I listed the likelihood of being audited by income. People who pay the most are the most likely to be audited.
But, let's play your game. Let's fire the people who look for fraud and see how much revenue comes in and how much EITC goes out. You think it will get better if no one looks for fraud?
Are you of the belief that small businesses can't do fraud?
Here is a person that owned 3 restaurants. Not a huge business:
The owner of several popular Mexican restaurants in Las Vegas has pleaded guilty to tax evasion.
www.kold.com
I found it looking for the El Rodeo restaurants in Indy that were caught. They were caught because a customer noticed if one paid by cash they calculated your payment with a calculator and use an open cash drawer for change. In other words, the system never saw the cash come in.
So yes, catch whatever fraud there is. If it gets to the point of speeding laws, no one will be paying taxes but the few of us who are honest and the deficit will be worse.