Via TaxProf, I found this article suggesting that we audit all high-ranking politicians political figures. Not to be vindictive — or not just, anyway — but because people take cues from politicians on how to behave, and incidents like the Daschle tax affair make people less likely to take taxes seriously.

This doesn’t just have the obvious effect of streamlining the nomination process by digging dirt in advance. And it’s also not just a way to keep politicians honest about the favors they’re getting from — and doing for — their friends.

Nope, it’s actually based on a legitimate study, which showed that people cheat less on their taxes when they think others cheat less, too.

The great … Read more...

Today’s taxosphere is still busy digesting the new bailout, but there’s plenty of other business to discuss. A pair of high-profile tax evasion cases have gotten some attention, the credit crisis is considered in more detail, and the Biden/Palin vice-presidential debate features some gaffes on both sides.

• A the California Tax Attorney Blog, blogger Mitchell A. Port talks up the IRS’s increasing efficiency. Surprisingly, the big gains aren’t just in audits — the IRS has also gotten much better at providing easy online help for average users.
• James Edward Maule, proprietor of MauledAgain asks who is to blame for the subprime meltdown and the bailout, and argues that the answer is much more complicated than we’d