Never mind the Ides of March. That was Julius Caesar’s problem.Tomorrow is the Ides of April. The good news is most Americans pay their taxes voluntarily and on time. According to the latest tax gap estimates available, 85 percent of Americans paid their taxes for 2023 on time.

The great French philosopher Voltaire famously said, “If you wish to converse with me, define your terms.” That is both timely and timeless advice that I strive to follow, starting with the difference in tax avoidance and tax evasion. Tax avoidance is a legal way to reduce the tax burden. Conversely, tax evasion is a crime and it carries significant penalties. Still, many Americans try it. How serious is this problem and how pervasive is it in America? Underreporting is the most common type of tax evasion.It amounts to 80.24 percent of the gross tax gap; 63.3 percent of the people involved in tax fraud cases were sent to prison. Their average  length of of incarceration was 14 months. The average age of tax fraud offenders is 52 years. Of the tax offenders, 96.2 percent are American citizens.

The United States loses more tax revenue to tax evasion than any other country in the world.

According to the latest IRS estimates, the US loses about $496 billion to individual tax evasion, with the majority being attributable  to non-filing, underreporting and underpayment of individual income tax.

As bad as individual tax evasion is, it pales in comparison to corporate tax evasion. The latest analysis I’ve seen indicates that American companies hold $5.8 trillion in cash in offshore tax havens. British Virgin Islands is the No. 1 tax haven. Others include the Cayman Islands, Bermuda  and the Netherlands.

Clearly, individual tax evasion and corporate tax evasion constitute blights on our  tax culture that are in dire need of appropriate tax reform. However, that is not likely, given the power of  those who reap the most  benefits from them.

Retired Army Colonel Thomas B. Vaughn may be reached at tbvbwmi@benlomand.net