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Restaurant Owners Use Zapper To Cook the Books
Hugh Pickens passes along a NYTimes report on software programs called "zappers," which allow even technologically illiterate restaurant and store owners to siphon cash from computer cash registers to cheat tax officials. In the old days, restaurant owners who wanted to cheat kept two sets of books. But because cash registers make automated records, hiding the theft requires getting into the machine's memory and changing that record. "...the Canadian province of Quebec may be the world leader in prosecuting zapper cases. Since 1997, zappers have figured in more than 230 investigations, according to the tax collecting body Revenu Québec... In making 713 searches of merchants, Revenu Québec found 31 zapper programs that worked on 13 cash register systems. Only two known zapper cases have been prosecuted in the United States... The cash register security industry is focused on protecting patrons and owners from theft by employees, which may be one reason so few zappers are uncovered in the United States. No one hires security experts to protect the government from devious businesses... As hard as zapper software is to detect, it is easy to make, said Jeff Moss, organizer of the annual hacker convention Def Con. 'If it runs on a Windows system and you are a competent Windows administrator, you can do it,' he said."
I can see why zappers are used, heck, before being a computer consultant, I, too, in my early years, worked in the food industry as a cook, so I know all about dual book systems :).
The taxmen are so greedy, one has to do what one can in order to keep afloat these days.
there would be a way to avoid this, but who am I to say it and spoil the fun! :)
Income tax = police state.
Why should the gov be looking through our stuff like registers?
Should they also have nosy investigator come to your house with cameras and video cameras to spy on you?
Everything the founding fathers DID NOT want.
Thanks Abe Lincoln you commy a-hole.
Evading taxes is stealing money from society
What utter crap. If I don't tell a mugger about the money in my sock, am I stealing money from the mugger?
What's really sad is how many people believe that the people are the property of the government.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Trying to equate taxes with being mugged is pure idiocy.
They're both theft. The difference is that you can defend yourself against the mugger.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Good for you. I consider myself honest as well. I have never knowingly lied on my tax forms. But I find it hard to fault those who do. Taxes are not voluntary, they are legal extortion. I cannot fault someone who attempts to hide their money from an extortionist.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
That's probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever read on slashdot, even including some of the stuff over in the NIST/WTC7 thread. I'd have modded you "funny" if I had the points!
Speaking of that, some friends of mine are developing a low cost Point of Sale system, built on an open source operating system. Among many features, it will be a cash register, time clock, inventory management, take credit cards, etc. They already have all the hardware they need, and is in use in several locations. If anyone was interested, I could point interested parties toward them. (Full Disclosure: I'm an investor)
Well ass hat the easiest solution to that is double or triple or even , heaven forbid quadruple the minimum wage and they will end up paying far more taxes. Only a true republican would point the finger at poor bastards on minimum wage for not paying enough tax, that is really disgusting.
The rich have perverted the system to ensure those at the bottom get paid bugger all, in fact with out two jobs not sufficient to live ie. buy a house, pay hospital bills and buy food and clothes (pick one as they can't afford all three). Then the rich and greedy complain they pay the most tax when they earn by far the most money all as a result of their corruption of the political system via lobbyist.
As for outlier, http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1249465620080812 and, it is well known that the rich and greedy like to hide their income behind corporations.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
You're obviously trolling, but I'm bored, so what the hell:
Minimum wage laws generally only result in layoffs and law-breaking. They also make it much more difficult for students and youth to find part-time and summer jobs, which not only deprives them of spending money and experience, but also seems to correlate with increased youth crime and delinquency. The idea that we could simply pass a law to make employers pay everyone 4 times as much is so ridiculous that only a moron (or a troll) would suggest it.
I never said anything about them not paying enough tax - I said that they suck up more government resources than they pay for. I didn't even suggest changing that, I was simply pointing out that it's ridiculous to suggest that the rich aren't paying their fair share.
The people at the bottom of the system have always gotten "bugger all". Apparently you're not only ignorant of economics, but history also. The difference in our society is that we've redefined "bugger all" to mean "can't afford a Lexus".
Actually, that was four, not three. I guess we can add basic counting skills to the list of abilities you don't possess.
Also, your sob-story would be a lot more convincing if I were some rich snob who's never seen a poor person in his life. Maybe that description suits you better than it does me since, apparently, you don't actually know how the "poor" live. Either way, your description of their living conditions is ludicrous. When even "poor" families can own a fridge, a car, and a TV, you're not going to be very successful in guilt-tripping me about their "horrible" condition.
As for your linked article, it's an interesting study, but without raw data it's impossible to asses it's credibility. Certainly the first sentence is so misleading as to suggest that the entire article is most likely worthless. They state that:
"Most U.S. and foreign corporations doing business in the United States avoid paying any federal income taxes"
and then follow it up with:
"More than half of foreign companies and about 42 percent of U.S. companies paid no U.S. income taxes for two or more years in that period"
Which, of course, completely contradicts the opening statement. Of course, YOU probably can't see why those two statements are contradictory. I'm going to leave you to work it out yourself. Who knows, maybe the mental exercise will kick-start a few of your neurons.
Maybe it failed because... it was never a good idea?
Circumcision is child abuse.