national debt--skyrockets. What else would you expect in such times--increased fidelity to the principle of self-reporting that is the basis of our tax system?

I don't mean to say that Republicans approve of cheating on taxes--they prefer to chop them down so no one (at least no rich person) has to cheat.

According to the report, the federal government loses $70 billion a year from cheating--which would make a pretty good dent in the deficit. The main author (or at least the front-man) is Sen. Carl Levin (D.MI), who is quoted as saying, "I get incensed by people who use tax havens to not pay their taxes while the average guy has to pay his taxes because they are taken out of his pay before he gets it." Without commenting on his grammar, I like the sentiment. When I used to defend the occasional tax cheat--excuse me, alleged tax cheat--I remember being bemused by the widely-held attitude that people who evaded taxes hadn't done anything seriously wrong. I figured they were stealing from me and everyone else in America. (Admission--that didn't stop me from liking some of them personally.)

One surprise: Sen. Norm Coleman, Democraticic turncoat is who is chair of the subcommittee involved, adopted the minority report for the entirsubcommitteeee. A rare instance of bipartisanship these days.

The committee report calls for stripping away the protections given to transactions involving tax havens like the Cayman Islands. Maybe--just maybe--something will be done when Democrats re-take Congress.