Up to half cheat on tax returns

ONE in five taxpayers is a cheat, research sponsored by the US Internal Revenue Service reveals.

ONE in five taxpayers is a cheat, research sponsored by the US Internal Revenue Service reveals.

Queensland University of Technology visiting professor James Alm, an economist from Georgia State University, said yesterday his team found 20 per cent of people "always cheat" when filling out a tax return.

Thirty per cent of people cheated sometimes, and half were always honest.

"There are people who are always honest no matter what is done to the tax system, and there are people who are going to be cheating even if the chance of being caught is very high," Professor Alm said.

"Then there are the people who flip back and forth, depending on whether they see other people getting away with things and feel they are being taken advantage of as suckers."

He said taxpayers tended to understate their income if they were not sure how much tax they would have to pay.