Most say cheating on taxes is unacceptable, survey finds

Economic times are tough, but more Americans — nearly 9 in 10 — say it is “not at all acceptable” for people to cheat on their income taxes, according to a 2012 survey by the Internal Revenue Service.

The 87 percent figure was up 3 percentage points from the 2011 Taxpayer Attitude Survey, conducted by the IRS Oversight Board, an independent panel that tries to help the agency better serve the public. Just 11 percent of respondents said it was acceptable to cheat on their income taxes, either “a little here and there” or “as much as possible.” The figure was down from 14 percent in 2011.

Personal integrity was the main reason for not cheating, cited by 95 percent of the survey’s 1,500 respondents, an increase of 8 percentage points from 2007.

But fear of an audit also scored high, with 63 percent saying that was a reason for filling out their tax forms honestly. That figure was up 9 percentage points from 2007.