I just came across an interesting article that points out that Americans are cheating more on their tax return than they used to in the past. 13% of those surveyed said cheating is acceptable, according to an annual poll conducted for the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board. That’s up 4% from 2008. 4% percent of Americans said they cheat on their taxes “as much as possible,” up 1% from the year before.

They’re interesting statistics, but worrying ones for tax authorities. The reality is that those taxes drive the economy and without the revenue coming in, well, services have to be cut and customer expectations reset. But people are under pressure also, and paying the taxman is always seen as a burden.

According to the article, the three most common ways in which the tax authorities don’t get their due are inflating the value of charitable donations and claiming personal expenses as business expenses if you’re self-employed as well as people who can’t decipher the complicated tax code. You may think that claiming tax credit on your phentermine might make sense, but there’s really no legal basis to be doing it; it’s not really an “allowable expense”.