Tax Cheating Equals Deficit

An article in today's NYT says:

A new report by the Commerce Department found that Americans failed to report more than a trillion dollars in income on their 2003 tax returns. That was a 37 percent increase in unreported income from 2000.

In a separate report, the Internal Revenue Service looked at both unreported income and improper deductions and concluded that Americans shortchanged the government by $345 billion in 2001 — an amount almost equal to the projected federal budget deficit for 2007.

Why? Because Congress does not provide enough funds for enforcement of tax laws. Do you think cheaters bribe Congress persons?