Special and Deserving.

This time of the year, it has to be something special to catch my eye and get me to spend the time to write a blog entry. And this triggered my interest because I have been dealing with this issue a lot the last couple of weeks.

The typical American tax cheat is male, single and under the age of 45.

According to a CNN article, that’s what an annual survey by DDB Worldwide Communications Group found.

DDB found that while 15% of Americans admit to cheating (admit being the key word), 64% of those are men, 35% were single and 55% were under the age of 45. And their dishonest behavior is not limited to taxes. The same survey found that 73% admit to working a job for “under the table” pay. They would keep the wrong change, have a friend pretend to be a former boss as a reference, lie to get governmental aid, and file false insurance claims. 28% of them would even take money from their kid’s piggy bank (as opposed to 3% of non-cheaters). However, the likelihood of cheating is not based on income level. DDB’s survey found that tax cheaters have the same income levels as non-cheaters.

Interesting, but it’s a statement in the article that really caught my attention. “Far more tax cheats said they are ‘overall better people’ and that they are ‘special and deserve to be treated that way’, compared to the people who said they don’t cheat.”

“Special and deserve to be treated that way.”

Yeah, right! That statement makes so much clear. It’s not just about cheating but their behavior in general. Looking back at the rude client behavior the last few weeks, 80% has come from men under the age of 45. A couple of them are married but the attitude is still there. And I don’t see them changing as they get older.

According to James Lou, the U.S. Chief Strategist at DDB Worldwide “While it’s understandable that no one likes to pay taxes, we were surprised to find that tax cheaters’ overall willingness to engage in other unethical and illegal behavior is perhaps justified simply by their belief that they are special and deserve special treatment,”

Since they think they are so special, maybe the IRS should treat single men under the age of 45 to a very special audit. To bad that confidentiality rules would keep me from recommending some candidates.

Comments

[Allison]

Very interesting post. I wonder if the IRS does secretly keep a closer tab on single men under the age of 45. That's probably not legal, but neither is cheating on taxes! I, for one, get very nervous about taxes. That's why I only trust a tax professional to help me with them to make sure I don't miss something important. The wording alone sounds like another language to me!