Cheat away on taxes, more Americans say

IRS Oversight Board

By Allison Linn

Here?s the good news for Uncle Sam: The vast majority of Americans still believe that you should never cheat on your taxes?? or,?at? least, that's what?they tell the pollsters representing the?Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board.

The bad news: The percentage of people who say you should cheat on your income taxes ?as much as possible? hit 8 percent in 2011, double what it was in 2010. That?s also higher than any other recent year in which the question was asked.

Another 6 percent of those surveyed said a little cheating here and there is OK.

The oversight board this week released its annual survey of taxpayer?s attitudes about the IRS. The survey was conducted by an outside research firm in August.

?

For the most part, despite our grumbling, Americans seem to at least accept that taxes are a necessary part of life. Almost everyone surveyed agreed that it is every American's civic duty to pay taxes, and most people said they thought tax cheats should be held accountable.

Still, that doesn?t mean we all feel the need to be the tax police. About six in 10 people said people have a personal responsibility to report tax cheats.

Americans also seem to think we should pay our fair share of taxes because it?s the right thing to do. Most people said their ?personal integrity? had a great deal of influence on whether they report their income honestly.

Other factors, such as a fear of an audit, seemed to have less influence.

Related:

Tax time is coming, turn on the computer

Procrastinators rejoice: Tax deadline extended

?

{"contentId":"10272695","totalVotes":"9855"}

Do you think it's OK to cheat on your taxes?

?

Source: http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/31/10272695-cheat-on-taxes-never-or-as-much-as-possible

how to cook a turkey yorkshire pudding whitney cummings larry the cable guy miracle on 34th street santa tracker patrice oneal

Winter cold snap kills 32 in eastern Europe (AP)

BELGRADE, Serbia ? Heavy snow and a severe cold snap have killed at least 36 people across eastern Europe and many areas were under emergency measures Monday as schools closed down, roads became impassible and power supplies were cut off.

As temperatures dropped to around minus 20 Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit), authorities opened hundreds of emergency shelters across the region and urged people to be careful and stay indoors. Police went searching for homeless people to make sure they didn't freeze to death.

Ukraine's Emergency Situations Ministry said 18 people died of hypothermia and nearly 500 people sought medical help for frostbites and hypothermia in just three days last week. Twelve of the dead were homeless people whose bodies were discovered on the streets.

Temperatures in parts of Ukraine plunged to minus 16 C (3 F) during the day and minus 23 C (minus 10 F) during the night. Authorities opened 1,500 shelters to provide food and heat and shut down schools and nurseries.

At least 10 people froze to death in Poland as the cold reached minus 26 C (minus 15 F) on Monday.

Malgorzata Wozniak, a spokeswoman for Poland's Interior Ministry, told The Associated Press that elderly people and the homeless were among the dead and police were checking unheated empty buildings to corral the homeless into shelters.

Until now, Poland had been having a mild winter with little snow and temperatures just below freezing.

In central Serbia, three people died and two more were missing and 14 municipalities were operating under emergency decrees. Efforts to clear roads of snow were hampered by strong winds and dozens of towns faced power outages.

Police said one woman froze to death in a snowstorm in a central Serbian village, while two elderly men were found dead, one in the snow outside his home. Further south, emergency crews are searching for two men in their 70s who are feared dead.

In Romania, local media reported four people had died due to the frigid weather. Hungry dogs and puppies near the Romanian capital of Bucharest got a helping hand after a dozen prison inmates shoveled snow Monday to unblock paths to a stray dog shelter housing 300 dogs.

The strays had been frozen in after snowstorms and icy weather swept Romania. Bucharest is home to some 50,000 stray dogs.

In neighboring Bulgaria, a 57-year-old man froze to death in a northwestern village and emergency decrees were declared in 25 of the country's 28 districts. In the capital of Sofia, authorities handed out hot tea and placed homeless people in emergency shelters.

Strong winds also closed down Bulgaria's main Black Sea port of Varna.

In the Czech capital of Prague, city authorities worked to set up tents for an estimated 3,000 homeless people. Freezing temperatures also damaged train tracks, slowing railway traffic.

_____

Associated Press writers Veselin Toshkov in Sofia, Bulgaria, Karel Janicek in Prague, Czech Republic, Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Maria Danilova in Kiev and Alison Mutler in Bucharest contributed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_eu/eu_europe_weather

the band perry faith hill cma awards 2011 cma awards 2011 western black rhino western black rhino jefferson county alabama