No matter your economic station in life, no one deserves to carry a heavier tax load because someone else is gaming the system. And yet, hard-working families across America who pinch pennies, struggle to make ends meet and pay their fair share of taxes are left to foot the bill for the billions of dollars unpaid by tax evaders.
Tax scams are as old as the tax code.
The American people should be aware of the snake oil these hucksters are selling. They're bottling old poison and launching it into cyberspace. As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which bears oversight authority over the IRS, I held in April a congressional hearing to examine the extent of the problem, expose common schemes and educate consumers on ways to identify this type of fraud. Prior to the Internet, tax con artists relied on labor-intensive seminars, phone pitches and videotape sales to reel in takers. Now the conspirators send unsolicited bulk e-mail or operate sophisticated web sites that anyone with a mouse and a modem can reach.