Washington ? The number of Americans who believe it’s OK to cheat “a little here and there” on their taxes has risen 50 percent in the past four years, a government survey says. It’s a trend that new IRS Commissioner Mark Everson promises to reverse by going after scofflaws at all income levels.

“That can’t continue,” Everson said.

“If that trajectory is allowed to continue, you won’t be able to fund the government, and you’ll have serious erosion of the basic rule of law.”

The increase was detected in this year’s survey of taxpayer attitudes conducted annually for the IRS Oversight Board.

Of the 1,024 taxpayers surveyed in July, 12 percent responded that it was acceptable to cheat a little when filing income taxes. Only 8 percent felt that way in the same survey for 1999.

An additional group who said taxpayers should cheat “as much as possible” also went up, from 3 percent to 5 percent.