(2 of 2)
Yet Americans are basically honest, Bloch has learned, and few cheat. To the contrary, they want a trouble-free return, and they do not take chances because they fear being audited. (Only one in 50 will be, though the proportion rises sharply with income, so that one in ten $50,000 earners will face an inquisition.) Americans choose to overpay rather than deduct an expense that might be questioned. Lower-income people are the most scrupulous of all because they are fearful of bureaucrats and bosses and worry about having to take off half a day from work to answer to an auditor. Upper-income Americans are more willing to take risks, in part because they can afford smart lawyers and C.P.A.s should they be questioned. But the scare talk about the three-martini lunch has made businessmen wary of deducting ail their entertainment expenses.
For all its flaws, Bloch is persuaded that the U.S. system is fair and equitable, that the continual changes that make it maddeningly complex are generally improvements. "But what worries me most," he says, "is the bad and dangerous tendency to eliminate more and more people from the tax rolls. Today a married couple earning less than $5,200 doesn't have to pay anything. I think that just to live in this country, you should pay some tax. I don't care if it's only $1 a year. After all, you can vote. A lot of federal funds are being expended for your wellbeing. So you should contribute in some way. It sort of teaches you a way of living and being part of society."