More Americans approve of cheating on taxes, fear audit; skiing wins Olympics in TV ratings

More say it’s OK to cheat on taxes; skiing wins TV

STRAIGHT THINKING ON TAXES? The fear of being audited on their income taxes is rising, one poll shows, even as more Americans say it’s OK to cheat on a return.

The IRS Oversight Board, which guides the Internal Revenue Service, reported that 13 percent of those polled last year said it was acceptable to cheat, up from 9 percent in 2008.

At the same time, 39 percent of respondents said their fear of an audit by the IRS had a “great deal” of influence on how honest they were in paying taxes. That’s up from 36 percent in 2008 and the highest level since the survey began in 2002, when 29 percent said the prospect of an audit kept them honest.

Yet, 81 percent maintained that their “personal integrity,” not their fear, was the big factor in making them file correct returns to the government.

And almost 60 percent supported extra funding for the IRS to enforce tax laws.

The survey, which was taken in August, also suggested many Americans would approve of new regulations for tax preparers. Ninety-three percent said they supported competency requirements and 95 percent, ethical standards.

In January, the IRS said it plans to require tax preparers to pass competency tests and register with the government.

The survey randomly polled 1,000 U.S. adults in August 2009. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.

SKIING WINS MEDAL FOR RATINGS: For the American viewers flocking to the Olympics broadcast on NBC, skiing wins the gold, said The Nielsen Co.

Freestyle skiing, which includes the moguls events, was the most-watched sport of the 2010 Vancouver Games’ first weekend, Nielsen said. It drew an average of 26.9 million viewers during NBC’s prime-time Olympics coverage through Feb. 15.

Nielsen tracks television viewership.

Other favorites of the early events shown included downhill skiing, with 26.7 million viewers; luge, with 26.2 million; snowboarding, with 25.5 million; figure skating, with 25.4 million; and speed skating, with 22.6 million viewers.

Some of those fields were big medal winners for the American team.

American Bode Miller, who had disappointed in the 2006 Turin Winter Games, won a bronze medal on Feb. 15 in an Alpine skiing contest. Seth Wescott won a gold for snowboard cross. Americans also won medals earlier in the weekend in other skiing events and for speed skating.

Meanwhile, the death of athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili of Georgia in a practice run on Feb. 12 put a spotlight on the luge.

This is the first time Nielsen has tracked viewership for individual events.