Survey Shows Many Americans Fine with Lying to the IRS

Call it a “little green lie.”

A number of Americans apparently find it acceptable to lie when there’s money at stake.

A survey of 2,115 American adults from NerdWallet conducted in February shows a surprising number of people will fib to save themselves a few greenbacks, and that many would even lie when it could result in federal prosecution.

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It may, or may not, be a surprise, but 24 percent of people are OK with withholding information about extra income from the IRS despite the possibility of jail time for doing so.

“We were really surprised that one-in four-people were willing to lie about under-the-table income,” said NerdWallet’s Diamond Richardson, who helped construct the poll.

She surmised this may be due to more people earning extra cash in the gig economy and not wanting to part ways with any of that income or be placed in a higher tax bracket.

“I do think the fact that there are a growing number of people making money in non-traditional ways is contributing to that percentage,” Richardson said.

Lying to the IRS is the second most popular financial lie, according to the survey.

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