As American as Taxes and Apple Pie

New York Times

Inspiring action:

When it comes to income taxes, theUnited States is divided into two groups:the haves and the have-nots (ie, those whohave paid and those who have not paidtheir annual taxes). It turns out that somefolks don't consider income tax an Americanstaple, like baseball and apple pie.These people have names; they're calledcheaters and tax dodgers, and they costthe government about $353 billion in2001, the reports. Thatfigure represents the tax gap, which is thedifference between what individuals owein taxes and what the government actuallyreceives. In an attemptto collect the money owed to them, the IRSis promising a crackdown on wealthycheaters and sneaky US corporations thatabuse tax shelters. Not everyone who filesfalsely is trying to dodge Uncle Sam, however;Washington understands that somefilers make innocent mistakes.