The big boys get away with a lot more and then can hire lawyers to bollux up the whole thing for years, until the IRS throws in the towel and negotiates a settlement. A friend of mine spent his entire career at the Justice Department, litigating one case involving a major aircraft manufacturer. He racked up a lot of frequent flyer miles going from Washington to Washington.
Should we be outraged by any of this? Perhaps in part. Perhaps not so much. So long as there are taxes, there will be people willing to cheat on them. Even back in the days of Monarchs, there were Dukes and Earls who were willing to cheat their own King on tax payments, even if it meant literally losing their heads. Ideas like tax simplification seem like one "answer" - everyone pays 15% of their income! The problem is, clever lawyers re-define what "income" is, and thus defeat the scheme.
Cutting taxes sounds appealing, but results in huge deficits, if spending is not cut as well (and both parties have been guilty of this!). If deficits persist, we end up with inflation, as the currency is devalued. This in turn, acts as a tax on everyone, but particularly the poor, who spend every dollar they have on survival needs (food, clothing, shelter). Sadly, this seems to be the way the USA is going, having learned nothing from the stagflation era of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
I am not sure what the answer really is, other than it is an ongoing battle since the dawn of time, and everybody t