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Part of the problem is unbalanced incentives between tax inspectors and crooked accountants. If an accountant helps a billionaire dodge taxes he can earn mill
by MarkMc 9y ago
Part of the problem is unbalanced incentives between tax inspectors and crooked accountants.
If an accountant helps a billionaire dodge taxes he can earn millions of dollars in fees. If a tax inspector exposes the scam he might get a salary bonus worth a few thousand dollars.
I would like to see tax inspectors get paid by commission. If the tax inspector exposes a scam and the government collects $50 million, the inspector gets $2 million. (And to avoid overzealous inspectors, if a tax audit finds no impropriety the inspector forfeits $20,000)
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- chii 9y agoThis leads to the moral hazard where you might consider planting evidence for personal gain.
- rumcajz 9y agoPlanting $50 million to get $2 million. Not a terribly good deal.
- ptaipale 9y agoImplicating (wrongly) someone else's $50m to get $2m. A tempting deal for some.
- Brotkrumen 9y agoYou can neither make 50 Million appear nor can you plant evidence in Bank data that the victims lawyers couldnt tear to shreds. Accounting isn't dropping a joint in someone's pocket
- mootothemax 9y agoThere's already a moral hazard, either blackmail from the investigator, or bribery from the subject.
- wodenokoto 9y agoThis is similar to giving police bonuses as a percentage of tickets value handed out. It's a perverse incentive that encourages the law enforcement to act corrupt.
- gadders 9y agoWhistle blowers get commission - this guy got $104m from the IRS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Birkenfeld https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Birkenfeld