Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-03-08
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Uncle Sam Says II Can't Be Done.
BY WALTER II. ATKINS

, taxpa yers. He ranges all the way
from the type of the brainy director
! If mammoth industrial corporation
who was forced to pay q penalty Of
several million dollars for plotting on
a gigantic scale TO cheat the Govern
ment, down to the pla ne Of those in
the moderate income classes, who re-
sort to petty trickery TO withhold in
come taxes lawfully due. Men OF
mental stamina, but plagued with
moral complex. predominate in the
I"Willful tax dodger' class. They
usually suffer the greatest financial
/ pena lties. or punishment in the shape
of penitentiary terms. as a finale to
trails of tax CroOkedness.
Suspicious Aroused.
DelNing into the doings of the will
fur evader is ofttimeS frausht with
almost insuTmountable difficulty Tor
the revenue intelligence forces. Some
OF the tina nCiallY powerful. and also
politically potent at times. among
those VINO are willfullN fraudulent.
often seek to conceal their plotting
beneath finely drawn distinctions or
narrow interpretations OF revenue
laws If their only offense was that
of twisting the revenue law into
mea ming that Congress did not in
, tend. it would be serious enough. But
/ with legal talent, retained al princeiy
sums. the willful ones often eneulf
/ themselves by their own improper do
/ signs. And by their crafty devices
! they thus arouse suspicion and invite
! investiga ton. that frequently winds
/ up in severe punishment.
! Your wilful tax dOdger. if buttressed
by great wealth. will employ every
| i'm
| or otherwise, to thwart the Govern
| ment. And the process of catching
| him with the goods. with evidenc"
| that will stand the acid test in court.
| calls for the muster of the SmarteSt
| talent the Government Ga n assemble.
Great corporations. and those who
! engineer them. caught in attempte ell
or accomplished fraud. are exceed
! ingly resourCeful in legal maneuVer-
! ings. 1t often becomes necessary to
concentrate. in the attack upon them
/ the crime detection and legal agencies
Of several different departments of
( the Government before the ends "
! justice are met.
Perhs ps the ma iority Of those who
fall within the definition of tax
evader have been guilty of large or
small infractions of the tax laws that
are not clearly shown to have been
Willful. But such violatorS haven't
clear records until they have made
/ proper adjustments. These are based
both upon larger taxes due for pres.
ent and past years. possibly, and AIDE.
! quate penalties which the law i'm.
poses. These penalties, of course, are
! in proportion to the gravity of the
offense. and the sums involved origi-
nally in tax liza bility. Honest errors
L.
thousa nds of people. and taxpayers
are required Ia make proper adjust
ments. In this task. however. the
Government finds il easy to distin-
euish between honest and dishonest
taxpayers
Leave TeIltaIe Mark.
Revenue intelligence agents assert
that tax dodgers like other law vio-
lators invariably leave behind them
some telltale marks that usually lead
to apprehension and punishment Big
Or little. they tumble into the Govern
ment's outstretched net. sooner or
later Some of them set away with
violations for long periods. even years.
but eventually they face the hour Of
| reckoning.
In this highly specialized work OF
| tax -dodger detection the Internal
| Revenue Bureau has unearthed many
plots and conspracies of wide ramifi-
cations. which were made possible
! through COnniVance with dishonest
| employees on the Government pay roll.
Nabbing these inside" and outside
! combines the Government not only
has sought to purge the Government
I service of very vicious and dtsloyal
. element. and sent many OF them with
d! their cOnspiratOrS to iails. but has
/ effected recovery Of tens OF millions
/ of dollars for the limited States
Treasury in back taxes. assessments
/ and penalties of various kinds.
! These and other forms of tax law
/ violation have been exposed bv an
! 'under-cover" system Of detection
/ that is probably the best Of it's kind
, in the world. There are a thousand
andone checks on the taxpayers
| honesty The intelligence unit knows
! the tax evader's tricks, old and new.
Crooked practices of certain types OF
| business cOrporatiouf have been re-
vealed in the broad light OF day. as
an admonition to other would
wrongdoers. A glance into the i'm
| side" operations OF the intelligence
! system gives you a bird's-ey view that
is ample proof of the Internal Reeve
nue. Bureaus purpose to serve the
! best interests of the country's honest
| taXpa vers. protect the Urea surN
! against loss and combat crooked tax
/ payers in studied schemes to rob the
| Treasury Of their just share OF the
| tax burden.
(Copyri-h,. la.sl