Poor and middle class people probably really do cheat on their taxes a lot more. I used to wait tables. Not reporting most of your cash tips was absolutely sta

Poor and middle class people probably really do cheat on their taxes a lot more. I used to wait tables. Not reporting most of your cash tips was absolutely standard - you reported the minimum amount necessary to equal minimum wage, so your employer wasn't required to make up the $7.25-$2.15 difference, and both of you had to pay less taxes. Some bigger companies, in collaboration with the IRS, started instituting "tip compliance" schemes, which do really suck in that they assessed your tip income to be a % of sales, regardless of reality. Additionally, tons of middle and lower class people use not tax software, but local "accountants" of varying quality. In the US, anyone can do your taxes for you. The selling point of these accountants is that they're going to get you back more than anyone else. Well, most people have fairly simple taxes, unless they own a business. There's not much they can do besides the standard deduction and child tax credits. So these accountants claim all sorts of deductions for which their client is not actually eligible. Sometimes they are "smart" and choose ones that are relatively hard to audit (e.g., mileage), sometimes they choose ones that are easy to audit (EITC). A lot of people get away with these for years or sometimes, seemingly ever. I have a close friend who did this type of thing for 10 years before finally getting caught. A wealthy person is paying a real accountant who is going to do things by-the-book. They're also more able to structure their wealth to reduce taxable income. Probably the most common fraud you see with wealthier people is small business owners claiming business expenses that aren't. Once you get into the ultra-wealthy, there's all kinds of entirely aboveboard games they can play.