--- description: Survey reveals feelings toward the IRS have grown more negative title: IRS: Cheating on Taxes OK Say 12% of Americans image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Taxes](/tag/taxes/) ## Taxes Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Surprising Number of Americans Think Cheating on Taxes Is 'A-OK'  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 25, 2014 4:33 PM CUT  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 25, 2014 4:33 PM CUT Cheating on your taxes by fudging the numbers “a little here and there” or “as much as possible” is [totally OK](http://www.themonastery.org "undefined") with 12% of Americans, according to a survey of 1,000 people from the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board. That number is up from a low of 9% in 2008 and a slight increase over the 11% who felt cheating was OK in 2012, CNN Money reports. That trend is matched by an increase in the numbers of Americans who have a bad opinion of the IRS. A record low of 39% said the tax agency “maintains a proper balance between its enforcement and service programs.” \[[CNN Money](http://www.themonastery.org "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/9706/a-surprising-number-of-americans-think-cheating-on-taxes-is-a-ok/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/9706/a-surprising-number-of-americans-think-cheating-on-taxes-is-a-ok/"},"headline":"A Surprising Number of Americans Think Cheating on Taxes Is 'A-OK'","datePublished":"2014-02-25T16:33:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:29:14.242Z","description":"Survey reveals feelings toward the IRS have grown more negative","url":"https://time.com/9706/a-surprising-number-of-americans-think-cheating-on-taxes-is-a-ok/","keywords":["Taxes"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/taxes/","name":"Taxes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/9706/a-surprising-number-of-americans-think-cheating-on-taxes-is-a-ok/","name":"A Surprising Number of Americans Think Cheating on Taxes Is 'A-OK'"}}]}] ```